Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country	Australia
National selection
Selection process	Eurovision – Australia Decides
Selection date(s)	9 February 2019
Selected entrant	Kate Miller-Heidke
Selected song	"Zero Gravity"
Selected songwriter(s)	Kate Miller-Heidke Keir Nuttall Julian Hamilton
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (1st, 261 points)
Final result	9th, 284 points
Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Zero Gravity" written by Kate Miller-Heidke, Keir Nuttall and Julian Hamilton. The song was performed by Kate Miller-Heidke. The Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) organised the national final Eurovision - Australia Decides in order to select the Australian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ten artists and songs competed in the national final and the winner was selected by a public and jury vote.

Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 by invitation from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as a "one-off" special guest to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Eurovision. On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part. In 2015, Australia was guaranteed a spot in the final of the contest and was allowed to vote during both semi-finals and the final; however, from the 2016 contest and onwards, Australia would have to qualify to the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was allocated to compete.

Australia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2019. Performing during the show in position 12, "Zero Gravity" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Australia placed first out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 261 points. In the final, Australia performed in position 25 and placed ninth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 284 points.

Background

Main article: Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest since 1983, and the contest has gained a cult following over that time, primarily due to the country's strong political and cultural ties with Europe. Paying tribute to this, the 2014 contest semi-finals included an interval act featuring Australian singer Jessica Mauboy. ^[1] Australian singers have also participated at Eurovision as representatives of other countries, including Olivia Newton-John (1974, United Kingdom), two-time winner Johnny Logan (1980 and 1987, Ireland), Gina G (1996, United Kingdom), and Jane Comerford as lead singer of Texas Lightning (2006, Germany). ^[2]

Tying in with the goal of Eurovision—to showcase "the importance of bringing countries together to celebrate diversity, music and culture", the 2015 theme of "Building Bridges", and arguing that they could not hold "the world's biggest party" to celebrate the 60th edition of Eurovision without inviting Australia, the EBU announced on 10 February 2015 that the country would compete at that year's edition as a special guest participant. ^[2] Along with the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the host country of Austria, Australia was given automatic entry into the final to "not reduce the chances" of the semi-final participants. ^[3] On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part, however they would have to qualify for the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was competing. On 2 October 2018, SBS confirmed Australia's participation in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest after securing an invitation for the fifth year in a row. ^[4] In 2018, Australia was represented by Jessica Mauboy and the song "We Got Love". The country ended in twentieth place in the grand final with 99 points. On 14 October 2018, SBS announced that they would hold a national final for the first time to select the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

Before Eurovision

Eurovision – Australia Decides

Main article: Eurovision – Australia Decides

Eurovision – Australia Decides was the national final in order to select the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition took place at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast on 9 February 2019, hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey. Ten artists and songs competed with the winner being determined by a combination of public and jury voting. ^[5] The show was broadcast on SBS as well as streamed online at SBS On Demand. ^[6] The national final was watched by 298,000 viewers in Australia. ^[7]

Competing entries

On 14 October 2018, SBS announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs online until 4 November 2018. Songwriters were required to be citizens or permanent residents of Australia and songs were required to be in English or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language. Minor collaborations with foreign songwriters were permitted as long as the majority of the composers/songwriters were Australian citizens or permanent residents. ^[8] Over 700 songs were submitted following the deadline. Ten songs were selected for the competition from the received submissions and performers of the selected songs were determined by SBS in consultation with the songwriters. ^[9] The ten competing acts were announced in three sets between 2 December 2018 and 18 January 2019. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Final

The final took place on 9 February 2019. The combination of public votes (50%) and a five-member jury (50%) selected "Zero Gravity" performed by Kate Miller-Heidke as the winner. ^[13] The jury consisted of Christer Björkman (producer of Melodifestivalen and of various Eurovision Song Contests), Fifa Riccobono (former CEO of Albert Music), Milly Petriella (Artist Service director of APRA), Josh Martin (SBS Commissioning Editor for Entertainment) and Paul Clarke (Head of the Australian Eurovision Delegation) who each distributed points from 1-8, 10 and 12 during the preview show on 8 February 2019 and had a total of 290 points to award. Viewers were able to vote via SMS and the total votes were divided by 290 to determine the quota that would equal to a single point. The number of votes each song gained was then divided by the quota and rounded up to the nearest integer to determine the points an entry would be awarded. ^[14] In addition to the performances of the ten competing entries, singer Casey Donovan and 2016 Australian Eurovision entrant Dami Im performed as the interval acts. ^[15]

Eurovision – Australia Decides – 9 February 2019

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Ella Hooper	"Data Dust"	Alice Chance	12	6	18	10
2	Electric Fields	"2000 and Whatever"	Michael Ross, Zaachariaha Fielding	44	70	114	2
3	Mark Vincent	"This Is Not the End"	Isabella Kearney-Nurse, Mark Vincent, Roberto De Sá	19	19	38	7
4	Aydan	"Dust"	Aydan Calafiore, Cam Bluff, Dylan Joel	38	10	48	6
5	Courtney Act	"Fight for Love"	Danny Shah, Felicity Birt, Courtney Act, Sky Adams	26	26	52	4
6	Leea Nanos	"Set Me Free"	Frank Dixon, Leea Nanos	10	11	21	9
7	Sheppard	"On My Way"	George Sheppard, Amy Sheppard, Jay Bovino, Jon Hume	41	46	87	3
8	Alfie Arcuri	"To Myself"	Alfie Arcuri, Audius Mtawarira, Séb Mont	35	14	49	5
9	Kate Miller-Heidke	"Zero Gravity"	Kate Miller-Heidke, Keir Nuttall	48	87	135	1
10	Tania Doko	"Piece of Me"	Tania Doko, Christian Fast, Peter Mansson	17	6	23	8

Promotion

Prior to the Eurovision Song Contest, Kate Miller-Heidke made several appearances across Australia to promote "Zero Gravity" as the Australian Eurovision entry. On 6 April, Miller-Heidke performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, hosted by Cornald Maas and Marlayne, to over 4,500 spectators. ^[16] Miller-Heidke also gave several promotional interviews to Australian media outlets prior to the competition.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Australia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. ^[17]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Australia was set to perform in position 12, following the entry from Georgia and preceding the entry from Iceland. ^[18]

Semi-final

Australia performed twelfth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Georgia and preceding the entry from Iceland. At the end of the show, they were announced as one of the ten countries to qualify for the grand final, keeping their perfect qualification record intact. After the show, Kate appeared at a press conference with the other nine finalists to draw which half of the final she would participate in. Australia was drawn to compete in the second half. It was later revealed that Australia won the first semi-final, scoring 261 points, 140 points from the televoting and 121 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final. ^[19]

Points awarded to Australia

Points awarded to Australia (Semi-final 1) [20] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Israel   Belgium   Finland   Iceland   Poland   Spain 10 points   Belarus   Belgium   Czech Republic   Iceland   Poland   Portugal   Greece 8 points   Finland   Greece   Belarus   Israel 7 points   France   Montenegro   Serbia   Spain   France 6 points   San Marino   San Marino 5 points   Estonia   Hungary   Hungary   Montenegro   Serbia 4 points   Cyprus   Slovenia   Georgia 3 points 2 points   Portugal 1 point   Estonia

Points awarded to Australia (Final) [21] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Poland   Romania 10 points   Iceland   Ireland   United Kingdom   Finland   Germany   Iceland   Moldova   North Macedonia   Spain 8 points   Czech Republic   United Kingdom 7 points   Portugal   Serbia 6 points   Finland   France   Israel   Italy   Latvia   Poland   Italy   Sweden 5 points   Germany   Spain   Sweden   Israel 4 points   Belgium   Norway   Portugal   Russia   Belgium   France   Ireland   Montenegro    Switzerland 3 points   Austria   Greece   Malta 2 points   Belarus   Cyprus   Denmark   Estonia   Netherlands   Romania   Slovenia   Albania   Azerbaijan   Greece   Lithuania   Netherlands 1 point   Albania   Armenia   Lithuania

Points awarded by Australia

Points awarded by Australia (Semi-final 1) [20] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Iceland   Czech Republic 10 points   Czech Republic   Iceland 8 points   Greece   Poland 7 points   Estonia   Greece 6 points   San Marino   Hungary 5 points   Poland   Georgia 4 points   Portugal   Slovenia 3 points   Cyprus   Serbia 2 points   Belarus   Finland 1 point   Hungary   San Marino

Points awarded by Australia (Final) [21] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Norway   Sweden 10 points   Iceland   France 8 points   Sweden   Iceland 7 points    Switzerland   North Macedonia 6 points   Netherlands   Netherlands 5 points   Italy   Czech Republic 4 points   Malta   Russia 3 points   France   Germany 2 points   Czech Republic   Azerbaijan 1 point   Azerbaijan   Serbia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Australian jury: ^[19]

• Mark Cummins (jury chairperson) –broadcaster
• Christine Anu  –singer, songwriter, radio DJ
• Alice Chance –composer
• Mark Humphries –entertainment professional actor, writer
• Lewis Hobba  –radio DJ, comedian

Detailed voting results from Australia (Semi-final 1) ^[20]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		C. Anu	A. Chance	M. Cummins	M. Humphries	L. Hobba	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Cyprus	5	13	8	14	9	12		8	3
02	Montenegro	13	9	4	12	13	14		16
03	Finland	10	4	9	9	10	9	2	13
04	Poland	11	1	11	7	1	3	8	6	5
05	Slovenia	15	14	1	2	12	7	4	11
06	Czech Republic	8	6	3	1	6	1	12	2	10
07	Hungary	6	2	6	4	7	5	6	10	1
08	Belarus	9	15	14	16	11	15		9	2
09	Serbia	2	10	7	13	4	8	3	12
10	Belgium	16	8	12	3	14	11		14
11	Georgia	7	3	10	10	2	6	5	15
12	Australia
13	Iceland	1	5	16	5	3	2	10	1	12
14	Estonia	12	16	13	15	16	16		4	7
15	Portugal	14	11	5	11	8	13		7	4
16	Greece	3	7	2	8	5	4	7	3	8
17	San Marino	4	12	15	6	15	10	1	5	6

Detailed voting results from Australia (Final) ^[21]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		C. Anu	A. Chance	M. Cummins	M. Humphries	L. Hobba	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	20	8	18	16	12	18		7	4
02	Albania	14	14	24	21	20	21		23
03	Czech Republic	13	13	11	1	6	6	5	9	2
04	Germany	12	2	12	24	19	8	3	25
05	Russia	11	9	10	9	5	7	4	16
06	Denmark	21	12	13	6	16	17		17
07	San Marino	25	21	25	11	24	22		18
08	North Macedonia	4	4	14	5	4	4	7	13
09	Sweden	3	3	1	2	2	1	12	3	8
10	Slovenia	22	17	19	8	25	19		24
11	Cyprus	16	23	20	14	11	20		14
12	Netherlands	5	5	2	13	15	5	6	5	6
13	Greece	15	16	3	22	10	11		15
14	Israel	8	10	8	18	13	13		20
15	Norway	10	11	15	4	21	12		1	12
16	United Kingdom	17	22	22	20	17	24		22
17	Iceland	2	6	16	7	1	3	8	2	10
18	Estonia	24	25	23	25	23	25		12
19	Belarus	19	24	21	19	14	23		21
20	Azerbaijan	9	15	4	10	18	9	2	10	1
21	France	1	1	9	3	3	2	10	8	3
22	Italy	7	7	17	15	22	16		6	5
23	Serbia	6	19	7	23	7	10	1	19
24	Switzerland	23	18	5	17	8	14		4	7
25	Australia
26	Spain	18	20	6	12	9	15		11

References

1. Vincent, Peter (9 May 2014). "Jessica Mauboy performs at Eurovision Song Contest". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 17 November 2015.
2. Kemp, Stuart; Plunkett, John (10 February 2015). "Eurovision Song Contest invites Australia to join 'world's biggest party'". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 March 2016.
3. Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
4. Farren, Neil (2 October 2018). "Australia: Eurovision 2019 Participation Confirmed". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
5. "We're opening our song submission for Eurovision 2019!". SBS. 14 October 2018.
6. "Eurovision – Australia Decides: What happens at the Opening Night Show?". SBS. 14 January 2019. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
7. Granger, Anthony (11 February 2019). "Australia: Over 298,000 Viewers For Eurovision – Australia Decides". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
8. ""It's game on!" — SBS officially announce national final 'Eurovision – Australia Decides – Gold Coast 2019', opens submissions to songwriters". Wiwibloggs. 14 October 2018.
9. "Invitation to Submit Songs for Eurovision – Australia Decides, the selection show for Australia's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019" (PDF). SBS. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
10. "Australia: Sheppard and Kate Miller-Heidke among first acts for Australia Decides". Wiwibloggs. 2 December 2018.
11. "Australia Reveals More Contenders for Their National Selection". 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
12. "Australia Decides: Ella Hooper, Tania Doko and Alfie Arcuri complete national final line-up". wiwibloggs. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
13. "Eurovision - Australia Decides 2019, Voting Terms and Conditions" (PDF). sbs.com.au.
14. Knox, David (12 February 2019). "How the votes were tallied for Eurovision: Australia Decides". TV Tonight.
15. Currinn, Jonathan (14 February 2019). "Kate Miller-Heidke Wins "Eurovision – Australia Decides" With "Zero Gravity" And Will Represent The Country At Eurovision 2019". CelebMix. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
16. "This was Eurovision in Concert 2019 in Amsterdam". Eurovision.tv. 6 April 2019.
17. Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
18. "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
19. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
20. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
21. "Results of the Grand Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.

External links

• Official SBS Eurovision site
• Eurovision – Australia Decides site