Australia has long been an island of Eurovision fans, with SBS having broadcast the show every year since 1983. In fact, a number of high profile Aussies competed in the Contest for other nations, including Olivia Newton-John and Gina G, before the country was officially invited to join the party in 2015.
Australia were initially invited to take to the Eurovision stage as the (non-competing) interval act in the Second Semi-Final of the 2014 Contest - Jessica Mauboy performed the song Sea Of Flags (and four years later would represent her country with the song We Got Love).
In 2015, Team Oz were invited to compete for the first time to commemorate Eurovision’s 60th anniversary, sending Guy Sebastian with Tonight Again. Initially conceived as a one-off contribution, Australia is now confirmed to participate until at least 2023.
The best Australian result so far was thanks to Dami Im with her song Sound Of Silence; winning the Marcel Bezençon Award for composition, the jury vote, and finishing as overall runner-up.
Australia also holds the distinction of being the first nation to compete remotely. In 2021, due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, SBS confirmed that Montaigne (and the rest of the delegation) could not travel to the Netherlands and would compete from home, using their ‘live-on-tape’ performance.
Guy Sebastian
Dami Im
Isaiah
Jessica Mauboy
Kate Miller-Heidke
Montaigne
Montaigne
Sheldon Riley
Vienna 2015
Stockholm 2016
Kyiv 2017
Lisbon 2018
Tel Aviv 2019
Rotterdam 2020
Rotterdam 2021
Turin 2022
