AUTHOR’S NOTE: All of these are based on my thoughts and opinions as well as reading the comments all over on social media
Australia’s involvement with Eurovision is really short as the song contest is being broadcast for over 30 years before official participation in 2015. After ending at last place in during the Grand Final (20th place) 2018 with “We Got Love“, earning 9 points by the televote, they knew they have to step up their game. Hence the National Selection with 10 acts competing to be Australia’s representative.
Big and small names, local and international artists will duke it out in the Gold Coast on February 8-9 at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre. Finally, Australia will get to decide who goes to Eurovision unlike in the past, it was determined by SBS themselves.
By the moment this blog post is out, all entries would have been released on all music streaming platforms. Here are all the 10 contestants who will be competing + their songs.
1. Fight for love – Courtney Act
Who is Courtney Act
They’re a drag queen pop singer who competed in Australian Idol in 2003 under their stage name ‘Courtney Act’. They also appeared in RuPaul’s Drag Race and was a runner up in season 6, was in UK Big Brother, and will be in Dancing with the Stars on Channel 10 in 2019.
Fight for love was released on December 2018, making it the first song for Australian fans to picture what this national selection is going to be like.
Thoughts on the song
It’s a good pop song. It’s has a simple message but it feels like a safe entry. It reminds me of ‘We Got Love‘ but if it was a self-love anthem. I guess I have to see the performance if I want to make a full judgement but for now, it’s decent.
I’m sure the performance will be a sight to see. I bet they’re gonna perform in a glass box just like in the music video… which will remind me of Malta’s performance in their national selection.
2. Set me free – Leea Nanos
Who is Leea Nanos
Leea Nanos is the wildcard entry for the National Selection. She’s 16 years old, making her the youngest entry.
(PS: I DIDNT KNOW 16 WAS THE MINIMUM AGE TO COMPETE. I’ve always thought it was 18)
Set me free was second on my radar and it has my attention.
Thoughts on the song
First of all, just first impressions alone, the music reminds me of Ghost by Jamie-Lee (Germany 2016)
But the music and lyrics, it also reminds me of ‘Sound of Silence’ by Dami Im (but w/o the really powerful vocals… not saying Leea’s is bad… just comparing her’s to Dami, Dami has a more stronger vocal range). It’s a unique entry, not many of the generic pop instrumentation. It’s simple.
What I’m more intrigued is how this song would be like on stage. For a song like this, the staging shouldn’t be over-done… but please don’t have just have giant portraits of yourself flying on screen (looking at you Isaiah).
3. This is not the end – Mark Vincent
Who is Mark Vincent
Mark is a tenor singer who won 3rd place in Australia’s Got Talent in 2009 and he’s signed by Sony. This is good since the music label that manages Eurovision is Sony Music. He has released 8 studio albums, 1 receiving ARIA Platinum and 2 ARIA Gold.
This is not the end is his entry and as expected, it’s an operatic entry. Finally a change of genre!
Thoughts on the song
It’s not uncommon for Eurovision contenders to submit operatic performances since part of the song contest is to wow the audience with your voice. And in my opinion, whenever these types of songs get performed on stage, it’s a magical moment.
So, does ‘This is not the end‘ have the potential to create another magical moment on stage? I wouldn’t say magical but I sense a dramatic performance. I’m not usually a fan for opera but I do hope that the live performance will blow me away as it has potential.
Also… it’s a good change of pace for Australia since we’ve kept sending the generic pop songs!
At the moment, this is considered to be one of the fan favourites.
4. Dust – Aydan
Who is Aydan
Aydan competed in The Voice: Australia in 2018 and was one of the 4 finalists. He has also competed in other TV talent shows such as Australia’s Got Talent.
Dust is his entry to the national selection and… it’s different to what he usually performs.
Thoughts on the song
When Aydan was on The Voice, a lot of his performances were funky and upbeat, something we could dance to. I was hoping for a ‘Benjamin Ingrosso’-esque type of entry. Dust is very… VERY different.
It reminds me of Isaiah’s entry ‘Don’t come easy’ and yes, that went well in Eurovision but to me, it feels like an imitation. I don’t know if it will make it to the final 4 but only time will tell, maybe it will break expectations in the Gold Coast.
However, if I do want to say something good about this song, it reminds me of ‘Beautiful Mess’ by Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria 2017) and that song reached 2nd place!
There is a chance for this song to wow Europe but it’s probably not the entry for me. It is still a good song though, not gonna lie!
5. To myself – Alfie Arcuri
Who is Alfie Arcuri
Alfie is a singer-songwriter who won The Voice: Australia in 2016 and has an album that peaked at #5 at the ARIA charts.
To Myself is his entry which is about him questioning his self worth.
Thoughts on the song
Like mentioned above, it’s similar to Isaiah’s entry. HOWEVER, I can tell he’s placed so much of his life story and emotion into the entry. And that’s what I like about music, being able to channel your emotions and share your story through song.
It’s powerful in a sense of music but it’s the performance that I’m anticipating. A song like this DOES NOT deserve LCD screens projecting the singer’s face (once again… looking at you Isaiah).
6. 2000 and Whatever – Electric Fields
Who are Electric Fields
Electric Fields consists of 2 members – Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross. Their music revolves around the pop to electric genre often features Zaachariaha’s traditional language of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara people.
2000 and whatever is their entry, first released on YouTube, then on music streaming platforms by February and is currently the fan favorite along with Sheppard.
Thoughts on the song
It’s a really good song which I think has the potential to making it to grand finals in Eurovision. It has some elements of traditional indigenous music, the traditional language of her people, plus a mix of electronic music. It’s fun and danceable (which I guess follows the trend of imitating the genre used of the previous winning entry).
Small/nit-picky concerns – lyrics. They’re good and love the puns but… Millennial Monre??? Okay. But this is just me being nit-picky.
If Sheppard wasn’t competing, this song would have gotten my full support. I bet staging and performance will be amazing as well
7. Zero gravity – Kate Miller-Heidke
Who is Kate Miller-Heidke?
Kate Miller-Heidke is a singer-songwriter who was once signed to Sony Music but is now an independent musician. She has been a professional musician since the year 2000.
Zero Gravity is her entry for the national selection and it mixes the genres opera and electronic pop.
Thoughts on the song
This isnt the first where opera gets mashed with a contemporary genre. One iconic performance was from Romania with their dubstep operatic vampire act.
I don’t think Zero Gravity will not be the next “It’s my life“, however, it does take in the mashing of 2 different and contrasting genre’s together to make a brand new sound. And that’s what I like about Eurovision, artists experimenting with different sounds and genres.
And for this song, it works. I really does. The operatic parts is what builds up song then comes the electronic parts. Rather than creating a generic pop song that Australia always submits, we’re now allowing experimentation.
However, people pointed out that it just reminds them of La Forza. And after listening to the song again… it kinda does. It’s still a good song though.
8. Data Dust – Ella Hooper
Who is Ella Hooper
Ella Hooper is an Australian rock songwriter was in a band called ‘Killing Heidi‘. She was a performer when she was 13 years old in 1996 an is now a radio presenter on 2DayFM.
Data Dust is her entry and its very different to all the other entries submitted.
Thoughts on the song
This song is giving me some 90’s vibes and there is nothing wrong with that. My assumption is that she’s trying to appeal towards the target demographic of 25+ or the large amount of adults who watch Eurovision.
I feel this song is another safe entry in disguise but nevertheless, its really REALLY catchy. Also, I feel this song screams ‘Australian Music‘. I’ve listened to songs from multiple countries and all have distinct sounds when listened to, you can tell it scream their country. And that’s how I feel in regards to this song.
9. Tania Doko
Who is Tania Doko
Tania was formerly part of the Australian pop duo ‘Bachelor Girl’ and moved to Sweden in 2011. From there, she’s been creating music for the Swedish music community, yet co-writing for huge Australian artists such as The Veronicas and former Eurovision contestant Jessica Mauboy.
Thoughts on the song
Sadly… all we got a preview. I would like to give my thoughts for the full song but sadly… this is all we have.
Based on the preview alone… I feel this song is a bit weak, like another safe entry. It kinda reminds me of “Goodbye” from The Humans (Romania 2018)
It’s just another ballad and not that I have something against it… but it’s just another ballad. Since the full song isn’t out, I can’t give comments on how I’d see the staging/performance so… this is sadly all I can say about the song.
Looking forward to seeing it live on Australia Decides.
10. On My Way – Sheppard
Who are Sheppard?
Sheppard started out as a duo ban in 2012 between siblings George and Amy. By 2014, they became a 6 person band, with their song Geronimo reaching international success. They were the first group to be announced and has a lot of hype and expectations built around their entry.
On My Way is deemed to be the song to eclipse Geronimo but does it?
Thoughts on the song
So much hype and built up has lead to this moment. I have friends who are considering watching Eurovision just because they’d like to see Sheppard live. Sheppard can’t just win by their name alone, they need to have a killer song to go with it.
Then came the first teaser and everyone just lost their minds!!!
Supposedly, the song was supposed to be released on Feb 1 2019. But the song was leaked both in Reddit and Facebook A DAY EARLY!!!
On My Way reminds me of Coming Home or if Lingering was in a faster tempo.
As a Sheppard fan – I would like to see this in Eurovision. It has their music aesthetic all over it. The drumming, backing vocals, it’s a bop! I wouldn’t say it beats Geronimo, but I think it’s in between Geronimo and Coming home in regards to how good their new single releases are.
As a Eurovision song – All I could say… it could work. I think it has a chance on the National Selection but I’m not sure about its odds against 40+ countries. Will it win Eurovision… ehhhh??? I need to see staging to make my full decision.
It’s funny since after this song got leaked, Australia’s odds of winning Eurovision increased to 4th place.
My biggest fear is their live performance.
In Australia Decides, I guess they would be allowed to play their instruments. And I saw Sheppard perform live 5+ times and they’re epic! The problem is that when they’re gonna mime the performance in Eurovision. Eurovision rules states that all acts needs to be done by backing tracks.
Backing tracks only
Contestants and Artists shall perform the songs live on stage, accompanied by a recorded backing-track only (without live instruments). The Backing track shall contain no vocals of any kind or any vocal imitations aiming at replacing or assisting the live/original voice of the Contestant(s) […].The Host Broadcaster and the ESC Executive Supervisor shall verify respect for this rule.
This means… for the first time ever… we might end up seeing Sheppard MIMING on stage for the first time. And this will be an odd sight to see cuz they’re epic on stage live. All I beg is no cringy miming!
We already have Muse for that…
And those are all the 10 entries that will be competing for the chance to sing at the world stage in Tel Aviv. If I were to give my top 4 it would be:
- 2000 and Whatever – Electric Fields
- On my way – Sheppard
- Set Me Free – Leea Nanos
- To Myself – Alfie Arcuri
Who do you think will be Australia’s representative? Which acts do you want to see perform in Eurovision. Let me know in the comments below.
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