"I Am Australian" is a popular Australian song written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers and Dobe Newton of the Bushwackers. Its lyrics are filled with many historic and cultural references, such as to the "digger", Albert Namatjira and Ned Kelly, among others. Its popularity has allowed it to join the ranks of other patriotic songs considered as alternatives to the Australian national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair". It is commonly taught in primary schools. In the years since the song's release, there have been calls for it to become Australia's national anthem, notably in 2011 by former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett.
DNA Songs is a songwriting and production company founded by Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci in Australia in 2004. They have worked with a variety of international and local artists including Ricky Martin, Geri Halliwell, The Veronicas, Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem, The Saturdays, Jessica Mauboy, Timomatic, Shannon Noll and many others. They have had seven No.1 singles in Australia with The Veronicas' "You Ruin Me" and "In My Blood", as well as Delta Goodrem's single "Wings", Reece Mastin's "Good Night" and "Shout It Out", Samantha Jade's "What You've Done to Me" and Dami Im's "Alive".
Dami Im is a South Korean-born Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song "Sound of Silence", placing second and achieving the highest Eurovision Song Contest score for Australia.
Australia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times since its debut in 2015 and has been in the top ten four times. It is the second country outside of the Eurasia region to take part in the contest since Morocco competed in 1980. The country's best result in the contest is a second-place finish for Dami Im in 2016. Australia also finished in the top ten in three of its other appearances in the contest, with Guy Sebastian finishing fifth in 2015, and both Isaiah and Kate Miller-Heidke finishing ninth in 2017 and 2019.
Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "I Am Yours" written by Jimmy Harry, Dominic Muhrer, Paul Estrela, Florian Meindl and Markus Christ. The song was performed by the band The Makemakes. In addition to participating in the contest, the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2014 with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst. ORF organised the national final Wer singt für Österreich? in order to select the Austrian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna. Sixteen artists competed over three televised shows resulting in the selection of six finalists with a potential Eurovision song each. In the final, ten international juries and a public vote first selected the top two entries to proceed to a second round of voting. In the second round, "I Am Yours" performed by The Makemakes was selected as the winner after gaining 78% of the votes from a public vote.
Jessica Alyssa Cerro, who performs as Montaigne, is an Australian art pop musician and Twitch streamer. Her debut album, Glorious Heights, was released on 5 August 2016 and peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2016 she won Breakthrough Artist – Release for the album and was nominated for three other categories. In April 2016 she was a featured vocalist on Hilltop Hoods' track, "1955", which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. She was supposed to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with her song "Don't Break Me", until the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, she represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Technicolour", but did not qualify from the semi-final, becoming the first Australian entrant not to qualify to the final since the debut of Australia in 2015.
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sound of Silence" written by Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci. The song was performed by Dami Im, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Im was announced as the Australian representative on 3 March 2016 during the Sydney concert of Conchita Wurst, Austria's Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner. The song Im performed, "Sound of Silence", was presented to the public on 11 March 2016.
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Don't Come Easy" written by Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci and Michael Angelo. The song was performed by Isaiah Firebrace, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Firebrace as the Australian representative and the song he performed, "Don't Come Easy", was announced and presented to the public on 7 March 2017 during an announcement event in Melbourne.
Isaiah Firebrace is an Australian singer who won the eighth season of The X Factor Australia in 2016. He then represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Don't Come Easy", where he finished 9th.
"World" is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Lindita. It was issued as a single on 29 March 2017 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and Universal Music. The song was written by the singer herself together with Gerald Xhari, and composed by Klodian Qafoku. An English-language pop-rock ballad, it is lyrically a manifesto that discuss the challenges within a modern society simultaneously calling for rising up against wars and pleading for peace and love.
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "We Got Love" written by Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci and Jessica Mauboy. The song was performed by Jessica Mauboy, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Mauboy was announced as the Australian representative on 11 December 2017. The song Mauboy performed, "We Got Love", was presented to the public on 8 March 2018.
The Czech Republic originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Kemama" written by Osama Verse-Atile, Ben Cristóvão, Charles Sarpong and Rudy Ray. The song was performed by Benny Cristo, which is the artistic name of singer Ben Cristóvão. The Czech broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) organised the national final Eurovision Song CZ 2020 in order to select the Czech entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Seven entries competed in the national final and "Kemama" performed by Benny Cristo was announced as the winner on 3 February 2020 following the combination of votes from an eleven-member international jury panel and a public vote.
The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in 2017 in music in Australia.
Cyprus planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Greek-American-German singer Sandro was selected by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) to represent the country with the song "Running", written by Sandro, Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Rickards, Octavian Rasinariu, and Teo DK. To promote the entry, a music video was released and Sandro appeared at Sweden's selection pre-party to perform it live. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled in mid-March.
Mitch Tambo is an Australian singer and songwriter who self-released his debut EP in 2016. In 2019, he reached the final of the ninth series of Australia's Got Talent and garnered national attention. In November 2019, Tambo was signed to Sony Music Australia.
"Running" is a song recorded by Greek-German singer Sandro. Released on 7 March 2020, the song was written by Sandro, Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Rickards, Octavian Rasinariu, and Teo DK. It was planned to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being selected by the national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. However, the contest was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Technicolour" written by Montaigne and Dave Hammer. The song was performed by Montaigne, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Montaigne was announced as the Australian representative on 2 April 2020 after she was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Don't Break Me" before the 2020 event's cancellation. The song Montaigne performed, "Technicolour", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021.
North Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Here I Stand" written by Vasil Garvanliev, Borče Kuzmanovski and Davor Jordanovski. The song was performed by Vasil, which is the artistic name of singer Vasil Garvanliev who was internally selected by the North Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for North Macedonia at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after he was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "You" before the 2020 event's cancellation. Vasil's appointment as the North Macedonian representative was announced on 20 January 2021, while his song, "Here I Stand", was presented to the public on 11 March 2021.
"Here I Stand" is a song by Macedonian singer Vasil Garvanliev. The song represented North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT). It did not qualify for the final on 22 May 2021.
"Not the Same" is a song by Australian singer Sheldon Riley, released as a single on 15 February 2022. It represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, held in Turin, Italy, in May 2022. The song was co-written by Riley with Cam Nacson and Timi Temple and produced by Nacson, and is about "discrimination and exclusion". The song details his experiences with autism.
