Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. The Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) selected Sheldon Riley with "Not the Same" to represent the country, after he won Eurovision – Australia Decides on 26 February 2022.

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country Australia
National selection
Selection processEurovision – Australia Decides
Selection date(s)26 February 2022
Selected entrantSheldon Riley
Selected song"Not the Same"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Sheldon Riley
  • Cam Nacson
  • Timi Temple
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 243 points)
Final result15th, 125 points
Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022 • 2023►

Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 by invitation from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as a "one-off" special guest to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Eurovision. On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part. In 2015, Australia was guaranteed a spot in the final of the contest and was allowed to vote during both semi-finals and the final; however, from the 2016 contest and onwards, Australia would have to qualify to the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was allocated to compete.

Australia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2022. Performing during the show in position 8, "Not the Same" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. In the final, Australia placed 15th with 125 points. It was later revealed that the country placed 2nd in the semi-final with 243 points.

Background

Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest since 1983, and the contest has gained a cult following over that time, primarily due to the country's strong political and cultural ties with Europe. Paying tribute to this, the 2014 contest semi-finals included an interval act featuring Australian singer Jessica Mauboy.[1] Australian singers have also participated at Eurovision as representatives of other countries, including Olivia Newton-John (1974, United Kingdom), two-time winner Johnny Logan (1980 and 1987, Ireland), Gina G (1996, United Kingdom), and Jane Comerford as lead singer of Texas Lightning (2006, Germany).[2]

Tying in with the goal of Eurovision – to showcase "the importance of bringing countries together to celebrate diversity, music and culture", the 2015 theme of "Building Bridges", and arguing that they could not hold "the world's biggest party" to celebrate the 60th edition of Eurovision without inviting Australia, the EBU announced on 10 February 2015 that the country would compete at that year's edition as a special guest participant. Along with the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the host country of Austria, Australia was given automatic entry into the final to "not reduce the chances" of the semi-final participants.[3] On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part, however they would have to qualify for the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was competing. On 12 February 2019, SBS signed a contract securing Australia's spot at the contest until 2023.[4] In 2021, Australia was represented by Montaigne and the song "Technicolour". The country ended in fourteenth place in the first semi-final with 28 points, therefore failing to qualify for the final for the first time.[5] On 16 June 2021, SBS confirmed Australia's participation in the 2022 contest, with Eurovision – Australia Decides returning to choose the entry.[6]

Before Eurovision

Eurovision – Australia Decides 2022
Main article: Eurovision – Australia Decides

Eurovision – Australia Decides was the national final organised by SBS in order to select the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition took place at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast on 26 February 2022, hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey. Eleven artists and songs competed with the winner being determined by a combination of public and jury voting. The show was broadcast on SBS as well as streamed online at SBS On Demand.

Competing entries

On 26 August 2021, SBS announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs online until 26 September 2021. Over half of the composers or songwriters of a song were required to be citizens or permanent residents of Australia and songs were required to be in English or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language.[7] Ten songs were selected for the competition from the received submissions and performers of the selected songs were determined by SBS in consultation with the songwriters. The chosen competing acts were announced in three sets: the first on 28 October 2021,[8] the second on 26 November 2021,[9] and the third on 14 December 2021.[10] Simultaneous to the final artist reveal, it was announced that an eleventh 'wildcard artist' would be selected through a TikTok contest. Candidates were required to send a live vocal performance clip of any particular song, up to one minute long, with submissions opened until 16 January 2022.[10] Erica Padilla was the selected candidate.[11]

Final

The final took place on 26 February 2022. The combination of public votes (50%) and a five-member jury (50%) selected the winner. The jury consisted of Alexandra Rotan from Keiino, Darren Hayes of the group Savage Garden, Millie Petriella from APRA AMCOS, Emily Griggs, the SBS Head of Food and Entertainment, and Creative Director and producer Paul Clarke. Moreover, for the first time, the public votes were ranked. According to producer Paul Clarke, the most points an act could get was the same amount that such act could get from the jury.[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show was opened by Keiino, who represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, and Montaigne, who represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Montaigne also performed as an interval act together with David Byrne.[13]

Eurovision – Australia Decides – 26 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 G-Nation "Bite Me" Erin McKellar, Leea Nanos, Michael Paynter 11 45 56 5
2 Erica Padilla "To the Bottom" Erica Padilla, Isabella Padilla, Ally Eley, Sean Carey 20 25 45 9
3 Seann Miley Moore "My Body" Ianna Rogers, Imogen Jones, Vanessa Rogers, Sean Carey 18 5 23 11
4 Charley "I Suck at Being Lonely" Claire Howell, James Vincent, Thomas Walter Jordan, Jonathan Dreyfus 33 30 63 4
5 Andrew Lambrou "Electrify" Andrew Lambrou, Joseph de la Hoyde, Nick de la Hoyde, Tim de la Hoyde 16 35 51 7
6 Sheldon Riley "Not the Same" Sheldon Riley, Cam Nacson, Timi Temple 50 50 100 1
7 Paulini "We Are One" Rick Price, John Capek 32 20 52 6
8 Jaguar Jonze "Little Fires" Deena Lynch, Louis Schoorl, PJ Harding 51 40 91 3
9 Isaiah Firebrace and Evie Irie "When I'm with You" Isaiah Firebrace, Evie Irie, Taka Perry 35 10 45 10
10 Voyager "Dreamer" Alex Canion, Ashley Doodkorte, Daniel Estrin, Scott Kay, Simone Dow 37 60 97 2
11 Jude York "I Won't Need to Dream" Jude York, Billy Stonecipher 32 15 47 8

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2022, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Australia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[14]

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Australia performed in position 8, following the entry from San Marino and before the entry from Cyprus.[15] Later, Australia was voted to continue in the competition in the grand final, being selected to perform in the second half of the show in position 21, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from the United Kingdom.[16][17]

In the grand final, Australia finished in position 15 with 125 points.[18]

Points awarded to Australia

Points awarded by Australia

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Australian jury:[23]

Detailed voting results from Australia (Semi-final 2)[19]
Draw Country Jury Online voting
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  Finland171666171292
02  Israel221311621011
03  Serbia374111574112
04  Azerbaijan10912538316
05  Georgia141011413101101
06  Malta1551610141314
07  San Marino6171116121565
08  Australia
09  Cyprus16151717111712
10  Ireland51315245638
11  North Macedonia7151354713
12  Estonia4119366583
13  Romania11141015101674
14  Poland12127991156
15  Montenegro138141281417
16  Belgium933723815
17  Sweden14241112210
18  Czech Republic868879247
Detailed voting results from Australia (Final)[20]
Draw Country Jury Online voting
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  Czech Republic171145107418
02  Romania1621126171617
03  Portugal57153115616
04  Finland1920719241915
05   Switzerland151916491224
06  France20242118232413
07  Norway91511172218210
08  Armenia22121822212120
09  Italy1032424583101
10  Spain1112111256
11  Netherlands23222321122312
12  Ukraine79141647112
13  Germany184227201122
14  Lithuania610920131492
15  Azerbaijan14682349223
16  Belgium135131436521
17  Greece24161912142011
18  Iceland12131013191719
19  Moldova3231711181374
20  Sweden4228221065
21  Australia
22  United Kingdom111469151547
23  Poland21182016162283
24  Serbia2831073838
25  Estonia817515810114

References
  1. Vincent, Peter (8 May 2014). "Jessica Mauboy performs at Eurovision Song Contest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  2. "Eurovision Song Contest invites Australia to join 'world's biggest party'". the Guardian. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  4. "Australia secures spot in Eurovision for the next five years". Eurovision.tv. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  5. "Australia fails to qualify for the final of Eurovision for first time". Eurovisionworld. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  6. Jiandani, Sanjay (16 June 2021). "Australia: SBS confirms participation at Eurovision 2022". ESCToday. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  7. Carter, Ford (9 September 2021). "What the 'Eurovision – Australia Decides' rules tell us about the 2022 show". Aussievision. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  8. "SBS reveals first artists to take the stage at Eurovision – Australia Decides". Guide. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  9. SBS Eurovision [@SBSEurovision] (25 November 2021). "Can you guess who? More artists taking part in Eurovision - Australia Decides revealed tomorrow... […]" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. "SBS launches national TikTok contest to find the next Eurovision – Australia Decides artist...and it could be YOU!". SBS. 13 December 2021. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  11. Wulf, Holly (3 February 2022). "Erica Padilla is the Australia Decides TikTok Wildcard!". ESCUnited. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  12. Luukela, Sami (24 February 2022). "Alexandra Rotan and Darren Hayes among the Eurovision – Australia Decides 2022 jury". ESCXtra. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  13. Postema, Roy (26 February 2022). "Australia decided to send Sheldon Riley to Eurovision". ESCUnited. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  14. "Eurovision 2022: Which Semi-Final is your country performing in? 🇮🇹". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  15. "Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  16. "We'll see Australia 🇦🇺 on stage again in Saturday's Grand Final! #Eurovision #ESC2022". 12 May 2022.
  17. "We can now reveal the #Eurovision 2022 Grand Final Running Order!".
  18. "Here's the Grand Final scoreboard! Congratulations Ukraine! #Eurovision". 14 May 2022.
  19. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Turin 2022". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  20. "Results of the Grand Final of Turin 2022". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  21. "🇦🇺 Australia: Televoting Replaced Exclusively by Online Voting for Eurovision 2022". 11 May 2022.
  22. "🇦🇺 Australia: Televoting Replaced Exclusively by Online Voting for Eurovision 2022". 11 May 2022.
  23. "Juries - the Eurovision Song Contest 2022". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
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