Latest news with #CourtneyAct
SBS Australia
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Eurovision delivers strong Total TV audiences for SBS, dazzling more than 2.21 million Australians tuning in
Total TV National Reach across SBS's live and prime time broadcasts of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest was more than 2.21 million people, with 172,000 watching exclusively on SBS on Demand. This year marked Logie-nominated presenter Tony Armstrong and multi-hyphenate entertainer and global icon Courtney Act's first year in the Eurovision commentary booth. The Grand Final achieved a Total TV National Reach of 1.14 million, with 60,000 viewers watching exclusively on SBS on Demand. The first Semi Final achieved a Total TV National Reach of 1 million, with 91,000 viewers watching exclusively on SBS on Demand. The second Semi Final achieved a Total TV National Reach of 982,000, with 78,000 viewers watching exclusively on SBS on Demand. Early-rising Eurovision fans boosted BVOD viewership, tuning in live on SBS On Demand for the morning broadcasts, compared to the evening prime time shows (see table below). More than 2.2m Australians tuned in for SBS's broadcast of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Basel Switzerland, with new hosts for 2025, Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act, presenting live, nail-biting morning broadcasts alongside evening shows packed with backstage access and insights, fueling Australia's love of the world's biggest musical event. SBS Head of Unscripted, Joseph Maxwell, said: 'From saunas to sky-high singers, macchiatos to milkshakes, this year's Eurovision Song Contest did not dissapoint in delivering dance anthems, dazzling vocal performances, and voting results that kept viewers worldwide on their toes until the very end. It's fantastic to see Australia's love affair with Eurovision continue, with millions of Australians tuning in across our semi final and grand final programs, including audiences down under waking up to watch our live shows in the early hours in record numbers this year. 'Eurovision is a spectacle unlike any other, connecting audiences from around the world in a celebration of diversity and culture through music. It is unashamedly part of our history at SBS, having broadcast the event for more than 40 years, and we're thrilled to see loyal Eurovision-loving audiences continuing to come back for their fix each year, alongside new viewers getting a taste of Eurovision for the first time.' Austria's JJ triumphed in the Grand Final, crowned the winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest with Wasted Love, an operatic ballad with soaring vocals that evolved into a club anthem for its finale. Following tradition, the glittering spectacle will now move from this year's host country, Switzerland, to Austria next year, the first time since 2014 that it has hosted the event. While Australia's viral pop sensation, Go-Jo,sadly didn't progress through to the Grand Final following the Milkshake Man's delicious performance in the competitive second Semi Final, Australian Eurovision fans continued to be captivated by the contest and the unique collection of cultures and musical acts that made this year's Eurovision one of the most surprising and unpredictable in recent years. Semi Final One TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE REACH TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BROADCAST TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BVOD NATIONAL AUDIENCE LIVE 245,000 142,000 126,000 16,000 PRIME TIME 663,000 165,000 157,000 8,000 Semi Final Two TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE REACH TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BROADCAST TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BVOD NATIONAL AUDIENCE LIVE 293,000 152,000 132,000 20,000 PRIME TIME 678,000 195,000 187,000 8,000 Grand Final TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE REACH TOTAL TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BROADCAST TV NATIONAL AVERAGE AUDIENCE BVOD NATIONAL AUDIENCE LIVE 615,000 284,000 253,000 31,000 PRIME TIME 805,000 169,000 161,000 8,000 For a pdf copy of this release, click here.
SBS Australia
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Eurovision 2025 live: Grand final begins in Basel, Switzerland
Itching to get in on the action? You can watch the Eurovision grand final by heading straight to . Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act are hosting and commentating Australia's coverage live from Basel, Switzerland. The stream has just kicked off — so quickly run to the kettle to top up your coffee. — Alexandra Koster 21m ago 6:24am Yes, Australians can vote in the Eurovision grand final. Votes can be cast via the official Eurovision Song Contest app. Download for Android and here. You can also head to to cast your vote. Each vote costs 70 cents and you can cast a maximum of 20 votes per transaction. — Jessica Bahr 6m ago 6:39am Fun fact: The backstage team at Eurovision only has about 35 seconds to change the set. That's all the time they get to make sure the props are swapped out for the next performance and to get all the performers ready, mic'd up, and in the right spot. "We call it the Formula 1 tyre change," Richard van Rouwendaal, the Dutch Eurovision stage manager told BBC. "Each person in the crew can only do one thing. You run on stage with one light bulb or one prop. You always walk on the same line. If you go off course, you will hit somebody." "It's a bit like ice skating." The stage crew has about two weeks to practice before the big day. — Alexandra Koster 6m ago 6:39am The Netherlands is up next, with Claude's 'C'est la vie' There's something nice about not knowing the words to any of these songs as a mere uncultured monolingual speaker, but feeling a jolt of excitement when they say, in English, "it goes up, it goes down". So true, Claude. It does go up and down. — Alexandra Koster 7m ago 6:39am I know I'm not the only person who still dreams Finland's infamous 'Cha Cha Cha' by Käärijä at the 2023 contest (robbed!). Finland's Erika Vikman channels the Finnish Eurovision spirit — which I can only assume is absolutely whackadoo — with 'Ich komme'. It gets so intense towards the end that I'm just left staring at the screen as my eyes are assaulted with blasts of light and 'ICH KOMME' in big letters, which translates to 'I'm coming'. Our overlords, Courtney Act and Tony Armstrong, also drop that we may be getting a surprise performance from Käärijä tonight?! Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. — Alexandra Koster 31m ago 6:15am If I could have access to a time machine, I would use it to take me back approximately seven minutes so I could watch Iceland's performance again. A dash of K-pop, a sliver of Irish dancing, mixed with an electronic sea shanty, Iceland's Væb is immediately making me want to invest in some silver get-up. — Alexandra Koster 34m ago 6:11am As a quick palate cleanser, here are some of the best posts on X right now: — Alexandra Koster 37m ago 6:09am The girls are here. Now we've got Remembering Monday with 'What the Hell Just Happened?'. They literally look like a jazzier, more Sabrina Carpenter version of The Powerpuff Girls. In my view, that's always a sign of a winning performance. They even cap off their performance with big smiles inside a love heart! This is canon now, as far as I'm concerned. — Alexandra Koster 37m ago 6:08am The Eurovision Song Contest is always a visual treat, with many performers going all out with not only their vocals, but also their outfits, visual effects, and stage design. Here are some of the best images so far. — Jessica Bahr 52m ago 5:54am It's not Eurovision unless it literally looks like someone has placed a sheer stocking — or a schmear of Vaseline — over the camera lens. The crowd is chuffed by Ukraine's entrant, Ziferblat with 'Bird of Pray'. My favourite part was the screen blackouts that immediately made me believe I had a power outage, as I'm sure it did for many other watch parties out there. — Alexandra Koster 56m ago 5:49am The wind machine really is working overtime for Lithuania, with Katarsis' 'Tavo akys'. It's kind of giving an even campier version of Evanescence, which I am absolutely an advocate for. The performance is capped with 44 'Tavo's'. I'm not sure what Tavo means in Lithuanian, but according to Nameberry, a baby names meaning website, Tavo translates to "staff of the Goths", which is just really lovely. — Alexandra Koster 1h ago 5:40am 1h ago 5:36am I fear this may be the best performance of the night so far, Estonia's entrant Tommy Cash with 'Espresso Macchiato' — which I will be singing for the next year. I never knew I needed to see someone float above a background of coffee beans until now. Stunning. Gorgeous. No notes. — Alexandra Koster 1h ago 5:32am Okay, Alice in Wonderland! Next up is Luxembourg's entrant, Laura Thorn with 'La poupée monte le son'. There's also a costume change, so we've really just gotten the full Eurovision experience. — Alexandra Koster 1h ago 5:29am We start off the performances with a hot (get it?) performance from Norway's entrant, Kyle Alessandro with 'Lighter'. Unsurprisingly, the stage is plastered with pyrotechnics. Flame on! — Alexandra Koster 1h ago 5:25am As the finalists for this year's competition roll onto the stage, I can't help but think of a universe where our boy Go-Jo was up there, sprouting the multiple benefits of drinking his delicious milkshakes. Go-Jo was eliminated in the second semi-final on Friday morning. Alas, 37 countries have competed in this year's Eurovision, and 26 have made it through to the final. Our finalists are: Albania: Shkodra Elektronike — Zjerm Armenia: PARG — SURVIVOR Austria: JJ — Wasted Love Denmark: Sissal — Hallucination Estonia: Tommy Cash — Espresso Macchiato Finland: Erika Vikman — ICH KOMME France: Louane — Maman Germany: Abor & Tynna — Baller Greece: Klavdia — Asteromáta Iceland: VÆB — RÓA Israel: Yuval Raphael — New Day Will Rise Italy: Lucio Corsi — Volevo essere un duro Latvia: Tautumeitas — Bur Man Laimi Lithuania: Katarsis — Tavo Akys Luxembourg: Laura Thorn — La Poupée Monte Le Son Malta: Miriana Conte — SERVING Netherlands: Claude — C'est La Vie Norway: Kyle Alessandro — Lighter Poland: Justyna Steczkowska — GAJA Portugal: NAPA — Deslocado San Marino: Gabry Ponte — Tutta L'Italia Spain: Melody — Esa diva Sweden: KAJ — Bara Bada Bastu Switzerland | Zoë Më – Voyage Ukraine: Ziferblat — Bird of Pray United Kingdom: Remember Monday — What The Hell Just Happened? — Alexandra Koster 2h ago 5:05am Welcome to our coverage of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest grand final. Finalists from 26 countries are taking to the stage in Basel, Switzerland. We will be recapping performance highlights, major moments, and results as they come in. You can also watch live on SBS and — Jessica Bahr
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Drag star Courtney Act reveals 'disastrous' wardrobe malfunction moments before Australia's hopes were dashed in Eurovision semi-final
Drag star Courtney Act suffered a 'disastrous' wardrobe malfunction just moments before Australia's hopes were dashed in the Eurovision semi-finals. Courtney, real name Shane Jenek, is taking on Eurovision hosting duties for SBS alongside Tony Armstrong. She shared a clip to Instagram just just prior to Australian hopeful Go-Jo taking to the stage in the second semi-final in Basel, Switzerland. Shot in her hotel room, the clip shows Courtney busily getting glammed up in a Milkshake Man costume - a nod of support to the Australian hopeful. As she stepped into her form-fitting dress, the unthinkable soon happened with Courtney suffering a last minute wardrobe malfunction. As she turned to 'zip up', a long string attached to the zipper, to aid in the process, snapped, leaving Courtney without a means to close her garment. Not one to be dissuaded, Courtney quickly hopped out of the dress to do a quick repair job. However, disaster soon struck again when the zipper broke for a second time. Captioning the post, Courtney wrote: 'What is your favourite milkshake flavour? @heyimgojo's is Spearmint, I think mine is Banana. 'Meanwhile disaster struck when my zipper broke getting ready! Will I make it to the ball on time? 'Or just keep my back to the wall the whole night so no one notices my gapping dress? Thankfully Go-Jo came to the rescue! While Courtney was unclear what the singer did to rescue the dress, she did admit in the comments that it was, indeed, fixed and she did make it to the event on time. 'I asked someone in the lobby to do it up for me. The zipper didn't break, just the handle bit came off. Thankfully,' she shared. Her followers were quick to comment on the panic-inducing post, including fitness icon Michelle Bridges who empathised with the drag star. 'OMFG I felt your pain instantly!!! Zippers!!!!!' the former Biggest Loser host wrote. Another chimed in with: 'You are truly a professional b/c I WOULD CRASH OUT,' while a third offered: 'Why did I feel my heart drop when the zip came off.' Despite narrowly avoiding sartorial disaster, Courtney was unable to prevent Go-Jo from crashing out of the iconic singing contest on Friday (AEST). The Western Australian-born singer was competing alongside the likes of Montenegro, Ireland, Georgia, Czechia, and Serbia. Go-Jo, real name Marty Zambotto, bowed out after his tongue-in-cheek song Milkshake Man, written by Aussie pop star Amy Sheppard, did not win over the crowd. Devastated fans went online to share their heartbreak over Go-Jo's shock elimination. Just got back home from work and seen Australia's Milkshake Man has not made the Final at Eurovision. What the hell?!? We should all be ashamed! Ridiculous. Justice for Go-Jo,' one devastated fan wrote. 'I'm speechless. He gave us a wonderful show and Europe paid him dust. We are proud of you Go-Jo,' a second person added. 'Go-Jo not qualifying in #Eurovision.. RIGGED,' another sniped, as a fourth added: 'The biggest robbery that I've seen in Eurovision history. So sorry Go-Jo. I REALLY wished you qualify.' Despite the loss, the singer sad it was an 'incredible' experience. 'Aside from the result this journey has been the most incredible thing that I've ever experienced in my whole entire life,' Go-Jo said after the performance. The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest grand final will be broadcast from 5am (AEST) on Sunday, and replayed at 7.30pm, on SBS and SBS On Demand.
ABC News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Go-Jo represents Australia on world stage at Eurovision Song Contest
A long way from his WA hometown of fewer than 1,000 people, Marty Zambotto, 29, known as Go-Jo, has gyrated across the Eurovision Song Contest stage in the second singer, who grew up in a house classified as a "tin shed", was the first act in the running order to take to the Eurovision stage for semifinal two on Friday, representing Australia with the song Milkshake Man. He invited crowd participation, and the audience responded enthusiastically to the call and response, with several people waving Australian flags. There was a costume change before Go-Jo gyrated across the stage in nothing but a red scarf and his sparkly baby-blue figure-hugging slacks. "I'm so proud," co-host Tony Armstrong said after his performance. "That is how you open semifinal two, Australia!" co-host Courtney Act followed up.
Herald Sun
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Herald Sun
TV reviews: top picks include Welcome To Wrexham, Eurovision, Duster and Murderbot
We've sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week. Wrexham FC continues its charge towards the English Premier League. WELCOME TO WREXHAM FRIDAY, DISNEY+ Hardcore football fans will already know whether Wrexham FC – the Welsh team owned by Hollywood heavyweights Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – achieved the unprecedented feat of three consecutive promotions in their quest to one day join the elite English Premier League. But watching this funny and uplifting sports documentary spoiler-free is even more rewarding in its fourth season, although it's always been about so much more than the results on the pitch. Having been promoted to League One – the country's third top tier – last season, the owners and management are faced with the dilemma of consolidating their rapid rise or spending an eye-watering amount of money on players, staff, facilities and infrastructure to have a real crack at moving up again. The fans are split, with some daring to dream and others already managing expectations, but the formerly down-at-heel mining down is buzzing with the new lease of life courtesy of the spotlight the show has brought. While the snarky banter from celeb pals Reynolds and McElhenney is always welcome, the show truly shines with the personal stories that demonstrate the bond forged between teams and the communities when sport is at its best. Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act unpack this year's Eurovision Song Contest. EUROVISION SONG CONTEST WEDNESDAY, 5AM, SBS Even a decade after Australia's surprise acceptance into the world's biggest song competition, I have to confess that I still don't carry the Eurovision gene but have nothing but respect for the passionate fans who'll drag themselves out of bed at all hours for the musical mash-up of kitsch, class and downright craziness. Our representative at this year's event in Switzerland is singer-songwriter Go-Jo, with his track Milkshake Man, and steering viewers through the wildly eclectic genres and looks will be Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act. The Grand Final will go out live at 5am on Sunday and there will be Access All Areas wrap-ups on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7.30pm. Island expert Martin Clunes heads to the Atlantic Ocean. MARTIN CLUNES: ISLANDS OF THE ATLANTIC THURSDAY, 8.50PM, ABC Having already done documentaries on Britain, Australia, and America, Doc Martin star Martin Clunes is becoming quite the island expert and this time sets his gaze on tiny specks in the vast, pole-to-pole Atlantic Ocean. His first stop is the island nation of Sao Torme and Principe, off the coast of Africa, with a combined population of less than a quarter of a million people. The wry and self-deprecating Clunes makes for a wonderful guide, barely containing his joy at shepherding endangered baby turtles into the ocean, while also showing the appropriate respect and gravitas while talking to locals who endured the islands' dark slavery past thanks to Portuguese colonists and the rapacious sugar plantations that exploited them. Josh Holloway is an expert wheelman in the crime thriller Duster. DUSTER THURSDAY, MAX Come for Alias and Lost legend JJ Abrams first foray into the TV world in six years and stay for the fast and furious wheel work and fabulously funky soundtrack (there's also an excellent official soundtrack playlist on Spotify). Abrams, who co-wrote the '70s set crime thriller with LaToya Morgan, has smartly tapped his Lost star Josh Holloway to play Jim Ellis, a cocky, good old Southern boy and the best wheelman in Arizona in his cherry-red Plymouth Duster muscle car. Jim plies his trade at breakneck speed (with nary a seatbelt to be seen) for local gangster Ezra with no questions asked, until Nina (Love, Victor's Rachel Hilson), the FBI's first black female agent – who has battled sexism and racism her entire career – makes him question his loyalty in her mission to make him an informer. Alexander Skarsgard as a sentient cyborg in Murderbot. MURDERBOT FRIDAY, APPLE TV+ If this sci-fi comedy adapted from the book series The Murderbot Diaries isn't the best thing that Alexander Skarsgard has done since True Blood, it's certainly the most fun. The shredded Swedish hunk is fabulous with an awkward, nerdy inner monologue as the title character, a cyborg who has hacked his code to become self-aware, and thereby developing a love for cheesy soap operas (the Star Trek meets Days of Our Lives show-within-a-show is hilarious) and a contempt for the vast bulk of humanity. When he's reluctantly hired to protect a bunch of clueless hippy scientists on a hostile planet – and haunted by memory flashes of terrible past deeds – he has to hide his true nature, or risk being scrapped. Ewan McGregor is back on his bike in The Long Way Home LONG WAY HOME APPLE TV+, NEW EPISODES FRIDAYS Actor Ewan McGregor and his bestie Charlie Boorman conquered some hostile, remote terrain and brutal conditions in their previous motorcycle treks across Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. As befits their advancing years – and the fact that Boorman nearly died in a 2016 bike crash – their latest jaunt around Europe on refurbished vintage motorcycles is a much more genteel affair. But what it lacks in drama as they travel through Holland, Germany, the Arctic Circle and the Baltic States, it makes up for in humour as the affable pair lean more into travelogue territory, investigating local customs, like the obscure Dutch sport of far-leaping and having surprise encounters such as the German shooting and drinking club. What could possibly go wrong? Michel Roux traces his father's footsteps in Roux Down the River. ROUX DOWN THE RIVER SATURDAY, 7.30PM, SBS FOOD Never mind the Michelin starred restaurants and the gastronomic marvels whipped up by French-English chef Michel Roux as he floats down the Thames, the true MVP of this new cooking-travel series is the saliva-inducing, heart-attack-beckoning cheesy chips dish, available at pub that's only accessible by boat. Roux's own version looks even better and his enthusiasm for food and family is infectious as the retraces the steps of his famous father and uncle, who founded The Waterside Inn and helped turn the tiny riverside village of Bray into the high-end food capital of the UK. Watching him cook with his cousin Alain is a joy and his Roux's easily ability to put at ease the nervous chefs cooking for him is charming. The FA Cup final is Manchester City's last shot at some serious silverware this season. Picture:FA CUP FINAL SUNDAY 12AM, OPTUS SPORT It's been a bit of a dud season for Manchester City by their own lofty standards of recent years, with no shot at winning the league and bundled out early in the Champions League. But a win in the oldest national football competition in the world would give Pep Guardiola's billion Euro squad some consolation and a guaranteed place in the Europa League. In their way is Crystal Palace, who are currently in the bottom half of the Premier League and haven't won a major trophy in more than two decades. But the FA Cup final has rich history of upsets (and one day I'll get over unfancied Wimbledon knocking off mighty Liverpool in 1988, but probably not this century) so anything can happen. Game on! Dan Aykroyd explores the extraordinary in The Unbelievable on SBS. THE UNBELIEVABLE WITH DAN AYKROYD MONDAY, 8.30PM, SBS VICELAND Spook enthusiast and former Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd, who claims to have had four alien encounters himself, is exactly the right person to host this documentary about strange experiences and phenomena from around the world and beyond. His clipped tones and matter-of-fact delivery – backed up by news reports and various experts – make the extraordinary stories of people bossed around by nature somewhat more credible. There's close encounters with meteors, tornado survival tales, fish and gelatinous blobs falling from the sky and the man who apparently had his sight restored by a lightning strike. It veers into woo-woo territory occasionally, but does it in a briskly entertaining fashion. Train Rescue Down Under will make you look at the mighty machines with new respect. TRAIN RESCUE DOWN UNDER TUESDAY, 8PM, 7MATE This doco might be aimed at squarely as the gunzel community (that's trainspotters to you and me) but anyone who's ever stepped on to a train might be astounded by the amount of work and tech that goes into keeping your daily commute on track. This week's first episode spotlights a group of mostly blokes living their best lives by working on the Ghan, Brisbane's passenger train network and at the heritage-listed Ipswich Rail Workshop, home to Queensland's longest running steam locomotive. There's a lot of animated talk about flange rollers, gudgeon pins, keeper plates, capdabblers and smendlers (I might have made a couple of them up) but their passion, knowledge and skill can't be faulted.
