ZEMIRO’S PAST
This isn’t the first time Zemiro has taken to our screens as the host of a music-based television show. In 2005, Zemiro was cast as the host of
Rockwiz, a music trivia show filmed at the historic Esplanade Hotel in Melbourne. Then, in 2009, she was paired with Sam Pang to co-host the Australian coverage of Eurovision. A big part of that job is meeting the contestants, something she remembers fondly.
“Sam and I went backstage a lot and interviewed the most wacky, over-the-top extraordinary [people] from around Europe and a lot of them didn’t speak English!” she recalls. Of all the parts of the world she’s seen thanks to that show, she does have a favourite.
“I have to say as much as I adored going to Scandinavia, when we went to Azerbaijan, to the capital Baku, to go there and discover a new place and all the positives and negatives of that place but also to see Sweden win ... [it was amazing],” Zemiro explains. “The volunteers were so lovely. They were so overwhelmed that this event was in their city. I spent so much time talking to them. That was always the great thing about Eurovision, to meet the people on the ground.”
As for the most memorable Eurovision to be part of, one stands out.
“The Copenhagen Eurovision where Conchita [Wurst] won, it was in a crazy custom-built space!”