As Australia’s Kate Miller-Heidke ascends in the betting odds, the idea of an Australian Eurovision victory in Tel Aviv becomes more likely. But as nice as Eurovision in Sydney, Melbourne, or Gold Coast may sound, financial and geographic limitations make that dream impossible.
There are plenty of rumours making the rounds regarding possible methods the EBU will use to select the Eurovision 2020 host city if Australia wins.
But now Kate herself has weighed in.
When asked about where the contest would be held if she wins, Kate Miller-Heidke told RadioTimes.com:
“At the moment it’s up in the air between Paris, London and Berlin…however, it’s a decision that’s out of my hands. But London would get my vote – I lived there for two years previously.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve been faced with the strong possibility of an Australian win.
In 2016, Australia’s Dami Im was a betting odds favourite and won the jury vote before ending up in second place. At the time, many believed that the 2017 contest would be hosted in Germany if Dami won. But now it seems that there are more options on the table.
If Australia wins and London is picked it would be the first time the Contest had been hosted in the UK since 1998.
That year it was hosted in Birmingham.
More recently the UK did play host to Eurovision’s Greatest Hits in 2015. That event was hosted at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.
Whether SBS would seek out a larger London venue in the event of an Australian win remains to be seen.
What do YOU think? Do you think Australia will win it all this year? If they do, which city should host Eurovision 2020? Let us know in the comments below!
GET MORE AUSTRALIA EUROVISION NEWS HERE
Photo Credit: EBU
This is going to be such a good night, where music is all that matters tonight, when voting for your favourite countries I hope that pure talent prevails and gets full recognition, and that we vote for a song contest, and that’s it. Let’s vote right tonight.
Greetings from the UK.
Thank you Israel for this amazing show. And 12 points from UK go to Australia.
Dear this won’t happen because it will be Amsterdam 2020!!!
Oh the irony… London forced to host Eurovision after 3 years of failing at getting out of the EU. Would love to see this happen! 😉
I don’t understand the connection. Lots of european countries don’t want to be a part of the european union. Also they wouldn’t be forced.
SBS announced years ago, there first choice is the German Broadcast NDR and than BBC, i guess that is already fixed in the participation contract of Australia for the Eurovision. Doesn’t matter where it is, it will be not in Australia.
This is a non-discussion. Amsterdam 2020! Bye!!!!!
If Australia wins hosting should go the number 2, or the winner of televote or jury if that’s different from Australia.
Know I understand why some people want this to be the winner
If she wins, and SBS has to pay for the organization of the contest, why not choosing a nation that would benefit from it? Anyway, I don’t really think she will win, maybe the jury winner (as with Dami Im), but televoters will never let Australia win
The UK is too easy a choice SBS ( should we win ) should choose a Central European country so that fewer countries are affected by the time zone issue . But who knows .I have no idea who is going to win so it might be a baseless argument everyone is having with each other here .
There is no time zone issue. ESC starts 20.00h GMT and 21.00 CET.
Logic is London, they are bound by the commonwealth.
What are you, Vulcan?
Why some broadcaster want to spent over 20 millions euros to host Eurovision if SBS dont give any money or over 10 millions if they split the bill , if they don t win.If SBS pay everything give host to small country like Cyprus, Malta, not rich countries Moldova,Bosnia…or to country who wait long for first victory Malta, Iceland,Croatia
I think some of the appeal in Australia winning is in the unexpected and the unknown – what would happen if a country so far from Europe actually won?
She may have ruined it all now by announcing the UK as the host country….
I know what you mean. UK hates everything that they didn’t won. They are 1 in 41 and still think they should win and anything else is hate.
romanian – it sounds more like Sweden.
Over generalisation don’t you think. we don’t think we should automatically win Eurovision, we don’t try hard enough but I know one day we will win again and host a great Eurovision.
I honestly think if this happens, UK is one of the best countries to host a competition
If the UK were ever set to host, Manchester would make a far better host city than London. I hate when it’s automatically assumed that the capital has to host.
Manchester is a good choice but smaller cities like Coventry, Milton Keynes and Sheffield should be considered.
Potential venues
Ricoh Arena (alternate name City of Coventry Stadium) capacity 40,000 for concerts has played host to artists like Rihanna, Rolling Stones, Bruce Dpringsteen, The Chainsmokers and Chase and Status and MTV Crashes.
Stadium MK 30,500 capacity has played host to artists like Take That among others.
FlyDSA Arena (alternate name Sheffield Arena) 13,600 capacity
I was going to vote for her, not anymore. If it wins, I hope the choice will be on a small country that can take advantage of the economic fallout. Also London is a city too expensive, it is not a choice for the fans.
No. Why should a country that puts minimal effort in get rewarded in this way?
‘Cause Elisabeth II is officially Australias queen.
Uhm. #2 should be the hosting party. Not a country that will finish 24th tonight.
It would have to be a big 5 as I doubt any other country would want to host and spend all that money just for their own entry to stay in the semis. Also the amount of money involved just would be too much.
Leydan I see your logic but I think that if (for example) Hungary would host they would automatically be put in the final that year alongside Australia.
On the orange Carpet Kate annonce France as next Host if she s winning !!!!!Why does change his mind?
She doesn’t have the power to choose the host country anyway.
The Tories would not let the BBC spend a penny on hosting the contest if the UK had not even won. Who would finance this? In any case, there would be a bidding process with the EBU (not SBS) deciding the city. Kate can’t just pick where she likes.
Definitely SBS will be choosing the city, not EBU
If Australia wins, I’d be happy. It’s my country, why wouldn’t I be happy? HOWEVER it comes off as if Kate is saying this to get votes. Which I guess is fair but at the same time, I rather not go around saying we’d host Eurovision somewhere so those living in the said countries have no choice but to vote for us cause it’ll mean the possibly of seeing the contest in your country. With that said, I do wish Kate the best of luck as well as the contestants. No matter the outcome, I’m sure the contest tonight will… Read more »
London would be fitting since Australia is a former Brittish colony and has very close cultural connections to the UK. They even have the same queen. I would like that. But I don’t think Australia will win this year, second plce is very believable though.
It’s unofficial but Australians have already talked with Brits.
Everyone agrees that ESC in London, hosted by BBC and ABC-SBS would be very helpfull for image of Brits after brexit and they’ll do what they can to make it happen. Because UK and Australia are both Commonwealth countries there is no other option than ESC in UK if Australia wins tonight.
And Brit-Australians like Kylie Minoque may just start their preparations for hosting it.
Also, can you imaging if Graham Norton hosted?! He was hilarious as the host for the Eurovision Greatest Hits event.
He was okay – Petra overshadowed him.
In my opinion, I think this song is one of Australia’s worst song in the EV
I’d like Italy or Australia to win.
No-one should ever vote for Australia, then there’s nothing to talk about. It’s a horrible song and they just shouldn’t be competing anyway. Australians behave like experts on Eurovision, but they obviously don’t understand what they are talking about. Twitter exploded because of all Australians declared the Netherlands wasn’t worthy of winning Eurovision, cause Arcade is not a Eurovision song and the piano should at least be on fire. If you are as dumb as that, then you just should be expelled from Eurovision. So bye!
The truth is that piano should be on fire.
Not all Australians think like that. I’m Australian but definitely don’t think Netherlands needs a burning piano to be a winning performance. I personally like the song and think it’ll win over Zero Gravity but hey if some Australians thinks differently then feel free to include those other Australians that don’t think that as well. Cause you know, basing a small group of Australians as THE WHOLE OF AUSTRALIA is so totally accurate…
Beth, I love you, you know that I do. You are a brave person, cause probably now you will have ALL other Australians coming after you. The Netherlands are happy to grant you asylum, if needed.
For people who haven’t figured it out yet: Dennis ?? Is Nicky 91 with a different username.
?
Not sure if she’ll win now. Her hair got stuck in her crown during the jury final.
funny
Wow! Her hair was messy? What a deal-breaker….
If Australia wins then I think they should host it in either London or Manchester
Nope, it should be the country coming second that should be announced as the winner and they should organise 2020
It’s very simple, SBS get to choose the host city just as any other host broadcaster does.
Germany acts as a backup/default/guarantor that if SBS is unable to find anyone to partner with they will host it.
But I’m more than sure should we be selected by Australia/SBS that UK/BBC would be honoured to host.
They do not just get to pick any city and force them to host the Eurovision – the other broadcaster must first volunteer for the job.
vote 12 tonight 😀
Televoters will not give the trophy to Australia, still many people wonder why they participate. I mean dami Im came fourth…
Exactly. it’s not gonna happen.
Vote #25 tonight.
Cyprus
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Sweden
Australia deserves a win much the same as all the countries. Give them credit , been watching this show for xx number of years and this performance by Kate is absolutely beautiful. The part where the camera moves in sync with globe and stars and her really is breathtaking and has the wow factor. The song suits the arrangement making it stronger than first hearing it. I can see this running away with it with both juries and televoting. I think cost wise it will go to a German city if they win, but London would be fab. Maybe a… Read more »
I have been watching football all my life, does that give me the right to play at the world championships?
Australia can watch Eurovision all they can, but many Australians don’t seem to get what Europe is about (go to twitter and you’ll find out. All their hate over there was nauseating)
Imagine if they held the Eurovision final in the Hammersmith Apollo!
It’s laughable!
It would have to be the O2 arena and how awesome that would be.
It’s probably already booked!
I think the BBC would be more inclined to give the contest to a city other than London, in keeping with their policy of spreading projects around the regions. Manchester Arena would be a likely choice too.
the BBC or SBS for that matter wouldn’t host it there. It would either be something like the O2 or Wembley Arena. I don’t think it would even be London if the BBC got it. The city is far too expensive now for people and then add price hikes that usually happen, it would be insane. The BBC is one of the most respected and most prestigious broadcasters in the world. Their Eurovision attitude may not be all that, but if they wanted to they could put on a super great show as host.
I don‘t think that the overall package of Australia deserves a win, still Zero Gravity as a song is nothing special.
But if it happens, they should at least consider the second placed country as a possibility, at least thats what I would wish, if I were in her (or any Australian participants) situation.
If Australia win, there’ll still be people saying to boycott Eurovision not gonna lie. But I would like to see Australia win because this year they are just amazing.
Cringe
Vote all ? #22 ITALY ?.. If MAHMOOD wins, there is free Pizza here in Italy ??
You are getting annoying, dude
And you have never been anything but annoying.
not gonna happen
London would be probably the chosen option due to the cultural links between both countries and the quite big Australian community here in the UK. And also I’d love have the contest in the city I live in.
Okay, I think I don’t mind Australia winning just to be entertained by all the drama during the off season.