AUSTRALIA 2025

The Australian act and song was revealed on February 25th with the artist and song reveal incorporated into the music video premiere via the official youtube channel.  Going to Basel is Go-Jo with the song "Milkshake Man"

Marty Zambotto is behind the persona of Go-Jo. He spent his early years with his family living off-grid, with no running water and growing their own food. This seems to have instilled the 'self-sufficient nature of his music and music production. As a child he listened to his parents music collection - mostly of singer-songwriters and received a guitar from his mum( who was also in a band) at 13. They eventually moved to Perth where he bought a digital audio workstation and started producing work for other artists before working on his own ideas. His work has a singer-songwriter approach but the production is more indie, alternative and electronic. He has a number of songs on his Spotify account but no official charting releases.

The majority of video takes place inside a ice cream/takeaway van but once inside we see that milkshakes are firmly on the menu as are party lights and 70s disco inspired costumes. Go-Jo is joined by two female co-workers who dress - and act - like crazed dolls. Go-Jo is seen driving the van, writhing around on the floor and gurning down the camera. The song starts with a verse and short refrain into the chorus then into the repetitive post chorus. This procedure runs through again followed by a call and response bridge ending with a longer post chorus. The background beat it very one note but there are layers of beats and rhythms which come in and out of the track. The main change is in the post chorus when the music has longer chords which last and fill the space. The delivery of the song ise rather talky. There is an audible fry to his voice as well as extra distortion in the production.

The song is extremely frivolous, as is its simplistic yet over the top video. I am expecting more of the same in the stage in Basel with interesting costume choices, suggestive dance moves, pulsating lights and plenty of provocative images on the backdrop. The songwriting and performance style is outwardly outrageous which could lead to lots of movement and interaction with other people on stage and the audience, giving a very full, effervescent picture. I also expect the audience to join in with the call and response bridge. Many viewers will pick up on the innuendo and bawdy lyrics. On the flip side, this is so bright, so loud, so suggestive it becomes too much. Although the stage show will be quite the experience, I am not sure how, vocally, this is will be replicated, especially when so much of the atmosphere is created by the intimacy of his voice in the mic. The lyrics are' full of the kind of double entendres that are so in your face, they are single entendres. In a post 'Me Too' world, a song alluding to getting satisfaction from a man in an intimate way, might come across too strong and aggressive and lacking in taste.

ARTIST - Go-Jo 

SONG - Milkshake Man

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Jason Bovino, Amy Sheppard, George Sheppard, Marty Zambotto

AUSTRALIA 2024

The Australian song and act was revealed on March 6th (Australia time) - with the première of the song on the Eurovision Song Contest youtube channel. Little information was known, or leaked, about the song or representative until the official presentation. The Australian song for Malmö is "One Milkali (One Blood)" by Electric Fields.

The duo Electric Fields is made up of Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross. Their music style is mainly electronic with soul qualities, integrating many aspects of Aboriginal culture and sing in a mixture of  Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English. The pair have been performing as Electric Fields since 2015. Singer Zaachariaha Fielding grew up in Mimili, in the APY lands of South Australia.He has an academic background in Indigenous Australian music and is also a prize winning visual artist. The other half of the duo is Michael Ross; singer, songwriter, pianist and producer from Adelaide. Both were contestants on X Factor Australia albeit it on different editions of the show. Although their discography is not extensive - considering they have been around for almost a decade - they are a prolific live band and have been nominated many times for numerous National Indigenous Music Awards, National Live Music Awards and ARIAS for their live performances. February 2019, they attempted to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song "2000 and Whatever". Although they were a solid fan favourite, they came second in both the jury and audience vote and were second overall behind Kate Miller-Heidke.

This song is very much in the Electric Fields signature style. The song begins with a short verse which has very minimal backing. The track then starts to grow during the pre-chorus and then the chorus proper. The outro part of the chorus is where the beat and the vocal really soars into something anthemic. During verse two the vocals are taken over by Michael which gives the song a slightly different feel but keeps the energy going forward. This time round, the outro of the chorus fades out and is replaced by some digeridoo which actually adds to the earthy, grounded feel of the song. The outro here is much extended and goes on until the end of the song.

The accompanying music video is very plain and doesn't reflect the outstanding live performances they are known for. Some have commented it is rather intense, bordering on intrusive, and slightly boring. Having the words on screen slightly helps driving the beat but isn't really needed as Zaachariaha's voice is so clear. On first listen I found this a little bit plodding and I had to concentrate quite a lot on what was happening. One second listen, however, I enjoyed the song much more and got into the vibe much easier. I feel like this is a song that just needs to listened to (and hopefully also watched) and not overly critiqued. This is all about the feels and the atmosphere. I can really imagine the last minute being all about the crowd waving their hands in the air - and their flags too. Most times when an act unveils a music video for their song, I feel reserved as I would really love to know how this can be performed live. In this case, though, I feel very sure about their live ability - in particular their vocal reliability. I would suspect there will be some kind of Aboriginal aspect to the backdrop, their clothing and potential dancers/musicians. I imagine that this stage show will look and feel very Australian and I think that this will have little problem qualifying. I might even suggest this song will do better in the final than the semis as I would hope the juries would reward their live credentials.

ARTIST - Electric Fields

SONG - One Milkali (One Blood)"

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross

AUSTRALIA 2023

The Australian act and song was revealed on February 21th as a premier of the official music video via the Eurovision Song Contest youtube channel. Representing Australia this year is the rock band Voyager with the song "Promise".

Voyager is a five-piece rock band who formed in Perth in 1999 and their current line up consists of Alex Canion, Ashley Doodkorte, Simone Dow, Daniel Estrin and Scott Kay. The band released their first album in 2003 and have currently seven albums under their belt. Although they have had plenty of success in their native Australia, most of their albums have had European releases. They have also frequented festivals been support slots in Finland, Netherlands, Germany and the UK. The band first came to light in Eurovision spheres when they took part on the 2022 edition of  "Eurovision – Australia Decides". They were one of the pre-favourites and eventually came a close second but did win the public televote.

The song begins with a strobing synth bassline. This continues under the first verse and lead into the pre-chorus. The synthy-ness is more ethereal during this part and acts like a buffer and springboard between the verse and the much more rock infused chorus which is short but catchy and sharp. Verse two into the pre-chorus has much more full backing but is much shorter and the run into the chorus is noticeably truncated. There there is a notable pause and drop where a slow but heavy instrumental comes in leading into an elongated pre-chorus with some extra instrumentation in the backing. The final chorus is slightly broken up by more instrumental parts this time of a synth nature and feeling more akin to 70s prog rock before the shouty end.

I have to admit this took some time to actually catch my ear. There is SO much going on in this song and so full of bits and pieces there is a lot to take on board. However this song made so such more sense listening through headphones and I am hoping with better sound production and live vocals there will be more variety on the levels when performed live. There is also a lot of lyric repetition, not just in the chorus, and I quite like this especially as a lot of it feels like the singer addressing the audience/listener directly which gives it some urgency. They also feel like a very tight band and I think they should have a good setup and stage idea for the song. Personally I find the video a bit disjointed and didn't really portray the song's message.

This is a very distinct genre (which is good) but it is not a very Eurovision-y genre and so it's rather up in the air as to how this is going to go. I feel like the rock people will like this and I feel that many will appreciate the artistry and the unusual nature of the song. Looking at their semi, there is nothing vaguely like this (as I write) , possibly the nearest comparable song would be Slovenia's. This will stand out and will make a real point. The problem is - is it too different, too confusing and too hard to comprehend on one listen? And will anyone actually vote for this? I actually feel like the 100% televote may be of detriment to them as musicologists, producers and musicians of this genre would probably be at the top of the list for giving this much needed points. Although this is not really my style or normal listening material I hope this does get through because it has real substance and the band has got the style. The final would be a less interesting place without them.

 

ARTIST - Voyager

SONG - Promise

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - A Canion, Paul Clarke, A Doodkorte, S Dow, D Estrin, S Kay, Matt Templeman

AUSTRALIA 2022

The Australian Final (Australia Decides) was held on February 26th at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey. The winner was chosen by 50/50 mix of jury and phone voting which actually started the day before the final. Going to Turin is Sheldon Riley singing "Not the same"

Sheldon Riley (real name Sheldon Hernandez) first started to play the piano and write songs at the age of ten. This was his outlet for dealing with bullying and his Aspergers diagnosis. He started to take part in school productions and in 2015 he won best actor in a school/youth musical at the Gold Coast Theatre Awards for his performance in "13". He first came to national prominence during the 2018 series of The Voice Australia. During his blind audition all 4 mentors turned but he chose to be on Boy George's team - this comes as no surprise when you sing "Do you really want to hurt me?" by Culture Club as your opening gambit! Eventually Sheldon made his way to the final, coming in third place. In 2019 he returned to the Voice in an 'all stars' series where he was eliminated in the semi final. He also appeared on the 2020 series of America's Got Talent getting through to the live shows. Many of his performances have been in a dramatic ballad style and sporting his customary stylised masked look.

The singing begins immediately with a moody and emotionally driven lyric on top of a piano backing. The verse starts off low and quiet but as it develops his voice and tone gets bigger before retreating again for the rather minimalist chorus. At about 45 seconds in the second verse comes with a thready beat and influx of violins. The chorus here extends to 4 lines rather than two and allows the backing to maintain its volume into the bridge. This part is much more staccato; full of shorter lines and rhymes made more urgent by the more prominent drum beat. At the 2.15 the song comes to a peak, mirroring Sheldon's 'unmasking' then drops away again before a final emotional repetition of the chorus.

The styling and setting is dark and mysterious which reflects the story being told. Sheldon is wearing an elaborate black gown (possibly coat/cape) with many layers. Over his face he wears his trademark mask which he takes off during the last minute. Although his face may be obscured, emotion comes pouring through his voice and his body language, especially the middle part of the song. His voice seems to soar in his higher register and has great control and skill going through his vocal registers.

I just feel like something is not quite right with the song. For starters the whole mask narrative is fine If you know about it before. Had I not had this explained during the postcard I might not have understood its meaning. Although the actual unmasking is dramatic and very much the moment of the song, I feel like this comes at the wrong point in the song. It either needs to come earlier in the song so there is more time to grow OR needs to come as close to the end as possible to make that part the high point. At least this song and performer has a story and personality which weave intrinsically together seamlessly. being the only male ballad (up to now) may well work to their advantage.

ARTIST -Sheldon Riley

SONG - Not the same

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Cam Nascon, Brendon Riley

AUSTRALIA 2021

The Australian song premiered on March 4th, with its first play on Australian radio station Triple J. The next day it was available to find on all online platforms and on the 6th it had its first live performance at Syndey Mardi Gras. The singer Montaigne, who won Australia Decides in 2020, was reselected again for the 2021 edition however this song was internally selected. She will sing the song "Technicolour"

During her performance at the Mardi Gras Montaigne was joined on stage by 2 female dancers. All three of them are dressed in different white outfits although the dancers start with black coats and shed them at the command 'take off your cloaks'. Montaigne was singing live, which in itself was pretty impressive, does some dancing although most of it is on the spot with some armography, foot swivelling and kneeling. It felt rather simplistic and could easily be beefed up with more dancers as well as benefiting from a proper backdrop and props.

The song structure is rather straightforward compared to many of the songs we've reviewed up to now. The verses show off Montaigne's lower register as well as her yodelling technique. Here her voice sounds Celtic, almost Sinead O'Connor like. The yodelling continues in the pre-chorus but her voice seems a little more agitated as the lyrics become more emotional but suddenly breaks off into a more shouty call to arms part and goes straight into the repetitive chorus. We then repeat the verse/pre-chorus/chorus medley before a brief respite with some more vocal runs and some rather high notes before the final chorus which also initiates a rather unexpected key change. 

Montaigne's breakthrough came in 2014 when her song "I am not an end" got good radio play in Australia and was followed up by the release of her EP called "Life of Montaigne". In 2016 she released her album "Glorious Heights" which helped Montaigne win the ARIA for "Breakthrough Artist" which is no mean feat. Her second album came out in 2019 and the next year won "Australian Decides" with Don't Break Me. Her music is very singer-songwriter led however her music is also seen as 'art pop' because of her production style and visual presentations.

Compared to her 2020 entry this is more pop influenced. There are many changes in the song which show off the different facets of her voice but the transitions of the song need a lot of work. The song is much more level in terms of production in the studio version and I feel the backing track needs more rise and fall to make the parts stand out more. In particular, the change from pre-chorus to the technicolour chant needs more of a pow moment between them. I also hope that this staging is not what we are getting at Eurovision. Obviously she'll have more of a backdrop but I also wonder if she'll have more dancers to make the stage come alive more. I also think Montaigne's choreo doesn't fit with the song. perhaps if she has more dancers she might be able to get away with doing less. This all said, her live vocal performance is really outstanding and if she can pull something like this in May she will do herself justice. 

ARTIST - Montaigne
SONG - Technicolour
WRITING CREDITS - Jessica Cerro, Dave Hammer