Today, Delta Goodrem took to the Eurovision Grand Final stage on behalf of Australia with the hopes of making history. While she may have missed out on the trophy after coming fourth, there’s no doubt she cemented Australia as a serious Eurovision contender.
If you asked anyone in Europe a week ago, the prospect of Australia (that cheeky island continent on the other side of the globe) winning Eurovision would have sounded laughable. After all, this is Euro-vision — a competition traditionally dominated by European countries, with only a handful of outsiders ever invited into the mix.
And, until this week, Australia’s 10-year involvement in the song competition felt… polite.
We were invited to participate in 2015 thanks to the growing Australian audience waking up at the crack of dawn to see the yearly spectacle. While we’ve come close to winning before — Dami Im came in second with her belter hit “The Sound Of Silence” in 2016 — our involvement felt like a novelty — not a threat.
That shifted when Delta Goodrem hit the stage on behalf of the land Down Under with her track “Eclipse”.
With her immaculate vocals, captivating stage presence, flowing wind-machined hair and light-filled choreography, she took to the semi-finals with the confidence of a winner. Her performance was spectacular — and it’s not just Aussies who think so either.
“You can see the difference between a singer and a star. She was shining. Australia deserves to win. Good luck from Greece,” commented one user
“What a voice!,” wrote another fan. “My 12 points go to this entry. Loving this song from Spain!”
“I’m really shocked by this performance. This is so perfect, vocally and visually, OMG,” said another.
Even Delta didn’t expect the scale of the response she’d receive heading into the contest.
“I didn’t go in with expectations,” Delta told TV WEEK before she jetted off to Austria.
“I couldn’t have expected the level of community and arms around me. It’s been really nice to see support from all walks of life, from all around the world. It’s been awesome.”
While Delta may be gaining global recognition as Australia’s golden girl after captivating audiences worldwide, Delta says she’s always been repping the green and gold.
“I feel like I’ve always been representing Australia,” she says.
“I’ve always been very proudly stating that I’m a proud Aussie.”
For Australia, Delta’s incredible participation proved that we’re not just a country invited to the competition to be polite — we’re there to compete.
