Latest news with #GoJo
News.com.au
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Eurovision Song Contest 2025: All the highlights from this year's grand final
WARNING: Contains spoilers. Welcome to our live coverage of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest final. The 69th annual international competition is taking place in Basel, Switzerland today, with the grand finale broadcast kicking off on SBS at 5am. Unfortunately for Australians, our representative Go-Jo was shockingly booted in the second semi-final despite his song Milkshake Man being wildly popular among the fan community and 900-strong media contingent. It was the second consecutive year we didn't qualify for the grand final, following Electric Fields in Malmo, Sweden in 2024 – Montaigne also didn't make it in 2022, forced to send a video entry to Rotterdam because of pandemic travel restrictions. Perhaps the novelty of our inclusion in the European singing Olympics has worn off in our 10th year at the contest. In the wake of Australia not securing the vital fan and jury votes to advance to the 2025 grand final, SBS will be seriously considering our ongoing participation at Eurovision. Sweden's KAJ and their entry Bara Bada Bastu, an offbeat tribute to Nordic sauna culture, remains the song to beat in Basel. Should the Swedish representative, who are actually from Finland, win this year, they would overtake Ireland as the country with the most titles in its 69 year' history. Other favourites include Austria's JJ with his emo-opera epic Wasted Love and controversial sexually-charged dark horses, Malta's Mariana Conte with Serving, and Finland's Erika Vikram with Ich Komme. The song's title cheekily skirts Eurovision 'keep it nice' regulations and translates to 'I'm coming.'
ABC News
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Eurovision live updates: 2025 grand final begins in Basel, Switzerland
It's Eurovision time! After two tough, audience-voted semi finals, we have our 26 countries that will be battling it out for 2025 Eurovision supremacy. Unfortunately, Australia's artist Go-Jo didn't make it through to the grand final, so we won't be hearing more of his epic ode to self-confidence and self-expression, Milkshake Man. Follow along live.
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
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
What time is the Eurovision 2025 grand final? Where can I watch from Australia?
After two electric semi-finals, we're at the pointy end of the Eurovision Song Contest. This weekend, 26 countries will battle through ballads, opera, pop and techno, vying to be crowned the winners of Eurovision 2025. Here's what you need to know ahead of the grand final. It's being held on Saturday night in Switzerland. Because of the time difference, it'll be early Sunday morning in Australia. Want to catch up on the semifinals? On SBS and SBS on Demand. We'll also be live blogging all the action on ABC News from 4:30am AEST. Don't worry if you're not an early riser though. SBS will be broadcasting a repeat of the final at 7:30pm on Sunday. The broadcast will kick off at: No, unfortunately not. Australia's entrant Go-Jo was knocked out after its performance in the second semi-finals earlier this week. This year, 37 countries entered the contest but only 26 of them are in the grand final. Twenty countries made it through the publicly voted semi-finals this week. They are: Then there are the 'big five' countries that automatically gain entry to the grand final due to the financial contributions they make to the competition: Finally, as the reigning champion, Switzerland gets a free pass into the grand final. Each participating country gives two sets of points to their top 10 songs: One set of those points comes from the a public vote of viewers from that country. The other set is decided by a jury of five music industry professionals from that country. The act with the most points wins. Yes. While people in Europe can vote via text and call, Australian's can only vote online. The public are allowed up to 20 votes each but, fair warning, it will cost you 65c per vote. You can access Australia's online voting portal during the Eurovision grand final here. In short, because Australian broadcaster SBS has been such a big supporter of the event. It's been covering the contest since 1983 — a whopping four decades — but Australian acts have only been taking the stage for 10 years. In 2015, Australia was invited to compete as a wildcard entry to align with the 'building bridges' theme of that year. Given Guy Sebastian's success (coming in fifth place) that year, the SBS struck a deal with the EBU for Australia to stay on the bill until 2023. In 2024 and 2025, we were invited back to compete again.
Malay Mail
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Eurovision 2025: Lust, opera and political tensions collide as Austria, Finland and Israel secure final spots
BASEL, May 16 — Austria's operatic JJ, Israel's competitor Yuval Raphael and Finland's leather-clad lust queen made it through to the Eurovision Song Contest final after wowing TV viewers with their performances yesterday. Sixteen countries battled in the second semi-final for the last 10 places in tomorrow's showpiece final. Yesterday's event brought more of the drama and kitsch that the world's biggest live television music event is used to. Austria, Israel and Finland were the bookmakers' favourites to qualify from the show in St Jakobshalle arena in Basel, and voters across Europe and beyond duly sent them into to the final, when 160 million to 200 million TV viewers are expected to tune in. Armenia, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Malta also made it through. French-Australian singer Marty Zambotto known as Go-Jo representing Australia with the song 'Milkshake Man' performs during the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel May 15, 2025. — AFP pic Australian social media powerhouse Go-Jo opened yesterday's show with Milkshake Man, a song dripping in innuendo and 1970s glam vibes. But there was a shock as he crashed out, as did competitors from the Czech Republic, Georgia, Ireland, Montenegro and Serbia. Erika Vikman, representing Finland, performs 'ICH KOMME', during the second semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel May 15, 2025. — Reuters pic 'Ich Komme' Austria's JJ performed Wasted Love, a personal song of unrequited emotions which combined high-pitched operatic vocals and modern beats. 'I was excited, I was also in my feels, feeling everything that we wrote, all of the emotions that we had in the song, and just very happy to have finally performed in front of Europe,' he said. Finland's Erika Vikman has been gaining momentum during Eurovision week and closed yesterday's show in memorable fashion with Ich Komme. The leather-clad performer's raunchy song is about falling into the trance of lust — and finished with the singer riding a golden microphone suspended in the air. And as she awaited the viewers' verdict, she tried a Swiss fondue, dripping hot melted cheese on the floor. Maltese diva Miriana Conte's performance of Serving featured a giant pair of lips, a glitter ball, furs and fans, and ended with her bouncing around on a rubber ball. Georgia's Mariam Shengelia brought snow queen vibes to her dramatic ballad Freedom. But it was not enough to see her through. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael representing Israel with the song 'New Day Will Rise' performs during the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel May 15, 2025. — AFP pic Protests over Israel's participation Israel's participation in Eurovision 2025 has drawn protests over the war in Gaza. Raphael survived the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds. 'The second I went on stage, I saw a few friends of mine in the audience and my heart just went silent, and I'm like, 'just enjoy: you have one of the most incredible experiences in life; just enjoy the moment'. And that's what I did,' she said. Protesters hold Palestinian flags as they march on the day of the dress rehearsal 2 for the second semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, May 14, 2025. — Reuters pic Outside the arena, dozens of protesters milled about on Thursday with Palestinian flags on their shoulders. Elsewhere in Basel, dozens attended a rally in support of Raphael, waving large Israeli flags. At the final dress rehearsal, six demonstrators who disrupted Raphael's performance with oversized flags and whistles were ejected, the host broadcaster said. A fan wearing fantasy glasses attends the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel May 15, 2025. — AFP pic Hot pink and sequins Some 6,500 hyped-up Eurovision fans filled the arena, dressed to the nines in leopard print, sequinned dresses and even hot-pink zebra stripes. Austrian fan Marcel Fina said JJ had every chance to win the final. 'Definitely, it's a very good song. It's unique, it's special, that's what you need for Eurovision. He sings incredibly, and we have very good chances this year,' he told AFP. Twenty-six countries will take part in Saturday's show. Sweden are the overall hot favourites to win Eurovision, followed by Austria, then Netherlands, France, Finland and Israel, according to the bookmakers. Comedy trio KAJ — from Finland but representing Sweden — are making their competitors sweat with their song Bara Bada Bastu, about the joys of having a sauna. They came through Tuesday's first semi-final, as did Estonia's Tommy Cash with his Italian-accented Espresso Macchiato and Poland's Justyna Steczkowska, who first appeared at Eurovision in 1995. — AFP
