As revealed in today’s ratings, the ESC final had 299k watching the winners announcement with the final averaging 202k. Those are the highest ratings since 2019.
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One thing that may sway the discussions between SBS and the EBU (if they’re continuing), I wonder, is also this “rest of the world” audience vote they brought in this year - something using the online platform that we already had to use to vote (because Australia doesn’t have full-rate premium phone/text numbers anymore, so can’t actually “televote” per se*).
I wonder whether SBS gets much out of it with the expenses of sending an entry (even if it’s an internal selection), or whether the bigger thing is audience participation - and with the introduction of the RoTW category, they don’t have to participate to let hard-core Aussie ESC fans vote like they had to in the last several years. So it may not be as cut-and-dried.
The relative costs of it for the voters themselves would be interesting though… SBS only charging AU$0.65 a vote, vs. the rest-of-the-world charge of €0.99 (or about AU$1.60) - ouch, especially if you’re a hard enough type to put the maximum twenty in.
Of course, as others have pointed out, SBS would always provide their own commentary team (for the final at least) and that’s always a bit hit or miss, naturally - but I think in the early days of that change, people just missed Terry Wogan’s sarcasm about it all, as it kinda matched the feeling of it as a continental oddity back in the day (as I’m sure many in the UK probably felt about it too). For the first year or two, they replayed it the weekend after with Wogan’s commentary, for those who wanted that.
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AFAIK that only happened in 2001 because SBS copped such a backlash for its butchered ESC coverage hosted by Effie. For 2002 SBS went back to BBC/Wogan commentary and from 2003 SBS movie host Des Mangan took over with Australian commentary.
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Yeah, I knew it happened at least one year, just didn’t realise it was that long ago; thanks.
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I have been reminded that this year was my 25th Eurovision. That time has flown
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There were also geopolitical situations there, so “won’t” is the key word here - Morocco hasn’t entered in the past primarily because Israel participates (same reason broadcasters from other Arab EBU countries like Tunisia or Lebanon don’t - the latter was forced to withdraw after selecting an entry in 2005 for reasons related to that; due to laws there, they were going to block the Israeli performance in the show).
Although (as an example), with a diplomatic normalisation agreement between Israel and Morocco in late 2020, perhaps they might return in time, but I can imagine such a thing would be fragile and “in their own time” if they choose to.
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We’ve never had an artist like Voyager before. Perth synthsations do Australia proud at Eurovision Grand Final
Sweden’s Loreen wins Eurovision 2023
Australia’s Voyager has placed 9th in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
After taking the win in Semi Final 2, coming first in the public only vote, Voyager competed in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest overnight in Liverpool. The band took to the stage to perform their epic progressive pop metal track Promise alongside 25 Grand Finalists from competing nations.
The scores of the voting juries and viewing public in 37 countries (including Australia) – and for the first time – the rest of the world, were combined for the official results.
Loreen from Sweden was crowned the winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her song Tattoo being awarded 583 points. This historic win not only marks her second Eurovision title after winning in 2012 with Euphoria, but also makes her the first female to win the song contest twice. Fan favourite Käärijä from Finland took out second place, and Noa Kirel from Israel in third place with her song Unicorn.
Voyager said: “We’re so humbled by all the love and support we’ve received from Australia and the rest of the world throughout this entire experience. Performing at the Eurovision Song Contest has been a dream of ours for such a long time, and to finally have it realised is surreal and life-changing. We’re so grateful for the opportunity to represent not only Australia, but our beautiful home of Western Australia. We’re not going to forget 2023 anytime soon, and we can’t wait to continue this journey with the release of our new album and upcoming tour. Looking forward to seeing all your faces at a show soon.”
For the first time ever, Australia sent a band as our representatives, and not just any band – a band with soaring melodies, masterful riffs, keytar solos, and powerhouse rhythms. Dressed head-to-toe in custom synthsational sequined outfits by Perth-based label Zhivago, with ‘80s staging made complete by a Toyota MR2, Voyager’s electric performance and warm personalities were embraced by Liverpool and the world over, doing Australia proud.
Although their career spans decades, the Eurovision Song Contest in many ways is just the beginning. It’s the perfect launchpad for their upcoming eighth album Fearless in Love which is released on 14 July via Season of Mist, with homecoming tour dates in Australia and Europe to follow (please see the end of release for details).
If you missed Voyager’s Grand Final performance LIVE on SBS you can tune in anytime on SBS On Demand, with commentary from music buff Myf Warhurst and comedian Joel Creasey who bring their witty banter to the commentary booth as they guide Australia through the glitz, glamour, and madness of Eurovision from Pier Head in Liverpool, UK.
That’s what I love about Eurovision, so much geopolitics and intrigue involved 
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As well as Brihony Dawson and DJ Latifa Tee.
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At least they got it right awarding Belgium the 12 points. They were a class act.
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Australia’s invitation to participate at Eurovision expired after last week’s contest, so who knows if we will participate in Sweden next year.
SBS and the EBU both somewhat benefit from Australia’s involvement so I think it’ll continue. Indeed the UK hosting “on behalf of” Ukraine has somewhat set the model should Australia win too, though whether a second place broadcaster woud be so willing to foot the bill in those circumstances I’m not so sure.
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I hope that the negotiations include a clause that if we win, we can host. Obviously there would be challenges with the timezone, but I don’t think it should be a deal breaker.
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The invitation will be extended, I would say it’s more up to SBS whether they have the finances for it.
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The Brits probably wouldn’t mind hosting again. The Eurovision Grand Final was the most-watched Eurovision broadcast in history.
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There wasn’t this clause with the previous one - SBS would host it but in Europe in conjunction with a broadcaster of their choice.
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Would still have to air at 9pm CET - that hasn’t shifted for 40 odd years, even when it was a midnight start in Azerbaijan.
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Acts pulled out because of UK expenses. You can bet the same would happen here having to fork out out for the flights.
Then there is when would the artists come before the show? They do so many european pre concerts, travelling to australia would hamper that.
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Where there is a will, there is a way. None of that sounds unsolvable.