Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Technicolour" written by Montaigne and Dave Hammer. The song was performed by Montaigne, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Montaigne was announced as the Australian representative on 2 April 2020 after she was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Don't Break Me" before the 2020 event's cancellation. The song Montaigne performed, "Technicolour", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021 . Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 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 first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2021. Performing during the show in position 5, "Technicolour" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final, making it the first time that Australia failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since their debut in 2015. 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. Australian singers have also participated at Eurovision as representatives of other countries, including Olivia Newton John (1974, ), two-time winner Johnny Logan (1980 and 1987, ), Gina G (1996, United Kingdom), and Jane Comerford as lead singer of Texas Lightning (2006, ). 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 Five" (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 . 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 confirmed Australia's participation in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest after securing an invitation to participate until 2023. In 2019, Australia was represented by Kate Miller-Heidke and the song "Zero Gravity". The country ended in ninth place in the  grand final with 284 points. Before Eurovision. Internal selection. Montaigne was confirmed as the artist that would represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 on 2 April 2020. Her Eurovision song, "Technicolour", was premiered on 4 March 2021 on Triple J, while the digital download release of the full song occurred on 5 March 2021 and the live performance occurred on 6 March 2021 during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2021, broadcast on SBS as well as streamed online at SBS On Demand. The song was written by Montaigne along with Dave Hammer. 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 in 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. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on  28 January 2020, was used. Australia was placed into the first semi-final, which was held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2021 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 was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Sweden and preceding the entry from North Macedonia. On 20 April 2021, it was confirmed  that due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the Australian delegation would not be able to travel to Rotterdam, thus Australia performed via their 'live-on-tape' recording, filmed at SBS's studios in Sydney. At the end of the show Australia was not announced among 10 qualifiers of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final, making it the first time that Australia failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since their debut in 2015. Voting. Voting during the three  shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the  act. Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members. The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form. Detailed voting results. The following members  comprised the Australian jury: