Make a song and dance
EUROVISION IS OURS FOR THE TAKING SO JOIN THE RIDE
Eurovision Song Contest tragics field the same vexing question every year from the casual fans; why is Australia even there?
In the 2022 contest in Italy, our hopes of making this weekend’s grand final rest on the shoulders of powerful vocalist Sheldon Riley, who won the Australia Decides selection show in February.
It will be our seventh shot at the title since we were invited by the European Broadcasting Union to compete in 2015 as part of Eurovision’s 60th celebrations.
The EBU saw the loyal Australian audience that SBS had built since it started airing Eurovision in 1983 and figured we would fit right in; we love pop belters and outrageous kitsch.
Since becoming only the second country outside of Eurasia to be invited, after Morocco in 1980, we’ve punched well above our weight in these singing Olympics.
Guy Sebastian placed fifth with Tonight Again in 2015, Dami Im almost won it in 2016 with Sound of Silence, and Isaiah Firebrace (2017) and Kate Miller-Heidke (2019) both claimed ninth.
Jessica Mauboy was shockingly smashed by the public vote in 2018 and finished 20th and last year’s artist Montaigne failed to qualify after being forced to submit a taped video entry due to the Covid risks of travelling to the Rotterdam contest.
Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst, who took up the host roles in 2017, reckon this could be the year the “Why are we in Eurovision?” question is retired.
“People stop me on the street daily to talk about Eurovision, so I think Australians are more invested than ever,” Creasey says.
“It’s definitely more on people’s radar now; people aren’t saying ‘Eurovision, what’s that?’ They are definitely aware of the competition.”
Both hosts cite the hilarious Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams parody film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, released on Netflix after the 2020 competition was Covid-cancelled, as bringing more fans into the fold.
“Someone did ask me the other day if that was the ‘show’ the Netflix film was based on. Yes, yes, it is,” Creasey says, with a mock eyeroll.
Warhurst also points at the phenomenal post-Eurovision global takeover of last year’s winner, Italian rock band Maneskin.
The band – with their singles I Wanna Be Your Slave and a cover of The Four Seasons’ Beggin – may be the biggest success story since ABBA won for Sweden with Waterloo in 1974, and Celine Dion for Switzerland in 1988.
“They just played Coachella; no one would ever have thought a Eurovision winner would play that festival. Their contemporary cool factor has got a lot of people curious about the contest now,” Warhurst says.
Hosting Eurovision requires the pair walk a fine line between fandom and critique, between celebrating the camp and commentating on the politics of it all. After they picked up the baton from Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang, who were profoundly influential in building Eurovision’s profile in Australia with their dynamic double act over eight years, Creasey and Warhurst took a couple of years to win over the diehards.
There is now fan recognition that the host duo are themselves obsessed by all things Eurovision; the pair spend countless hours studying the 40 artists and songs in the competition and are well versed on the weird and wonderful factoids about the singing Olympics.
And they know what makes an entry perfectly Eurovision worthy. They
both believe the performance, pop vocal precision and fab outfit Sheldon Riley brings with his entry Not The Same is tailor-made for the over-the-top television production.
“I think Sheldon is perfectly dramatic for Eurovision and (his performance) might be the moment that Eurovision needs, he really stands out,” Warhurst says.
“I’ve gone through all the songs and I’m loving the form of Eurovision this year, which is going more traditional; there’s heaps of songs in language, lots of local references, and bad ’80s rock ballads and really tacky songs which are funny in the best possible way.
“That one about caring for the environment, Eat Your Salad by Latvia, I get the sentiment but it’s the most uncool song and I love it.”
Creasey believes the Russian invasion of Ukraine coupled with other sociopolitical issues – and against the backdrop of the expulsion of Russia and Belarus from this year’s contest – could influence the voting blocs, both public and the official juries from each nation.
A pattern has emerged over the decades of juries tending to award their highest points to neighbouring or allied nations.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how Ukraine go with the public vote because they’ll have a lot of support behind them,” he says.
“I’m intrigued to see how the different voting blocs work this year and also behind the scenes, how Covid is going to affect the interaction between the artists and delegations.”
Now it remains for our contestant Riley to nail his performance in the second semifinal this week and make it into the grand final, which kicks off at 5am on Sunday (AEST). And impress all the right people backstage.
“Part of the job is to make friends with a whole lot of different countries and their broadcast media to get his story out and have people want to vote for him,” Creasey says.
The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest will air on SBS. Semi-final 1 is on May 11 at 5am and repeated on May 13 at 8.30pm. Semi-final 2, featuring Sheldon Riley, airs on May 13 at 5am and repeated on May 14 at 8.30pm. The grand final airs on May 15 at 5am and repeated that day at 7.30pm.