After what was supposed to be ‘one-off’ appearance to celebrate the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, Australia are back again for 2016. The local broadcaster, SBS, will once again contribute a song for the contest. The only difference on this occasion is that Australia will have to perform in the semi-finals.
The Executive Supervisor of the EBU, Jon Ola Sand, stated “The feedback we got from viewers, fans, press and the broadcasters after Australia’s participation in Vienna was overwhelmingly positive. We strongly believe the Eurovision Song Contest has the potential to evolve organically into a truly global event. Australia’s continued participation is an exciting step in that direction. It remains to be seen what such an event may look like in the long run.”
So, does Mr Sand’s words mean the door may be open in the future to other countries outside of Europe. Is it possible we could see South Africa or China or Canada or New Zealand or maybe South Korea (K-Pop could go really well at Eurovision)….the list can go on. Who would you like to see? Do you think it is a good idea?
Australia will also participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on 21 November. Bella Paige will fly the Australian flag with her song My Girls.
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
Well how i can say? Congratulations to Australians OGAE members 🙂 now is a reality that Australia will be a permanent participant, but could be more fair if EBU it was not so arbitrary and let that ROW countries could join to *Eurovision* in the future as well.
China, South Africa, Brazil, USA, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea music don’t have nothing to envy European music as they dominates the World charts. The same with rest of the World music! 😀
“Evolve into a truly global event.” I wonder what Jon Ola Sand visualizes for the future of the ESC. We already have another global song contest, Viña del Mar, which Italy has won 10 times. Nevertheless, I’m really glad Australia will be back and hope it becomes a permanent addition.