Austria sweeps to Eurovision victory after nail-biting finish
Austria has won the 69th annual Eurovision Song Contest, after an almost four-hour long telecast featuring fireworks and songs in 20 different languages, and a brutal semi-final in which Australia was eliminated.
In an extraordinary photo-finish to the competition, Israel was dominating the leaderboard by a margin of 99 points. But in a final twist, global TV audience votes handed Austria 178 points, and confirmation of the win.
The final score was Austria with 436 points, followed by Israel (357), Estonia (356), Sweden (321), Italy (256), Greece (231), France (230), Albania (218), Ukraine (218) and Switzerland (214).
Australia's Eurovision hopes were dashed earlier this week when singer Marty Zambotto, known by the stage name Go-Jo, was ousted from the competition in a shock finish to a hotly contested second semi-final.
Zambotto delivered a winning performance but found himself in a perfect storm of strategic challenges: a second semi-final heavily loaded with strong performances and 16 competing countries, requiring that almost a third of the countries in that semi-final be eliminated.
Despite the loss, Zambotto was upbeat. 'We put so much work and effort in, I know I could not have worked harder,' he said. The 29-year-old West Australian-born singer remained a favourite with fans, performing to a packed Euroclub the night after his elimination.
Iconic former Eurovision winner Celine Dion appeared in a pre-taped segment earlier this week, describing Eurovision as 'a life-changing moment for me, and I am so thankful for everyone who supported me. [Switzerland] is a country that believed in me and gave me a chance to be a part of something extraordinary.'
The competition semi-final heats and grand final have been staged in Basel's St Jakobshalle arena. As late as the live final telecast, rumours persisted that Dion would appear in the adjacent St Jakob-Park football stadium, but the rumoured surprise appearance did not eventuate.
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