Australia Axes Public Vote To Choose Artist For Eurovision 2023
A big change is in store for Australian fans of the Eurovision Song Contest.
In a statement released November 14, SBS announced the artist chosen to represent Australia in the competition in 2023 will revert to an internal selection process, which picked participating artists between 2015-2018.
In 2019 the process moved to a public vote, through the SBS selection show, Eurovision – Australia Decides.
Eurovision Returns
“We are thrilled to confirm that Australia will once again compete in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest next year, with hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey at the helm,” SBS said in their statement.
“However, after three years of celebrating and working with local music artists through our Eurovision selection show, Eurovision – Australia Decides, we’ve made the difficult decision not to go ahead with the program in 2023.”
“Over the past few months, we have been exploring ways we could deliver the event to Australian audiences next year however, a variety of factors contributed to us coming to this decision.”
“We are proud to continue to be the home of the Eurovision Song Contest and we look forward to celebrating 40 years of broadcasting Eurovision to all Australians in the coming year,” the statement said.
Fans Disappointed
Fans took to social media to express their disappointment in the change. “Eurovision: Australia Decides has been axed. Very disappointing,” said one Twitter user while another said, “Well this is disappointing. Australia Decides was a great production and helped us lift our game with better entries.”
Another Twitter user said, “Gutted. Hard to overstate just how significant #AusDecides has been in showcasing rising Australian talent to a broader audience.”
It was a change some fans saw coming, with one fan tweeting in September, “It’s almost mid-September and the lack of Eurovision – Australia Decides news is making me nervous we won’t have our own national final in 2023. Am I catastrophising?”
No More ‘Eurovision – Australia Decides’
Eurovision – Australia Decides ran from 2019-2022, with Sheldon Riley, Montaigne and Kate Miller-Heidke all being chosen through the competition to represent the nation. The competition did not happen in 2021 due to cancellation of the contest.
Jessica Mauboy, Isaiah Firebrace, Dami Im and Guy Sebastian, who all represented Australia prior to the creation of Eurovision – Australia Decides, were chosen through the internal selection process.
The Eurovision – Australia Decides selection process was done though artist submissions, which were then reduced to a final ten entries. These artists then competed in the contest, which took place in February. The contest consisted of a jury preview, a matinee preview and a live final.
The winner was ultimately determined through an equally weighted combination of a public vote and a professional jury vote.
The selection of Eurovision artists is different across participating nations. Some countries stage national competitions while others choose representing artist through an internal selection process.
Australia has participated in Eurovision since 2015 and has placed in the top ten four times. Dami Im took second place in 2016, the country’s best showing in the contest, while Sheldon Riley most recently placed 15th overall in 2022.
