Eurovision 2025: Why do Australia compete in the European song contest?
Eurovision 2025: Why do Australia compete in the European song contest?
Eurovision 2025 is taking place in Basel and will see 26 nations from across Europe compete to win the song contest - but why can Australia also compete when the country is not in Europe?
Go-Jo is Australia's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.
As Eurovision 2025 gears up to take place in Basel, Switzerland, fans and artists from across Europe are set to descend on the city. This will be the 69th Eurovision Song Contest as it returns to the country where it first originated.
Countries across the continent battle it out to win the singing competition, however, for some reason, Australia can also participate in the song contest, despite its geographical location outside of Europe. Their involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 2015 when, in celebration of the contest's 50th anniversary, they were invited to compete.
This followed an invitation in 2014 for Australia to perform during the contest's semi-finals interval. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter .
The performance by Australia in 2015 left such a positive impression on Eurovision bosses that they extended an invitation for the country to become a permanent participant.
As part of their participation, Australia must qualify for the competition through the semi-finals like the other countries competing, although this doesn't include the Big Five and the host country.
Additionally, there's a policy stating that should Australia triumph, it must select a European co-host to organise the event, sparing fans the lengthy trip down under.
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This year, Australia are sending Go-Jo with the song Milkshake Man to the Eurovision Song Contest. They have already amassed 1.8 million views on YouTube. Unfortunately for them, Go-Jo did not qualify in the second round of semi-finals and will not be competing in tonight's grand final.
Interestingly, other countries not geographically located in Europe, including Israel and Azerbaijan, also participate in Eurovision. The contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which comprises various broadcasters from countries across Europe and beyond.
The BBC, RTE in Ireland, Rai in Italy, and SVT in Sweden are all members of the EBU. The European Broadcasting Union boasts a membership of 73 stations from upwards of 56 nations, all entitled to enter acts into the Eurovision Song Contest should they choose to.
This also happens to be the reason why Wales can't enter the competition independently. In January of this year, MSs discussed a petition that was created by Nation.Cymru calling for Wales to compete in the competition.
Bakel Walden, from the EBU, wrote: "As the BBC continues to participate, and remains the rights holder in the United Kingdom, this means an entry from the individual nations of the UK is therefore not possible at the Eurovision Song Contest."
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This is because only one broadcaster in the UK is allowed broadcasting rights and as it stands that is the BBC. In the case of Junior Eurovision in 2018 and 2019, the BBC didn't want the rights and instead S4C took the job, meaning Wales was able to compete singlehandedly with Welsh language songs.
The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take place tonight, Saturday, May 17. You can watch it on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm.
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