Australia's Eurovision entry explained as fans question inclusion
Australia has been officially participating in Eurovision for the past decade, but why is a country thousands of miles away from Europe able to compete?
Eurovision fans might be scratching their heads over Australia's participation as the contest gets underway this week in Basel, Switzerland.
The first semi-final took place on Tuesday, 13th May and saw Slovenia, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Cyprus bow out.
Tonight (Thursday, 15th May), Australian singer Go-Jo will have his shot at qualifying with his single Milkshake Man.
He'll be up against competitors from Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Austria and more, but how can he compete when Australia isn't part of Europe?, reports the Express.
Australian entries have been competing in Eurovision for the past decade, following years of enthusiasm for the contest Down Under.
The competition was first aired on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), an associated member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), back in 1983 and has been broadcast annually ever since.
SBS's coverage has been a massive hit from the get-go and Australia have had their own commentators for the show since 2001. From 2010-2014, SBS held their own televote for Australian viewers, although this did not contribute to the overall result.
The year 2015 marked the first time Australia actually competed, even though their first appearance at the song contest happened two years prior.
During the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden, SBS submitted a pre-recorded video titled Greetings from Australia (also known as Why Australia Loves Eurovision) to celebrate 30 years of broadcasting the show there. The following year, the DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) allowed Australian singer Jessica Mauboy to perform as an interval act during the second semi-final in Copenhagen.
The 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria marked the first time Australia was able to officially perform. The honour was given to American Idol winner Guy Sebastian, who secured an impressive fifth place with his song Tonight Again.
Both the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster ORF decided to let Australia not only participate, but to go straight to the final, due to it being the 60th Anniversary of Eurovision.
They bypassed the semi-finals to reduce the chances of countries actually in Europe being eliminated, but the EBU and SBS confirmed that, were Australia to win, they would not host the contest the next year, breaking tradition.
Australia has been competing in Australia ever since, only failing to qualify in 2021 and 2024.
Their best performance in the contest came just a year after their first entry, when singer Dami Im came second overall with her song Sound of Silence at the 2016 final in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Eurovision Grand Final airs Saturday, May 17 at 8pm on BBC One.
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