Pop star and Neighbours actress Delta Goodrem is representing the country in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final will feature 25 acts competing for this year’s title, with the competition returning to Austria for the first time since 2015. The 2026 edition of the European singing competition is taking place at the Wiener Stadthalle and has been transmitted live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm in the UK.
Just 25 countries qualified for the Grand Final, this includes 20 which progressed from semi-finals and the ‘Big Four’ countries – the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy – which would typically be the ‘Big Five’ but Spain is boycotting this year’s contest.
Australia was one of the countries which qualified in the semi-finals, but why are they competing when it’s not part of Europe? For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service, widely referred to as SBS, holds associate membership of the European Broadcasting Union. The broadcaster started showing the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 and has televised it every year since.
From 2010 to 2014, the Special Broadcasting Service allowed Australian viewers to participate in televoting during the Eurovision Song Contest final.
Nevertheless, these votes were non-binding and consequently had no bearing on the contest’s ultimate results.
However, Australia was invited to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, initially as a one-off appearance to mark the competition’s 60th anniversary.
Following a seemingly successful debut, SVT (Sveriges Television) announced in November 2015 that Australia would return in 2016. They have continued competing annually since, though they must now earn their place by taking part in the semi-finals.
During Thursday’s (May 14) second semi-final of Eurovision 2026, attention turned to Australian pop star Delta Goodrem as she represented her nation. The singer and actress performed her song Eclipse alongside a harpist, before taking her place at a gold sparkly piano.
The former Neighbours star’s performance reached its peak as she was lifted into the air while atop the piano.
Following her qualification for the final, Delta has propelled Australia to second favourite status in the competition, rapidly gaining ground on Finland, who remain the long-standing favourites to claim the prestigious trophy.
Should Australia triumph at the Eurovision Song Contest, the event wouldn’t relocate to the southern hemisphere the following year.
Instead, they would be required to select a European co-host nation to stage the competition on their behalf.
In fact, whilst speaking on the Wanging On podcast with Maria McErlane, Graham Norton explained what happens.
He said in the video posted on Instagram on :”This is so interesting, because last night I was doing an interview on Australian Radio with Joel Creasey, and he used to be the Australian commentator, but he doesn’t do it anymore. But he was saying apparently every year Australia make a deal with someone.
“So in case they win, what country will host for them? They make a deal.”
His co-host asked: “Well, who will it be? Do they know?”
Graham replied: “He didn’t know. He feels maybe they do deals with multiple countries. But don’t tell anyone”
Maria added: “I feel we should be told all of this.”
The Irish presenter continued: “Well, I’ll be investigating this the minute I get to Vienna. I’ll have a magnifying glass out, and a deerstalker.”
Australia came close to Eurovision victory in 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, with Dami Im’s Sound of Silence securing second place. The performance accumulated 511 points, finishing just 23 points behind winners Ukraine.
The country received 15 maximum scores of 12 points combined from both jury panels and public voting.
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