The world’s biggest song contest, Eurovision, returns for another competition, this time coming to Malmö in Sweden for the 68th edition as 37 acts face off for the win.
How to watch on SBS and SBS On Demand:
Semi Final 1 – Wednesday 8 May at 5 am AEST *featuring Australian Duo Electric Fields*
Semi Final 2 – Friday 10 May at 5 am AEST
Grand Final – Sunday 12 May at 5 am AEST
Sweden has received hosting honours this year as artist Loreen took out the win last year. It is the 7th time Sweden has hosted the competition.
Aussie pair Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey will commentate on SBS for the semi-final and grand final.
South Australian electronic music duo Electric Fields will represent Australia this year and will be the first artist to sing in an Aboriginal language on the Eurovision stage.
The duo consists of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and producer Michael Ross. They have been performing since 2015 and are known for their visually stunning live performances.
Last year, Australia beat the odds to get all the way to the top 10, placing 9th in the competition. After the voting closed, Australia only got 21 points from the public vote. It didn’t stop Voyager from finishing in the top 10 with a total of 151 votes. Sweden overpowered all others, with 583 total points, and Finland came ins second place.
The jury cotes gave Australia a total of 130 points, which means Australia was ranked sixth out of the 26 countries before public voting started. Australia gave its 12 jury votes via Catherine Martin to Belgium.
SBS has broadcast the show every year since 1983. Over the years a number of Australians competed in Eurovision for other nations including Olivia Newton-John and Gina G.
Australia was officially invited to join Eurovision in 2014 first as a guest and later as a contestant.
In 2014 Australia was on the Eurovision stage as the (non-competing) interval act in the Second Semi-Final of the 2014 Contest with Jessica Mauboy performing Sea Of Flags. Four years later Mauboy returned to compete with We Got Love.
The best Eurovision result for Australia was a second place for Dami Im with her performance of Sound of Silence.
See also: “Possibilities are endless”: What Voyager bring to the iconic Eurovision song contest