Aussie fan views on Australia's Eurovision 2026 campaign, SBS broadcast and future

aussievision
1 hour ago
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Aussievision recently conducted a survey with Australian fans about the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

This covered general information on how they watched the show, how many times they voted and if they've been to the Contest.

However, this also asked some tough questions about Israel's participation, voting, and how they rated the show and EBU overall.

Additionally, fans were asked about SBS's coverage, Australia's performance and future in the Contest and how we should choose our artist.

In our second article in a series looking at the results, we're looking at their views on Australia's Eurovision 2026 campaign and our future with the Contest.

Firstly, who did we hear from?

We received 304 respondents with 269 residing in Australia.

Unfortunately, because many international fans took the survey we will present the results of fans living in Australia only. But we do acknowledge many Aussie fans live overseas.

Attendance, watching and voting

70% have never been to the Contest, 18% have been once and 4% have been five times or more.
81% watched the Grand Final live on SBS or SBS On Demand (up from 72% last year), 4% live in the stadium, 5% on YouTube, while 21% watched it delayed either On Demand or in the Prime Time replay.
40% voted the full 10 times, while 43% didn't vote at all and 4% found a way to vote more than 10 times.
57% watched with family and friends, 43% on their own and 3% in the stadium or at an event (multiple options could be checked)

2026 performance and result

Delta Goodrem with Eclipse placed 4th for Australia in the Grand Final.

It was Australia’s best result since Dami Im finished second in 2016.

We asked fans to rate Australia's placing and entry as either: Very good, good, neutral/average, poor or very poor.

Very good - 77%
Good - 16%
Neutral/Average - 4%
Poor - 3%
Very poor - 0.4%

Overall, 93% rated it positively, 4% neutral, and 3% negatively.

This is a significant increase on 2025, when Go-Jo with Milkshake Man was rated 41% positively, 37% neutral, and 23% negatively.

Should Australia return to Eurovision 2027?

We asked fans: Should Australia return to Eurovision next year?

(Difference from last year in brackets)

Yes, definitely regardless - 67% (-2)

Yes, but only if changes happen within the Contest - 26% (-)

Unsure - 3% (+1)

No - 3% (-)

Other - 1% (+0.5)

A clear majority of 93% want Australia to return, with just 3% opposed.

This is slightly down from the 95% who wanted Australia to return in the 2025 survey.

The number wanting to return regardless also dropped slightly from 69% to 67%.

How should Australia select its entry?

If Australia did compete, we asked fans how they would like the entry selected.

National selection show like Australia Decides - 68% (-7)
Internal choice - 20% (+10)
Unsure - 9% (-5)
Other - 2% (+0.5)

Fans still want a return to a national selection show like Australia Decides, but support dropped from 75% in the 2025 survey.

There was a significant rise for an internal selection, up from 10% to 20%, likely helped by the success of Delta Goodrem’s internally selected campaign.

Australia Decides was used to select Australia's entries in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

What form could a national selection take?

Fans were able to select multiple options with live shows in a stadium or studio getting the majority of votes.

Live show in the stadium - 70% (-4)
Live show in a TV studio - 61% (-3)
Online with live performances - 21% (+1)
Online with live studio tracks - 6% (+2)

Support for a live stadium show dropped from 74% last year to 70%, while a live TV studio show dropped from 64% to 61%.

Online options remained much less popular, with live online performances at 21% and studio tracks at 6%.

How did they rate SBS's 2026 approach?

Respondents were asked to rate SBS's coverage and other items on a five-star scale.

How would you rate the SBS broadcast of Eurovision 2026: 4.32 stars

(This was up from 4.11 last year)

How would you rate the promotion of Eurovision 2026 by SBS:- 3.58 stars

(This was up from 3.29 in 2025)

How would you rate the SBS commentators Courtney Act and Danny Estrin: 4.21 stars

(This was up from 3.80 for Courtney Act and Tony Armstrong last year)

How much confidence do you have in SBS as a broadcaster of Eurovision: 4.41 stars

(This was up from 4.12 in the 2025 survey)

We asked fans for comments on what Australia did this year and how it could improve in the future.

Please note these are the views of fans and not Aussievision.

Praise for Delta Goodrem

There was overwhelming praise for Delta Goodrem’s performance and campaign.

“Delta was fantastic and did us amazingly proud.”

“Delta Goodrem was truly spectacular- did us so proud!”

“Delta was incredible this year - an absolutely seasoned and talented performer, amazing live, very media-friendly. The whole package!”

“Delta was perfect, I can't fault anything. From her performance to her interviews and professionalism....she was the perfect ambassador.”

“Delta’s performance was STUNNING 🤩 The staging was epic. Australia couldn’t have done more. Delta is so charismatic, Europe loves her, there was no better choice.”

Send established, quality artists

Many respondents said Delta’s success showed Australia should continue sending experienced performers.

“Delta was the best entry we have had so far. We need to be sending our best and most seasoned performers to even have a shot at the title.”

“We need to continue to send quality acts. Our best results come from great songs from fantastic vocalists (Delta, Dami, Guy, Kate).”

“Loved Delta. I think if Australia continues to send artists then they need to be on Delta’s level. We definitely get marked down a notch just for being Australia so we really need strong performers.”

“I think a good solid established singer like Delta, Dami, Guy is definitely the path to go with in future competitions.”

“Sending Delta was brilliant! It was very exciting and the whole country got on board. Australians who would usually ignore Eurovision paid attention because Delta is so well known.”

Staging and campaign

Fans also praised Australia’s staging, while calling for SBS to maintain the same level of investment in future years.

“Whoever was behind the staging of Delta’s number needs to be kept on a retainer and SBS needs to treat every year like they are sending Delta and have a chance to win.”

“Staging was great this year and very memorable. Best since 2019.”

“Delta was a great choice finally and her performance including lighting staging costume were very classy.”

“We need to keep the momentum with sending people over who can showcase the best of Australia and deliver on that stage.”

“The contest is no longer just about the vocals, an act really needs to be a performance with staging and dancers, more than one person on the stage.”

Australia Decides / Public Input

Despite the success of Delta’s internal selection, many respondents still want the public to have a say.

“Bringing back a national selection competition.”

“All I want is for public selection to return in the future.”

“Returning to a national final would be great - take inspiration from UMK, tap some of the great talent we have.”

“Bring back Australia Decides! So many Aussie ESC fans will probably never make it over to Eurovision in person so the stadium show meant so much to Aussie fans.”

“I miss Australia Decides- we didn’t necessarily make the best decisions though. It was just such a lovely space for us weirdos to connect over the contest that didn’t involve a trip to Europe.”

Could Australia ever win?

A strong result also left some fans questioning whether Australia could ever win Eurovision.

“Honestly, if we can’t win with Delta and that epic performance, I honestly don’t think we can ever win.”

“N/A, we sent a perfect entry and didnt win.”

“Delta nailed it 😭 I honestly don’t think we will ever win if she couldn’t.”

“She was amazing but we will never win.”

“We will always struggle with the public vote, so all things considered we’re doing great.”

Promotion and SBS presentation

There was strong praise for SBS and the commentary team, though some respondents wanted more promotion and lead-up content.

“Danny and Courtney were fantastic, keep both of them!”

“SBS’ coverage of the event itself is excellent but more promotion in the buildup would be excellent - local shows surrounding Eurovision (like SBS used to have) would be welcome to return too.”

“Delta did a brilliant job connecting with the media, fans and other contestants. Feels like the best lead up Australia has had.”

“Great decision from the SBS to keep Courtney and to choose Danny as our commentators for this year.”

“Well done to not only Delta and her crew, but also to Courtney Act and Estrin for their fantastic and informative and entertaining commentary.”

Summary

As a collective Aussie fans strongly backed Australia’s Eurovision 2026 campaign, with 93% rating Delta Goodrem’s result and entry positively.

They also remain strongly supportive of Australia returning to Eurovision in 2027, with 93% wanting the nation back in the Contest in some form.

A national selection show like Australia Decides remains the most popular option, though support fell from 75% to 68%.

Support for an internal SBS selection doubled from 10% to 20%, likely reflecting the success of Delta’s internally selected campaign.

Fans rated SBS highly, with confidence in the broadcaster rising to 4.4 stars and the broadcast itself rated 4.3 stars.

The big message from fans was clear: Delta set a new benchmark for Australia at Eurovision, and SBS now has a job to do to maintain that level of artist, staging, promotion and ambition.