Soapie star, award-winning singer and songwriter, The Voice coach, cancer survivor, Australia’s sweetheart.
By tomorrow morning, there might be another way to describe Sydney’s Delta Goodrem — “Eurovision Song Contest winner”.
Our own girl next door became one of Australia’s best prospects of taking home the crystal microphone when she breezed through Thursday’s semi-final with her knock-out performance of her song Eclipse.
Goodrem rocketed up the betting odds after performing a big piano ballad with big vocals to match to a rapturous Vienna crowd, which, amid the tension of the current world climate, can be tough to please.
Goodrem, of course, handles her big notes with aplomb and joins a list of seasoned Aussie Eurovision entrants capable of handling the gruelling list of shows, which will see them perform to a live audience at least six times by the final.
Her song signifies the imperfect timing for love, in keeping with this year’s Eurovision theme “United by Music” and features a classic Eurovision key change and goosebump-inducing high notes.
Goodrem’s three-minute performance sees her elevated on a pedestal flicking her hair against wind machines, wearing a glittering gold gown adorned with 7,000 Swarovski crystals. Oh, and there’s fireworks too!
After all, this is Eurovision, where extravagance is far from a dirty word.
THE COMPETITION
Delta will be joined in the grand final by performers from 19 countries.
The semi-final qualifiers were Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Malta, Romania, Ukraine, Norway, Greece, Finland, Moldova, Belgium, Croatia, Israel, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Sweden.
United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany gain automatic entry to the final as member of the “Big Five”, which contribute the most to the funding of Eurovision through their broadcasters.
Austria also gets automatic entry as the host nation.
THE FAVOURITES
On Friday, Goodrem was within a whisker of securing the win as second favourite to win Eurovision with betting odds of $4.50.
Finland duo Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen are her biggest competition with odds of just $1.90. The pair’s fiery performance includes a live violin solo and is a firm favourite among international fans.
The Finns have landed a second-half position in the grand final running order, which traditionally leads to higher scores from the public vote, while Goodrem has landed a less-favourable eighth in the line-up.
In a world in desperate need of some light relief, Greece is also an outside chance to win with a novelty act from Akylas with his song “Ferto” — a zany dance number featuring furry tiger ears, video game effects and a dancing statue.
Danish entrant Søren Torpegaard Lund with his lively electro-pop number and French 17-year-old Monroe’s operatic ballad Regarde are also likely to land in the top 10.
While it’s inclusion in the contest triggered an exodus of performers, Israel has put forward an incredible entry in Noam Bettan, who could attract some interesting results in the public vote.
THE GRAND FINAL ITSELF
Aussie Eurovision fans are used to running on little sleep with the grand final televised live on SBS at the ungodly hour of 3am WA time.
The show lasts about four hours, including a “half-time show” which gives the public time to vote and time for them to be counted before the winner is announced.
The winner performs their song to close the show, usually while holding the coveted crystal microphone and yelling “thank you, Europe!”
Performers must sing live in Eurovision and can sing in any language, but most these days sing in English. Their song must be an original song (no covers!) and no longer than three minutes.
Acts are limited to six people on stage, including dancers, musicians and celebrity guests (this year, San Marino even brought along Boy George). Instruments are often performed to a backing track to limit hiccups during the live final and allow a tight turnaround between acts.
This means Goodrem will likely have little opportunity to show her impressive live piano playing abilities — boo!
THE PROCEEDINGS, HOW IT WORKS
To get to the grand final, performers must qualify in the top 10 acts in one of two semi-finals.
Getting there involves winning over the public as well as the “jury” — a panel of seven music industry representatives from each country.
The jury award points based on a criteria involving vocal ability, performance, composition and originality and count for 50 per cent of the total points, designed to prevent block voting and votes on popularity alone.
The public, which votes during the live show, awards the other 50 per cent of the points — and the results are often wildly different to the jury’s.
While viewers at home only see the televised semi and grand finals, the performers have actually performed to a live audience three times for each event.
One show is held for the jury panel, which is not televised, and a second “family friendly” show is also held for each of the semi and grand finals.
WHY IS AUSTRALIA IN EUROVISION AND WHAT HAPPENS IF WE WIN?
While we’re clearly not part of Europe, Australia was offered entry into Eurovision in 2015 because national broadcaster SBS is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.
The Europeans love us so much, they keep letting us come back!
While we got an automatic spot in the grand final during our debut year with Guy Sebastian, we have been required to qualify through the semi-finals since — and we haven’t always made the cut!
The country that wins Eurovision is usually awarded hosting rights for the following year, but, sadly, that doesn’t mean it’s coming to Australia if we win.
If Goodrem takes the crystal mic, we’ll likely jointly host next year’s event in another European country, likely the UK or Germany.
Hosting rights were forfeited last in 2022 when the Ukraine act won the height of the country’s conflict with Russia. The United Kingdom hosted on its behalf with Ukrainian artists featuring prominently in the event.
CONTROVERSIES
Amid worldwide political unrest and conflict, this year’s theme of United By Music has never been more appropriate.
While Eurovision has strict rules around remaining apolitical, such issues inevitably creep into the show, including controversial block voting and protests during the live events.
Eurovision powerhouse the Netherlands as well as Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia and big five nation Spain have pulled out of this year’s contest due to the organisers refusal to disqualify Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
This year’s live shows are likely to be the subject of heightened security but, despite this, protesters were able to chant and jeer throughout a large proportion of Israel’s performance and booing was heard throughout.
THE FAVOURITES
1. Finland
2. Australia
3. Greece
4. Denmark
5. Israel
OUR PICK FOR TOP 3
1. Australia
2. Sweden
3. Finland
THE GRAND FINAL
Where: Wiener Stadthalle. Vienna, Austria
Time it starts: Sunday, 3am WA time
Time winner announced: About 7am
