SBS.COM REPORTS / AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 Jessica Mauboy had the crowd roaring within Altice Arena during her Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final on Friday, and the odds are strengthening in her favour that she might actually pull off an upset, in Sunday’s Grand Final. So it’s an opportune time to ponder what we would do if Jess actually wins this thing?
What will happen if, for the first time in Eurovision history, Australia takes the trophy from the heartland of Eurovision? Would we host the biggest song contest in the world right in our backyard the following year? Would we be responsible for a new uprising in Europe for stealing the hotly contested crown?
If we were to host it, an Australian Eurovision could be the biggest singing, glitter filled, hair raising spectacle since Priscilla, or, at least since the last Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. But unfortunately for us, the Eurovision party will not be leaving the Northern Hemisphere. Even if we were to win on Sunday. Sigh.
However, if Australia does win, we will be changing the course of Eurovision destiny by joining forces with another European city to co-host the event.
Eurovision rules state that, “If Australia wins the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, the 2019 contest will be co-hosted by Australian broadcaster SBS and another European public broadcaster, somewhere in Europe.”
If Eurovision voters express overwhelming love for We Got Love, you can bet discussions with prospective host partners will begin in earnest.
Picture those pre-song ‘Eurovision postcards’ now: kangaroos and croissants, koalas and sangria… – the pairing of Australia with another country could be a party planners dream…