Mamma mia, here we go again … Australia is back in the Eurovision fold

When Australia launched into the Eurovision Song Contest successful 2015, we were a newbie state successful the 59-year-old competition, wherever old-school heavyweights similar Sweden, France, Italy and UK called the shots.

Nine years later, we are inactive successful the fray and hoping to apical our idiosyncratic champion people of 2nd spot (thank you Dami Im, backmost successful 2016) with Electric Fields, an physics euphony duo performing One Milkali (One Blood). Mamma mia, present we spell again!

South Australian duo Electric Fields – Michael Ross (left) and Zaachariaha Fielding – volition correspond Australia astatine the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.Credit: Nick Wilson

This year’s contention besides falls connected the 40th day of ABBA’s 1974 Eurovision triumph with the opus that would go 1 of their signature hits, Waterloo.

The day of the triumph was really past month, but determination was amazingly small fanfare from the PR-savvy ABBA, whose Voyage medium campaign successful 2021 and 2022 proved they inactive cognize a happening oregon 2 astir the acheronian creation of self-promotion.

This tin lone mean 1 happening for the thousands of fans (and tv cameras) converging connected the southbound Swedish metropolis of Malmö ... thing glittered this mode comes. ABBA connected stage? It’s a agelong shot, but not 1 beyond the hopes of Eurovision fans worldwide.

For Australia, the strategy has been a analyzable one. Im is our campaign-best result, landing successful 2nd spot successful 2016 with Sound of Silence. The show was stunning for some its powerfulness and understatement. It had elemental staging and, had Eurovision itself not updated its scoring strategy that year, Im would person won connected the aged metrics. A cruel twist of fate, indeed.

Dami Im performing astatine the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.Credit: AP

Our creator highest would surely beryllium Kate Miller-Heidke’s Zero Gravity which, acknowledgment to bonzer staging, catapulted her into the heights of the stadium to present a dazzling performance. Backstage, the fearfulness was palpable from European countries that we had a winning act.

But Miller-Heidke took a hiding from the nonrecreational juries, whose Eurocentric bias fundamentally undercut the show that not lone stole the show, it adjacent overshadowed a uncommon Eurovision signifier show from popular icon Madonna. (To beryllium fair, this was during Madonna’s eye-patch era, truthful it’s doubtful anyone knew what was going on.)

So, wherever to now? Australia has tried soloists and a progressive metallic radical (Voyager, who performed past year), and is this twelvemonth returning to the fray with an physics euphony duo, Electric Fields. The 2 halves of the duo are vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard subordinate and shaper Michael Ross.

That means the large question mightiness not beryllium whether Electric Fields are acceptable for the creator abstraction of the Eurovision stage, but whether they are acceptable to navigate the analyzable enactment betwixt the brushed diplomacy of having astir 40 countries successful a azygous space, and the cutthroat quality of show erstwhile creation must, astatine immoderate point, springiness mode to pursuing the prize.

Electric Fields rehearsing this week connected signifier astatine Malmö Arena.Credit: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett

“I would invitation you to travel and play ping pong with Zaachariaha and I,” laughs Ross. “We’re some Sagittarian,” chimes successful Fielding. “And we person this beautiful, affable occurrence erstwhile we play ping pong with each different due to the fact that we deed that shot similar pinkish punks, and we privation it to alert close into that cleanable backmost country with a gorgeous magnitude of curve and spin,” finishes Ross.

“If we get that ace in, that is simply a 100 per cent our Sagittarian arrow, and if we don’t, we conscionable springiness each different a hug and person a large laugh, due to the fact that everyone deserves that golden medal, but we are readying connected bringing it location to this continent for the archetypal clip successful Eurovision history,” says Ross.

But the brace sees their ngo arsenic two-pronged. They person Eurovision successful their sights, with a broadside service of satellite peace. “Because of what’s happening astir successful the world, I consciousness similar the occupation and being portion of the Eurovision thing, our occupation arsenic a corporate with the countries coming together: it’s mode bigger,” says Fielding.

“I bash get the full competitory side, but I consciousness similar what the full Eurovision happening is going to bash is springiness immoderate benignant of peculiar acquisition to the audience,” Fielding adds. “I deliberation there’s going to beryllium a batch of healing being sent retired from the Eurovision this year.”

Michael Ross from Electric Fields connected signifier astatine Malmö Arena this week.Credit: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett

For immoderate kids, peculiarly those who grew up with European ancestry, determination was immoderate puerility consciousness of Eurovision that lays down their archetypal knowing of its funny mesh of classical stagecraft, campy and taste eccentricity.

But Ross did not brushwood it until his assemblage beingness erstwhile his friends would clasp Eurovision parties. “I went to rather a blimpish schoolhouse and I grew up successful a rather blimpish environment, [and Eurovision] is the other of conservative,” Ross says. “It is full-throttle look and each rules are meant to beryllium broken, looking into a kaleidoscope of quality expression. It was a magical eye-opening acquisition that conscionable floods your spirit.”

Fielding, meanwhile, grew up successful the bush. “So we ne'er truly had TV erstwhile I was younger, but erstwhile I got older and learned the creation of Eurovision, it was similar a Willy Wonka vibe,” Fielding says. “You had each the antithetic types of candy and radical could conscionable beryllium whoever they wanted to be. That full signifier is therapy.”

Fielding and Ross person been performing unneurotic arsenic Electric Fields since 2015, winning champion caller endowment of the twelvemonth astatine the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards, performing astatine the 2020 AFL Grand Final and, successful 2023, unveiling We The People, the authoritative WorldPride taxable song.

Not rather wherever it each began … ABBA connected the Eurovision signifier singing Waterloo successful 1974.Credit: Alamy

Their Eurovision song, One Milkali (One Blood), incorporates Yankunytjatjara (pronounced yan-kun-ja-jarra), an Aboriginal connection of the Anangu people. “We’ve ever [incorporated Indigenous lyrics] due to the fact that it’s a beauteous language, and it’s a portion of who I am,” Fielding says. “To beryllium fixed this accidental with Eurovision ... we get to beryllium our country, and we get to showcase that.”

That determination capitalises connected a inclination distant from singing successful English astatine the competition, which peaked successful popularity successful the past fewer decades. This year, Armenia, Estonia, France, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain volition each beryllium singing successful their nationalist languages. And Azerbaijan, Israel, San Marino and Ukraine volition execute successful a premix of languages, including English.

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The premix of indigenous and non-indigenous connection is “really embracing the narration and the quality and each the small surprises we larn astir each different and being successful the abstraction wherever it’s good to conscionable explicit them,” Fielding says.

“When you travel up with an idea, you tin statesman a dialog with someone, and I emotion dialoguing with Michael due to the fact that there’s nary decision successful the conversation,” Fielding adds. “It’s conscionable like, we’ve got to investigate, we’ve got to look. We’re conscionable focusing connected what ‘feeling’ feels similar and taking distant the rubric of what you deliberation you are oregon what nine says that you are.”

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by euphony Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey, volition aerial connected SBS betwixt May 8 and May 12. Australia competes successful semi-final 1; the winning countries from semi-final 1 advancement to the expansive final.

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