Is 2024 the end of Australia? (1 Viewer)

Sheena

Sheena

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Only second time as a non- qualifier on the back of some disappointing results, plunging ratings and, let’s face it, the staging this year was very basic compared to previous years- almost feels like they’ve already checked out.

It will be a shame but it’s equally a while since they’ve sent something I really liked…
 
I think I said in the main thread, Australia is running on fumes now. I do wonder if the novelty has rather worn off for them.
 
I think they got lucky (and still running on novelty momentum perhaps) with Isaiah's result, and even Jessica to a point, but I do think they were incredibly unfortunate last year - they won their semi with a decent effort, only to be beaten by almost everything in that semi in the final itself. Bad luck with running order maybe, but the entry itself wasn't one that showed a country giving up, and it was clearly popular initially, just not on the final night.

This year deserved to tank though.

I've got used to them being around so I wouldn't want to see them gone yet, but a Dami (or even Zero Gravity) result is probably needed soon to keep them interested
 
How was the Isaiah result 'lucky'? It's not as if the juries were especially ambiguous on their thoughts on the track!

Genuinely feel quite sorry for Electric Fields. It was a great performance and really would have been a welcome presence in the grand final's running order. We didn't need both of Serbia and Portugal.
 
It is weird how quickly they went from sending relatively big names to acts essentially one step up from amateur, there seems to be zero buzz in Australia anymore. The EBU have made their presence such a large part of the script now that it’d be a bit awkward to lose them, though, and we can hardly afford to lose any more countries, so hopefully something will happen…
 
Penelope Will Rave said:
How was the Isaiah result 'lucky'? It's not as if the juries were especially ambiguous on their thoughts on the track!
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I meant because it was, if I remember right, just a bit rubbish and somewhat OFF KEY as well. That the juries loved it, while the public paid it dust, suggests they might have been helped out by the "ooh it's Australia" train at the time.

Obviously I know there's many other examples of that, but it's the sort of good fortune I can imagine landing on a relative new country, a bit like Luxembourg have arguably received this year.
 
There definitely seemed to be an issue with budget/interest this year. Electric Fields felt very unsupported.

I also wonder if Azerbaijan might drop out. They seem to be running on fumes lately…
 
Agreed on Azerbaijan. They have clearly lost interest.
 
Maybe instead of having a place guaranteed for Australia each year, they should have a spot for Aus/NZ/Canada/(who else?) to compete for.

And same could be done for a Middle Eastern, Central Asian entries too.
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
Maybe instead of having a place guaranteed for Australia each year, they should have a spot for Aus/NZ/Canada/(who else?) to compete for.

And same could be done for a Middle Eastern, Central Asian entries too.
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Jordan and Lebanon are EBU members so could feasibly join (we have Lebanon’s one failed attempt).
 
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I don't think the performance came across very well last night at all.

There's the makings of a great song in there somewhere, but there's so much going on that it never quite catches. The fairly simple staging left it all feeling a bit half-baked, too. And while they're definitely not the only country whose vocals sounded off, I can't imagine the last 20 seconds left a particularly positive lasting impression when it came to the vote.
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
Maybe instead of having a place guaranteed for Australia each year, they should have a spot for Aus/NZ/Canada/(who else?) to compete for.

And same could be done for a Middle Eastern, Central Asian entries too.
Click to expand...
The EBU are having enough trouble signing up broadcasters who can necessarily easily get the money together for the increased participation dues for nations entering since Russia got booted and it upped the share / amount required from everyone else to raise the overall total needed to run the contest annually to the set spec these days as it is, let alone adding more pre-qualifying round hurdles!
 
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One thing I will say is that last night made me realise just how the gulf between simple vs complex staging has become. I get it’s all part of the package but I think it’s pricing some out of the game.
 
I would imagine Australia's participation fee is one of the higher ones, and obviously they have a significantly higher travel price than any other country - SBS is a fairly niche broadcaster as it is. I believe most of their entries (if not all?) have been sponsored either by record labels (the first few years) or various local governments. I guess once they lose sponsorship that'll be it.

In terms of other countries, a Croatian win would presumably help a bit with costs but I'm not sure the participation fee itself would massively be cut.
 
Maria Magdasheena said:
One thing I will say is that last night made me realise just how the gulf between simple vs complex staging has become. I get it’s all part of the package but I think it’s pricing some out of the game.
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Portugal’s was relatively simple though and stood out because of it. There are ways to do staging creatively with a low budget. And way to bomb with a high one (hi Poland).
 
I’d say they may well end up out at some point. This year appeared rather touch and go, possibly to why the performance and support it had feels very lacklustre. Their travel costs etc are also naturally very high, and whilst Australia do like Eurovision, it is on at about 5 in the morning and simply doesn’t compare to the likes of the UK with audience and interest.

It can also feel a bit like they really have to knock it right out the park just to get a decent-if-not-great televote, for various reasons, which probably will discourage them.
 
RS said:
Maybe instead of having a place guaranteed for Australia each year, they should have a spot for Aus/NZ/Canada/(who else?) to compete for.

And same could be done for a Middle Eastern, Central Asian entries too.
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One for each continent :disco:

Some having internal selections and some going through gladiator rounds Melodifestivalen style!

Would give Christer Björkman something to do now that ASC has flopped and Sweden won't be winning for another two years :D
 
RS said:
Maybe instead of having a place guaranteed for Australia each year, they should have a spot for Aus/NZ/Canada/(who else?) to compete for.

And same could be done for a Middle Eastern, Central Asian entries too.
Click to expand...
And another one for North Africa, they're all fully EBU members already I think?
 
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All of Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan (plus Lebanon & Morocco) are all full EBU members and could debut whenever they liked, but I can't imagine any of them wanting to be in ESC for several reasons
 
auretz said:
All of Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan (plus Lebanon & Morocco) are all full EBU members and could debut whenever they liked, but I can't imagine any of them wanting to be in ESC for several reasons
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1000012114.jpg
 
Even if Israel wasn't part of it, I'm not sure a lot of the performances would really fit/even be allowed on TV in e.g. Libya :D
 
Next year is supposed to the 10th anniversary of Australia's first participation, hopefully they will remain around?
Plus Electric Fields wasn't far from qualifying, so I'd say there's hope...

If they keep on recruiting former acts from Australia Decides I hope they go with Courtney Act :D She was their spokesperson in 2022 and conducted interviews this year so she must still be interested in competing.
 
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