The 65th Eurovision Song Contest is about to begin in the Netherlands as Australia’s Montaigne is set to reveal her performance in the world’s biggest song competition. The contest will be broadcast live and in primetime exclusively on SBS and SBS On Demand from 19 to 23 May.
Award-winning singer-songwriter Montaigne will compete in Semi Final 1 with her anthem Technicolour, which she’ll perform from home this year via a live-on-tape entry.
Mediaweek spoke to Josh Martin, SBS commissioning editor and Australian head of delegation about putting together the remote performance.
“They had really strict rules around it,” he said. “For example, we had sixty minutes to record three takes of Montaigne performing live, and within that sixty minutes we had to select our best performance and begin the uploading process to Europe. Observing us in the control room, we had multiple Microsoft Teams set up of the host broadcaster, the EBU, an independent observer, just to make sure there’s no cheating or no fake vocals, or no video effects that weren’t allowed.
“It was actually really thrilling, because we spent a day or so really rehearsing it and finessing it and tweaking the lighting, or tweaking the choreography. When the clock ticked over it was like ‘alright, the guys are on the line from Europe, here we go!’, and we got into it.”
See More: How SBS put together Australia’s Eurovision entry from across the globe
Montaigne is set to compete against 15 counties in Semi Final 1 including 19-year-old Tusse from Sweden, Eden Alene who will make history as Israel’s first Ethiopian representative, and fan favourite Maltese singer Destiny.
Montaigne said:
“I’m very excited to reveal Technicolour on the Eurovision stage! It’s colourful and shiny and I’m very proud of it.”
With early morning live broadcasts of Semi Final 1, Semi Final 2 and the Grand Final for immediate results and voting along with Europe, and primetime broadcasts for fabulous Euro-themed parties around the country, there are plenty of opportunities to get behind Montaigne and pick favourites from the 39 competing nations, each bringing a taste of their own musical culture to the contest.
Live early morning Eurovision 2021 broadcasts
Semi Final 1 – Wednesday 19 May, 5am (AEST) SBS Featuring Montaigne
Semi Final 2 – Friday 21 May, 5am (AEST) SBS
Grand Final – Sunday 23 May, 5am (AEST) SBS
Primetime evening Eurovision 2021 broadcasts
Semi Final 1 – Friday 21 May, 8.30pm (AEST), SBS Featuring Montaigne
Semi Final 2 – Saturday 22 May, 8.30pm (AEST), SBS
Grand Final – Sunday 23 May, 7.30pm (AEST), SBS
SBS’s coverage of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, featuring Montaigne, will be broadcast from May 19-23