Many European countries participate in the Eurovision festival, but one of the most fascinating things is to see each edition from countries that are not on the European continent. This is the case of Australia, a country that has been participating in this festival in recent years, something that is surprising because it is located on the other side of the world.
The oceanic country has not been participating in the festival for so long, its first performance took place only 8 years ago, specifically in 2015. This edition will be the eighth time the country has participated in the European festival, but do we really know why? Australia participates in Eurovision?.
Eurovision is a very popular music contest in Australia, before they started performing their own songs in the contest. The country has been broadcasting the contest live since 1983 and has enjoyed great success with its viewers. Artists such as Olivia Newton-John or Gina Gee are the first singers of Australian nationality or origin to have previously represented other countries at Eurovision.
It was in 2014 when she invited an Australian singer, Jessica Mauboy, who performed her song ‘Sea of Flags’ during the semi-finals of that year. The performance was only as a guest artist, not as a contestant, but it set the stage for the following year when Australia would officially enter Eurovision.
Eurovision 2015 was held in Austria, and the country’s public broadcasting company allowed the Oceanic country to participate in the contest with its representative, Guy Sebastian. The only condition that was established was that in the event of Australia winning the competition, that country could not host the following year, but would have to cooperate with a European country.
Following Australia’s good reception to the contest, this initiative allowed this country to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest for a long time. It was formalized a few years ago, with the Australian public broadcasting company SBS reaching an agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) this year to maintain the link until 2023. Hence, this edition could be the last one in which this country participates. It remains to be seen whether this relationship will be carried forward so that Australians can continue to enjoy this great music event.
