Eurovision, the zany, annual pop extravaganza, begins this week in Liverpool.
English singer and songwriter Mae Muller will probably be seeking to take it house for the hosts with I Wrote A Song, after the nation got here runner-up final 12 months, represented by Sam Ryder along with his track Space Man.
Who will characterize Australia and why is Australia competing in EUROvision anyway?
Guy Sebastian’s look for Australia in 2015 was presupposed to be a one-off, however we have been invited again yearly since.
The contest enjoys a cult following right here, attracts a number of Australian viewers, and will get widespread media consideration.
This would be the first time Australia has despatched a band, as a substitute of a soloist, to the occasion, however our synth-metal rockers will not look misplaced within the Eurovision line-up which is understood for attracting various and eclectic performers.
In 2006, Finnish heavy metallic band Lordi donned monster prosthetics for his or her profitable efficiency Hard Rock Hallelujah.
The contest additionally delivers a beneficiant serving of pop ballads like ABBA’s notorious Waterloo which received in 1974, and has since been deemed the very best track within the competitors’s historical past.
If Australia had been to win Eurovision (Dami Im got here second in 2016 with Sound of Silence so it is actually not unattainable) it is unlikely we might ever host the competition ourselves, as a substitute we might doubtless co-host inside a rustic on the European continent.
Liverpool, the World Capital of Pop
BBC Director-General Tim Davie mentioned Liverpool, “the undisputed capital of pop music”, and birthplace of The Beatles, could be “an amazing host”.
The UK had turn into disenchanted with the competition after a string of poor outcomes however coming second final 12 months has reignited widespread enthusiasm, in response to Muller.
“I feel like with the UK, we have the tendency to be quite like self-deprecating,” Muller mentioned.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously and I feel like that might have been like half our problem maybe with Eurovision. And I feel like now we’re like, ‘Let’s take this seriously. Like, let’s do this’.”
The final time the UK received the competition was 1997, because of Katrina and the Waves and Love Shine A Light.
The intervening years have seen 5 last-place outcomes for the UK.
For years, the Brits blamed their streak of unhealthy outcomes on Europe’s dissatisfaction with them over Brexit.
Separating pop and politics
The contest claims to be a “non-political event” and its guidelines expressly state “the ESC (Eurovision Song Contest) shall in no case be politicised and/or instrumentalised and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way”.
The contest was based in 1956 to assist unite a continent scarred by World War II, and has since grown to incorporate greater than 40 nations.
While organisers attempt to maintain pop and politics aside – banning overtly political symbols and lyrics – international tensions have usually imposed themselves on the competition.
Russia was kicked out of this 12 months’s competitors due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s win final 12 months, helped by a landslide phone-vote was seen as an act of solidarity by the European viewers.
Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the inclusion of Israel have additionally affected the present in previous years.
IN PICTURES: The greatest acts from the Eurovision grand closing
Yes, however not for Australia.
Australians can vote in semi closing 1 held on Tuesday night time (Wednesday morning AEST) (as a result of we’re competing in semi closing 2 on Thursday) and the grand closing on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST), if we make it that far.
Source: www.9news.com.au
