Australian public broadcaster SBS has confirmed that regrettably Montaigne and the rest of their delegation will be unable to travel to the Netherlands for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2021 and will therefore compete from home, using their ‘live-on-tape’ performance which was trialed with some controversy at Junior Eurovision 2020 .

The decision was approved by the ESC Reference Group, the Contest’s governing board.

Josh Martin (SBS Commissioning Editor and Australian Head of Delegation) explains how they came to this decision:

After a comprehensive assessment, SBS has decided not to send an Australian delegation and artist to Rotterdam for the Eurovision Song Contest this year. We came to this difficult decision after considering the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, including the many factors involved in travelling to and from the event from Australia.

SBS and Montaigne are appreciative of the European Broadcasting Union’s ongoing support for Australia’s involvement in the event, and their commitment to ensuring Eurovision continues amid the challenges COVID-19 presents. Congratulations must also go to the Host Broadcaster for the outstanding work that is being done to create a successful Eurovision Song Contest this year. We are working with them to assist in creating a memorable and successful broadcast.

Source: https://eurovision.tv/