Eurovision Song Contest

Television SBS
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64th Eurovision Song Contest

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The 64th Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live and in prime time, exclusive to SBS from 16 to 19 May. With the Federal Election on 18 May, Australians will be able to watch twice the amount of drama unfold in what is shaping up to be the double bill of the century.

Award-winning singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke will take to the stage in Semi Final 1 with her operatic pop song Zero Gravity. She was selected by the Australian public and jury of industry experts at the first national selection show Eurovision – Australia Decides in February.

“To be voted by the Australian public to represent the country at Eurovision is such an honour," Kate Miller-Heidke said. It’s not a responsibility I take lightly. People have put their trust in me and I can’t wait to give it my all. I’ve always loved the more out-of-the-box performances and Zero Gravity will be just that. It’s a rousing, uplifting song about emerging from depression. For me, it was a feeling of absolute elation and the song ends in a really empowering place. It was written to be performed live and the staging is like nothing I’ve ever attempted.”

Kate is set to compete against 16 counties in Semi Final 1, including Sandstorm star Darude, Polish traditional folk group Tulia, Icelandic bondage-synth-punk trio Hatari and bookies favourite Greek-Canadian singer Katerine Duska.

Music buff Myf Warhurst and comedian Joel Creasey will be at the helm of SBS’s Eurovision coverage, on the ground from Expo Tel Aviv in Israel, to bring Australians every angle of the contest as they explore the razzmatazz, kitsch, political voting, showbiz, cultural displays and heart of Eurovision – the artists and songs.

Myf Warhurst said, “Kate is a truly unique singer-songwriter and her performance of Zero Gravity at Eurovision – Australia Decides was out-of-the-box brilliant. She perfectly encapsulates Eurovision and I know fans worldwide will adore her as much as we do. While the competition is fierce, there’s nothing holding her down.”

Joel Creasey said, “We put the power in the hands of the Australian people this year and, thankfully, they didn’t stuff it up. Well done, you guys. Kate’s powerhouse vocals and spectacular staging are going to be incredible! I can’t wait to see Europe embrace our Kate… and I can’t wait to hold Madonna in a sweet embrace. Zero Gravity for the win.”

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 prime time broadcasts for fabulous Euro-themed parties around the country, there are plenty of opportunities to get behind Kate and join in the fun of picking favourites from the 41 competing nations, each bringing a taste of their own musical culture to the contest.

Prime time evening broadcasts

Semi Final 1 – Thursday 16 May, 8.30pm, SBS
FEATURING KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

Semi Final 2 – Friday 17 May, 8.30pm, SBS

Grand Final – Sunday 19 May, 8.30pm, SBS

LIVE early morning broadcasts

Semi Final 1 – Wednesday 15 May, 5am (AEST) SBS Australia, with live streaming at SBS On Demand
FEATURING KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

Semi Final 2 – Friday 17 May, 5am (AEST) SBS Australia, with live streaming at SBS On Demand

Grand Final – Sunday 19 May, 5am (AEST) SBS Australia, with live streaming at SBS On Demand

Voting

As per the official Eurovision rules, viewers can vote in the Semi Final in which their country is participating, as well as the Grand Final. The viewers’ votes make up 50% of the final result. The other 50% of the vote is decided by a National Jury in each participating country. Australia’s jury will be announced soon. The jury and Australian public can vote for any country except Australia.

For Australian viewers, this means they will need to tune into the LIVE broadcast of Semi Final 1 on Wednesday May 15 at 5am (AEST) and the Grand Final on Sunday 19 May at 5am (AEST) by texting the numbers that appear on screen during the live broadcasts.

6 Likes
503

Should be at 7.30. What have they got on at 7.30 that’s worth bumping Eurovision to 8.30?

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504

I think it’s more about what other networks have on and allowing viewers to watch their favourite reality shows first and then flick over to Eurovision later.

Mind you any hardcore fans (like me!) will watch live from 5am anyway.

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505

Are the morning live broadcasts identical to the evening broadcasts, including Joel and MYf commentary? Or is that added on for the evening broadcast? I’m just deciding as I have a viewing party at my place Friday night and was hoping to start earlier than 8.30… so am thinking of recording the early show and playing that at night.

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No they’re not identical. The backstage interviews by Joel and Myf are only seen in the evening editions.

Sometimes they are the best bits from the performers.

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507

Ahhh yeah thanks that’s it, I knew something was not in the morning bits. So the commentary is there in the morning but not the backstage bits. That makes sense.

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508

Unless the people who’ll be attending the party and/or yourself would enjoy watching the backstage interviews, recording the live airing is definitely the way to go. The evening replays can feel like it stops and starts too much due to the extra ad breaks which SBS fits in

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SBS is proud to announce that Australia’s 2019 Eurovision Jury members are: comedian Mark Humphries, singer-songwriter Christine Anu, Triple J presenter Lewis Hobba, composer Alice Chance and broadcaster Mark Cummins (Chairperson).

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510

Based on the first rehearsal it looks as though Kate has dropped the big dress from her performance. Instead she is in a normal-sized grey dress floating around on those stick things like those two support people were in the Australia decides performance. The background is of a large galaxy with the earth on the ground so it looks like she is flying around the galaxy above earth. It actually looks quite amazing and her betting odds have significantly jumped from this putting her in the top 10.

511

Australian Story on Kate next Monday

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Includes from 2016

513

Guessing this is a tweet directed at viewers of semi-final one not in Australia. SBS has the live broadcast at 5am tomorrow Wednesday but SBS won’t show the show in primetime until Thursday. Australia are ranked by betting agencies about 3rd most likely to go through to the final from this semi-final.

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514

Supermodel Bar Refaeli and Erez Tal will host the semi finals and the final, while Lucy Ayoub and Assi Azar will interview the artists backstage.

515

Kate was AMAZING!! The whole performance and set up looks absolutely incredible. So glad she is now one of the front runners according to betting sites. It would be amazing to finish top 3!

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516

She really was the highlight of the show to me, between her and Iceland who would be very polarizing for a lot of people. Generally the rest of the show was rather boring hearing all the songs for the first time, nothing else jumped out at me.

Making it in wasn’t guaranteed even with the good performance because the other countries we were against traditionally are not big voters for Australia.

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She’ll do well with the juries but I’m not convinced voters will get behind us.

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519

Exactly. It’s very clear at this point that the voters aren’t fond of Australia staying in the competition.

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520

How is that clear?

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521

I think people are saying that based on last years performance where we ranked OK with the jury but were the lowest with the public votes in the Grand Final picking up very few points. Even with Dami Im she was #1 with the juries but a few spots down with the public vote. That could be due to many other factors though.

I think Kate is very much a dark horse to take this out. I know Netherlands are a clear favourite but stranger things have happened. The fact that her betting odds have significantly improved over the past week hopefully means she is a standout and there really is a lot of support behind her.

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