As the first rehearsals for Semi Final 1 of the Eurovision Song Contest get underway today , we at Eurovision Ireland thought it might be an idea during our build up to the contest to look back at each of the 37 participating countries highs and lows in their history of competing in the contest .Today we will focus on the land down under-Australia .

When did Australia first compete in Eurovision ?

Australia first competed at Eurovision as part of an invite to the 60th edition of the contest , which was held in 2015, in Vienna, Austria. They were automatically qualified to the Grand Final that year. Guy Sebastian with his song “Tonight again” became the first ever act for Australia and did very well, finishing in 5th place for the nation.

Australia’s highest point at Eurovision

Just a year after their debut at Eurovision and achieving a top 5 placing , at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden, Australia internally selected Dami Im to represent them with her song “Sound of Silence “. Dami almost won the contest , coming second with 511 points.This is Australia’s best result to date .

Australia’s lowest point at Eurovision

Montaigne won the Australian National Final, Australia Decides in 2020, with the song “Don’t break me”, unfortunately the Eurovision Song contest due to be held in Rotterdam that year was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid -19 pandemic. Montaigne was then internally selected by Australian Broadcaster, SBS, to compete the following year, with the contest taking place in Rotterdam, as should have happened in 2020. Unfortunately, due to the still strict Covid travel restrictions in Australia, Montaigne could not attend Rotterdam in person, so a recorded performance of her song Technicolour was shown instead. Unfortunately for Montaigne,she finished 14th in Semi Final 1with just 28 points and therefore didn’t qualify for the Grand Final.

How will Australia do in 2023?

This year, Australian broadcaster SBS have chosen to send Voyager to Liverpool, with their song “Promise”. Voyager were unlucky not to win the 2022 edition of Australia Decides , losing out to Sheldon Riley .The song is becoming quite highly regarded with fans on social media. Can Voyager bring Australia not only to the final, but back into the top 5 ?

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Author; Sarah Rudman

Source; SBS Eurovision .TV