This week our Australian Eurovision fan of the Week is Laura aka @laurovision
Read her full Q&A with us below:
What is your name and where are you from? My name is Laura and I’m from Melbourne (Naarm), Australia.
Naarm is the Boon wurrung/woi wurrung (the two languages share 90% of vocabulary) name for Melbourne, the language of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nations, the traditional custodians of the land I am writing these answers on today. This land was stolen and sovereignty was never ceded.
Well said Laura, for those outside Australia it's customary at large gatherings, meetings or events to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ~ Aussievision
Tell us something interesting about you? If you live in Australia, chances are you’ve probably seen my face before, even if you might not recognise it...roller skating has led me to some amazing opportunities, including skating in a music video, as well as a commercial for Facebook!
On to Eurovision itself – when did you first get into the contest? I first watched Eurovision in 2009, when I was 14 years old! I haven’t missed a contest since then - 10 years later, I’m still watching Eurovision and my passion for the contest has only grown stronger with time!
Do you have a favourite Eurovision year? Why is it your fav? I have a bit of a bias towards 2009 because it was my first year watching the contest and it’s very nostalgic for me, but I’d have to say 2016 - so many quality songs and Sweden put on an amazing show!
Both great years, 2009 was epic (particularly that stage) and all round quality in Sweden.
Which Eurovision song:
Is your favourite? Nocturne (Norway 1995)! Such a beautiful, enchanting and timeless song.
Is overrated? I’ll probably be disowned for saying this (I’m half-Italian), but Occidentali’s Karma (Italy 2017). It’s good but not that good!
Well Europe and the juries agreed with you!
Was robbed? Where do I begin? Stones, Blackbird, Fuego, Monsters, Sound of Silence, the list goes on...but my ultimate robbery is Is It True? (Iceland 2009). One of the best vocal performances I’ve ever seen and Yohanna looked like a beautiful princess in that blue dress - was she the fairytale that Alexander Rybak was singing about? I’m still not over it 10 years later!
Had the best live performance? La Forza (Estonia 2018) still blows me away and gives me goosebumps every time. It’s not merely a song, it’s an experience! The studio version really doesn’t do it justice.
It certainly is one of those you need to *watch* not just listen to.
Did you last play? Water (Bulgaria 2007). Such a banger! Also criminally robbed in the most recent ESC 250 countdown.
Is your guilty pleasure? Flying the Flag (UK 2007). It keeps getting stuck in my head whenever I’m in an airport as well!
GREAT CHOICE! Big fan of this song, and yep at the airport... everytime...~ Dale
Any other interesting honourable mentions? Visionary Dream (Georgia 2007) and Rändajad (Estonia 2009) - both amazing and unique songs that take you to another world.
Should Australia be in Eurovision - why or why not? I can see where both sides of the debate are coming from. On one hand, it’s a fantastic opportunity to share our music and culture with the wider world, but on the other hand, being involved in Eurovision strengthens our ties to Europe (and thus also our colonial history and all the ongoing pain and bloodshed that comes with that). I would personally love to see more of Australia’s cultural diversity being showcased through the songs we send, so that more people will learn about the ongoing history of the land we now call Australia - the history of the oldest 400+ nations on earth (who speak 715 languages and dialects) spanning back over 40,000 years whose cultures and existence continue to this day. No country in Eurovision is more diverse than Australia, and that diversity is such a great strength and should be celebrated. I believe we should show it to the world and if the platform where we can do that happens to be Eurovision, so be it!
What do you think of Australia having a national final? I’m really excited for our national final - finally the Australian public gets to have a say in who we want to represent us at Eurovision and we also get to discover new artists and songs in the process!
Out of the seven artists announced so far (for Australia) decides who are you most excited about? I’ve heard a snippet of Electric Fields’ song and I really want to hear the rest of it! I’m also really excited to see what Kate Miller-Heidke is going to bring to Australia Decides.
What other national finals are you most looking forward to? Eesti Laul and Melodi Grand Prix!
Both fantastic choices, probably up there with our faves
Any prediction of what we might see in Tel Aviv this year? More fireworks and hopefully more Fuego-style bops! But my surest prediction is for Nadav Guedj showing us the city...
SURELY he will make an appearance!
And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy or We Got Love? Sound of Silence. That performance was everything!
Thanks for your time Laura!