28 March 2024

Ever since Australia’s first appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, there’s been a problematic element to it. The familiar cry of “Australia is not in Europe” and the ongoing debate is so tedious, and it should have been permanently resolved by now. In 2015, at least that key element about geography was made redundant when the European Broadcasting Union made it clear it was a “one-off” appearance as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the contest. Australia got a direct spot in the grand final, and if they somehow won, would co-host the event in Europe somewhere. From then on, Australia has participated every year since, and it’s become a period of deceit and lies by the EBU, and a selective application of rules, to seemingly make it a permanent situation. All the while, there was never any explanation about the legitimate reality that Australia is no where near Europe and actually has no right to be in the Eurovision Song Contest at all.

The issue regarding Australia in geographic terms does not relate to continents anyway, as the boundary for EBU membership is actually the European Broadcasting Area. This area extends to northern Africa, so captures the likes of Israel, rendering as ignorant and irrelevant the counter point that “neither is Israel in Europe” to the question about Australia. At Eurovision 2014 in Copenhagen, when Jessica Mauboy was confirmed as an interval during the second semi final, I posted Australia will never compete in the Eurovision Song Contest in which I, while debunking myths about live coverage, level of interest and noting the problematic timezone, primarily dismissed the idea based the EBU’s own eligibility rules. The text is clear on the respective pages for members and associates, and it has not changed in all these years.

Associate membership of the EBU is open to broadcasting organisations or groups thereof from a member country of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outside the European Broadcasting Area which provide a radio and/or television service with a major role in national broadcasting and whose membership is deemed useful for the EBU.

It is important to note that associate membership does not grant access to the Eurovision system…

https://www.ebu.ch/about/members?type=associate

The Eurovision system relates to the Eurovision television network, not just Eurovision events.

EBU members, sometimes referred to as full members, are the familiar countries we traditionally see the Eurovision Song Contest. The key pieces of text:

Membership is for broadcasting organizations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area, as defined by the International Telecommunication Union, or are members of the Council of Europe.

…

Members also enjoy all the benefits of EBU membership including participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

https://www.ebu.ch/about/members?type=active

Both sections make notable mention of the European Broadcasting Area, which is the actual boundary for membership. That it extends to northern Africa is why the Israeli broadcaster, KAN, is a member of the EBU, as are broadcasters from many Arab and African countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. All these countries can appear at Eurovision events at any time they like. They do not need a special invitation like Australia does. Indeed, Morocco already appeared once in 1980, while Lebanon considered it in 2005, before withdrawing because they would be forced to televise the Israeli performance, which is banned under Lebanese law.

The only other way to be a member of the EBU is to be part of the Council of Europe. Clearly Australia fails that criteria as well, and simply can never be a member under these rules. Yet the EBU washes its hands of it.

From the reasonable rationale of the “one-off” appearance in 2015, so began the deceit and duplicity to keep Australia in Eurovision. When Australia was invited in 2016, it was supposedly a reward for doing well in 2015 (5th place by Guy Sebastian with Tonight Again) and, more importantly, as part of “opening Eurovision to the world”. That sounded fair enough, and Australia nearly won when Dami Im finished second with Sound Of Silence. Further to the idea of opening up Eurovision to the world, in October 2016, the official Eurovision website posted a dubious article called “Which Countries Can Take Part” that included this text: “Associates of the EBU may also be eligible to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, this is decided by the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, on a case by case basis.”

This article was a complete lie and was quickly removed. The term “eligible” was the issue, as associates like Australia could never be eligible countries for EBU membership under the rules. Australia actually relied each year on a special invitation to participate at Eurovision. The story can still be found quoted on fansites like Wiwibloggs, and they curiously speculated that the alleged rule change had countries like Kazakhstan in mind. With associate members from 20 countries, there’s certainly plenty of scope for “opening up Eurovision to the world”. Did we ever see it? No.

It’s here that the sordid and wretched behaviour of the EBU really manifests itself. To them, it seems the world ends with Australia. Kazakhstan, despite approximately 25% of the country in Europe, is stridently and repeatedly denied EBU membership and therefore access to Eurovision every year. Why? Because the European Broadcasting Area doesn’t quite reach that far east. Clearly it doesn’t reach Australia either. What about a special invitation like Australia? Sorry, no. Not even five years of appearing at Junior Eurovision helped persuade those stubborn EBU brutes, so Kazakhstan ditched appearing at JESC in 2023, nor televised the event live. It’s interesting that Kazakhstan’s non-eligibility is fine for JESC, yet when it comes to ESC, they get the middle finger.

Even with actual EBU members, the EBU is strict with enforcing rules, and will happily ban a member from participating. That most notoriously occurred in 2016 when Romania was banned due to unpaid debt. Note, this is debt that Australia could never accrue because it’s not a full member and so is not under the same financial and broadcasting obligations. Again, one rule for everyone else, a different rule for Australia.

Australia gets the nod for 2017 for no apparent reason except, presumably, this supposed plan to eventually open Eurovision up to the world. Indeed, with the EBU wanting to launch Eurovision Asia, inviting Australia to Eurovision would add publicity for that. Same for 2018, and then comes the likely plan to shunt Australia to Asia once Eurovision Asia was ready. Come 2019, and with Eurovision Asia seemingly in permanent limbo and unlikely to ever start, SBS, Australia’s associate member of the EBU that broadcasts Eurovision, were given a 5-year deal by the EBU so they could establish a national final. While this was finally a bit of rationale to keep Australia in Eurovision, it never addressed the key issue that Australia remains ineligible, nor the persistent complaints and debate of why Australia was in Eurovision at all.

It’s also important to note that after 2016, the talk of Australia co-hosting in Europe, if they won, was basically never heard again. While people presume this scenario remains, Australia would almost certainly host at home. This would be a dream scenario for the EBU, especially when Eurovision Asia was being planned. From 2019, it just seems the EBU likes Australia in Eurovision, and acknowledged part of that is because there’s already an audience for it in Australia (as distinct to inviting a country like the USA). For the record, Australia would likely not host at 5am to match European time. It’s simply unworkable. The entire show, except for the results, would be recorded as “live” the previous evening, and then there would be an actual live results show around 7am. This would all be broadcast seamlessly to the viewer.

Now we get to the real sinister stuff, which includes SBS. In 2023, the final year of the 5-year deal, what happened to the Australia Decides national final? It just didn’t happen. No explanation at all. For months, no one knew a thing, until it was clear there would be an internal selection. The announcement of the artist and song came via a dump of the music video on Youtube overnight. Hardly respectful, or edifying, especially to the fans, or the artist. Who got selected? The band, Voyager, who finish second at Australia Decides in 2022. Fans responded well, especially as Voyager were cheated out of win by a dubious voting system and voting difficulties, and the band proved to be one of Australia’s best and most endearing acts at Eurovision ever. Voyager later admitted they were selected in October the previous year. Why would you not announce that earlier, and then build up to the song release? That’s how most internal selections go. Again, more disrespect and lack of service to fans by SBS.

With SBS’s Eurovision contract expired, what now? The commentators at Liverpool 2023 hinted that it could be their last time. For months and months, nothing was heard about Australia’s participation. Even beyond the 15 September deadline enforced for other countries, nothing about Australia. Perhaps a rule change was planned to finally end the debacle. Then magically, on an Instagram post listing the participants, Australia appears. Why? How? Why all the mystery? What was the mystery? Was it the EBU playing games or was it SBS playing games? Will there be a national final? SBS said nothing about that either, nor was there much publicity from them about the news for 2024. We’re now beyond any sort rationale or explanation about Australia in Eurovision, to just sneaking them in and hope no one notices or cares. Is this now the future pattern? It’s a disgrace.

Obvious that 2024 would be an internal selection, the topic turned to who. Big names rumoured like Kylie Minogue, Delta Goodrem, Dami Im and The Veronicas. Stay tuned! Oh no, it will be another overnight Youtube dump. What an insult. Like many fans, already frustrated and annoyed at SBS’s laziness and irreverence to Eurovision and the community at large, I would not indulge in this garbage anyway, so checked when I woke up. It’s Electric Fields. Who? Yep, from some of the biggest names in the Australian music industry to borderline no names. One EP and a handful of singles since 2019. Of course, they finished second in the very first Australia Decides in 2019, so had some fan support.

At least Electric Fields would provide a wow factor, like Voyager did with their spectacular video in the Western Australian landscape, right? Wrong! Just a crappy lyric video! It’s something you could do on a phone, and they probable did. As for the song, One Milkali (One Blood), it’s horrible! While bits of the chorus is fine, and I appreciate the didgeridoo element (there should be much more of it), that’s its only redeeming value. It reeks of something thrown together at the last minute, and with a complete lack of care and duty. Is this amateurish and debased stuff all Australia can muster up for Eurovision now? The whole thing stinks. With Australians notoriously sensitive and insecure when it comes to national pride, boycotting Australia at Eurovision at least means this post is the only place where One Milkali (One Blood) gets trashed.

The key question now: What really is going on with Australia at Eurovision? Secrecy generally implies nefarious and dubious elements are in play. For SBS, there’s likely two issues: poor ratings and high costs to participate. Since Australia participated 2015, ratings for the Sunday night grand final delayed broadcast have cratered. From 595,000 in 2013, it was just 181,000 last year. I’ve been noting the ratings since 2011 from the TV Tonight website.

Grand Final Ratings – Sunday Evening Broadcast

2023: 181,000
2022: 204,000
2021: 165,000
2019: 246,000
2018: 208,000
2017: 308,000
2016: 407,000
2015: 592,000
2014: 476,000
2013: 595,000
2012: 531,000
2011: 511,000

To put these figures into context, nightly news on two commercial channels often get about 1 million viewers each, as do regular episodes of The Voice Australia. Grand Finals of Australian Rules Football and Rugby League get almost 4 million, while the women’s World Cup quarter final between Australia and France in 2023 averaged 4.17 viewers. The Eurovision audience, while enthusiastic, is small in Australia. That an audience even developed was simply down to Eurovision finding a niche home on Australia’s multi-cultural public broadcaster. SBS is a channel that’s barely watched, and Eurovision became quite the highlight for it each year. The first year was 1983, with SBS typically taking the BBC feed (with Terry Wogan), and mockery and derision drove much of the interest. That mindset lingered for decades, right up to Australia’s first appearance.

The grand final evening broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest is most important because that’s where ratings matter most and greater advertising revenue is achieved. While the live grand final from 5am has averaged around 150k throughout the shows in recent years (there’s higher peaks when the winner is announced around 9am), those figures don’t matter as much in the advertising world. Also, SBS were hoping Australia’s participation would see 1 million viewers for Sunday evening prime time, not for the numbers to hurtle backwards.

Before Australia began participating in Eurovision, SBS made Eurovision a weekend spectacular that was broadcast on delay on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Without the need for live coverage and less general awareness of the result, it was easy to corral viewers to watch those shows, and Australians would watch in wonder. Nowadays they obsess over their own chances, or dismiss watching altogether based on their regard for Australia’s song. The magic and mystery of Eurovision is lost. Without Australia, SBS also don’t need to pay an exorbitant participation fee, which could be $300,000 AUD (or 180,000 EUR) based on figures that surfaced for Romania, who withdrew from 2024 due to costs. It’s likely at least $200,000. As for the national final, Australia Decides, unimpressive ratings and the fact it did not boost ratings for Eurovision, likely was the reason behind it abandoned.

Results were never better during the national final years (2019 to 2022) either. In fact, the most problematic reality regarding Australia at Eurovision is that Europe does not like us there. Every single year the public vote has been lower than the jury’s and, except for 2019, the difference has been dramatic. With scores like 2 (twice), 9 and 21, some of the public votes have been brutal too.

Grand Final Votes for Australia – Jury vs Public

2023 Voyager (9th) 130 vs 21
2022 Sheldon Riley (15th) 123 vs 2
2021 Montaigne (14th SF) 26 vs 2
2019 Kate Miller-Heidke (9th) 153 vs 131
2018 Jessica Mauboy (20th) 90 vs 9
2017 Isaiah Firebrace (9th) 171 vs 2
2016 Dami Im (2nd) 320 vs 191
2015 Guy Sebastian (5th) 224 vs 132

In summary, with Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest, we have an ineligible associate member participating, a country no where near Europe participating, a country that gets favourable treatment, a country that Europe clearly resents, and a country that caused the collapse of ratings for prime time shows back home for SBS. It really begs the question: What point is there for Australia in Eurovision? It seems as though SBS were asking themselves this very question.

Given the knowledge we have, it looks like SBS were reluctant to return to Eurovision in 2024 without some sort of conditions. Namely, if a cheaper participation fee could be obtained or it partly subsidised, and an artist found first. Then just do the bare minimum beyond that. The simple reality is that Eurovision worked better for SBS without Australia involved. SBS have clearly given up, and with the EBU’s enduring wretched behaviour, this situation can’t be tolerated any longer. Boycotting Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest is a moral imperative.

How will the boycott work?

Australia will never be mentioned anywhere. They won’t exist. In places where this can’t be avoided, like a list of results, all you will see is “Ineligible Associate Member”.

When will the boycott end?

Only when the rules change so that Australia operate under the same rules as all other countries. Even then, if SBS continue their contemptuous behaviour, coverage will only be the bare minimum.

06 May 2024 – Update

Why is Australia in Eurovision?

SBS tried to answer that most pertinent of questions in a recent podcast series. While there were some holes in the history and missing facts, it was very informative, with Dami Im very insightful about the year when Australia nearly won. The most stunning revelation was a secret promise for a bridge into Eurovision and Europe if Australia provided a bridge for Eurovision into Asia.

As to that question, it was never answered definitively, with various guests speculating their own reasons. Ultimately, the simple answer is that Australia begged to be in Eurovision, and the EBU likes Australia involved. It’s an extra number and an audience for them, and perhaps there’s still some faint hope of expansion, especially if Australia can win Eurovision one day.

Malmo 2024: Why is Australia in Eurovision?

Australia will never compete in the Eurovision Song Contest

Australia Decides 2022: It’s Sheldon Riley with Not The Same – Review

Eurovision 2015 Vienna – Review Grand Final

Underwhelming as Australia send Guy Sebastian to Eurovision 2015