Australia: SBS builds a (massive) bridge to Vienna

11 Feb 2015

Australia: SBS builds a (massive) bridge to Vienna

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It has been announced that Australian multicultural broadcaster SBS will be participating in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.

It is the first time in the Contest’s 60 year history that a country from outside the European Broadcasting Area has been allowed to take part.

Eurovision’s Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, exclaimed that having Australia compete was

… a daring and at the same time incredibly exciting move. It is our way of saying; let’s celebrate this party together!

The Eurovision Song Contest has been televised on SBS since the TV channel’s inception over 30 years ago and has been commentated by Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang since 2009.

Australia will be performing in the Grand Final, as one of the auto-finalists, ensuring that no other country has less of a chance of reaching the Grand Final. With Australia being one of the participants, SBS viewers will be able to vote for the first time.

Details about the artist and song will be announced in time for the EBU Reference Group meeting on 16 March.

The reaction to the news has been mixed, with generally positive reactions in Australia but often vitriolic responses from Europeans.

The comments to the news on eurovision.tv have been quite negative, with some fans arguing that Australia has ‘paid’ its way in:

Kalos87: It’s a bad decision because not only Australia is not a European country and is not a EBU member but also they reach the final because is a rich country that gives a lot of money. Infact they are already in the final,while the small european countries have difficulty to reach the final each year. (sic)

Other fans have cried foul of Australia’s auto-entry into the Grand Final:

Fabio Deluca: What a silly decision. So, Australia goes straight into the final, while countries with a long ESC tradition like Portugal, Belgium or Switzerland still have to struggle a lot to qualify from the semifinal. And, if I read well, Australia will have a chance to vote in BOTH semifinals and the final. Makes no sense. No need to add last year’s interval act was dreadful.

And many fans have reminded the world of the current ‘Europeaness’ of the participating countries: