Yesterday we revealed the votes from our online poll for Australia Decides.
But we all know that 50% of the voting comes from the jury.
We obviously don't have access to SBS's jury for the night so we created our own!
We reached out to members of the music and entertainment industry and asked them to vote on the songs.
Below are the results where we will reveal each of their Top Three results with comments on their choices, before the all important final vote tally.
Juror 1: Alice Chance
Alice is a composer/songwriter that many will remember from writing Australia Decides entrant in 2019 'Data Dust' sung by Ella Hooper. The Australian Brandenberg Orchestra, The Australia Piano Quartet, The Australian Youth Choir and The Australian Youth Symphony.
12 points - Casey Donovan - 'Proud'
"I think this song is wonderful because it catches you off guard. We’re listening to the refined clarity of Casey’s voice, nestled amongst warm mellow orchestral blankets and we sit back thinking “a ballad, how lovely.” And then gradually this epic blossoming occurs, we’re lifted up by the power of Casey’s delivery, and the orchestration spreads out like massive butterfly wings. I can feel the honesty and sensitivity that went into this song, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did."
10 - Jack Vidgen - 'I am King I am Queen'
This song brought tears to my eyes. Jack traverses the soaring heights and low depths of this song with honesty and elegance. His voice reminds me of a swan-like rhythmic gymnast dancing with their ribbon.
8 - Jaguar Jonze - 'Rabbit Hole'
"This song really grew on me over the course of the listen. I went from being curious to being enthralled. With the unique quality of Jaguar Jonze's voice, Rabbit Hole is a smoothie of danger and disorientation with generous dollop of Bjork-ish syrup stirred in."
Juror 2: Paul 'Browny' Brown
Browny runs Australia's leading 'alternative music' publication 'Wall of Sound' also with its own podcast. He is also a two-time ACRA (Australian Commercial Radio Awards) nominee and you can find him on Twitter as @brownypaul
12 points - Jack Vidgen - 'I Am King I Am Queen'
"Jack has grown so much as a musician and human and this song hit me hard hearing the emotional connection he has to his lyrics. A fantastic LGTBI anthem too! Anthemic and ballad-esque at his best!"
10 points - Jordan-Ravi - 'Pushing Stars'
"Upbeat, fun and captivating from start to finish. His voice is alluring and the instrumentals really bring out the sound he has behind him."
8 points - Montaigne - 'Don't Break Me'
"Montaigne has that iconic female driven sound that has worked well for potential Eurovision contestants. It's not over the top, the focus is on her lyrics and her delivery. I can see this being a dark horse in the competition if she's successful."
Juror 3 - Rich Yeah
Rich Yeah is a musical artist from Melbourne who recently recorded his first EP 'It's Persistent' after a successful 'Pozible' campaign. His music was described by Triple J's Nkechi Anele as being "Tragically beautiful" with comparisons to Jeff Buckley. You can listen to his music on Spotify.
12 points - Jaguar Jonze - 'Rabbit Hole'
"Yes. Yes. Yes. This is so very good. Video is great. I don’t think it would win Eurovision - but it won my heart. The jangly guitar, the sharp strings, the heavy distorted bass. Very cool. Does a lot in 2:45 that the rest don't do in longer."
10 points - Didirri - 'Raw Stuff'
"I’ve seen Didirri flourish since he was just a young Warrnambool lad busking on Bourke Street, so I'm probably a little biased - as I'm already a fan. It’s also good to see him behind a piano - as it’s something that his underrated for. Really well written tune, both lyrically and musically. Got Elton-Candle-In-The-Wind vibes from this."
8 points - Montaigne - 'Don't Break Me'
"I usually dig Montaigne’s stuff - and while this isn’t terrible, it loses some of her charm as it falls into a bit of a formulaic layout and mix. The bridge brings some of it out, but it feels a little too late. She would be great on the Eurovision stage though, and is the type of confident presence to make it work."
Juror 4 - Danielle Lamb
Danielle is a singer-songwriter who was shortlisted for Australia Decides, just missing out on one of the 10 spots. Her song 'Ready to Love' was however still featured during the show. You can find her and more about her at https://www.daniellelamb.com
12 points - Casey Donovan - 'Proud'
"The stuff that Disney sountracks are made of! A triumphant song written by one of Australia's best upcoming songwriters, Justine Eltakchi, with a soaring delivery by Casey Donovan. I would love to see Casey perform this song live on the world stage. I know it would make us all very Proud ;-)"
10 points - Mitch Tambo - 'Together'
"This is a powerful unity song sung in Mitch's native Gamilaraay language and English. It would be amazing to have Mitch represent Australia with his song in Rotterdam. It gives me chills just thinking about it!"
8 points - Jack Vidgen - 'I Am King I Am Quen'
"When I listen to 'I am King I am Queen', I can feel the emotion Jack has put into the melody and lyrics of the song. He means it, and the meaning is beautiful. I think international audiences will really connect with him and his song."
Juror 5 - Andy from Popchops
Andy (left) runs and DJs Popchops which is series of pop music events across the country as well as hosting probably Australia's online community of Australian pop music fans. You can find more on Facebook while you can follow Andy on Twitter.
12 points - Vanessa Amorosi - 'Lessons of Love'
"A biggest song of the bunch. The chorus gives 'Ness a lot of wailing room and her vocals, as usual, are incredible. Ness-Rossi 4 Straya!"
10 points - Casey Donovan - 'Proud'
"Defying gravity 2.0. Who knew Casey could sing like this? If she comes out painted green and levitates we've got Eurovision in the bag."
8 points - Diana Rouvas - 'Can We Make Heaven'
"Rouvas is not messing around here - she takes us to church with this gospel-tinged power ballad. Her vocals are off-the-scale."
So now that we have heard from all jurors let's look at the overall scores once the full 10 votes from each were counted:
Jack Vidgen - 'I Am King I Am Queen - 53 points
Casey Donovan - 'Proud' - 43 points
Montaigne - 'Don't Break Me' - 42 points
Vanessa Amorosi - 'Lessons of Love' - 39 points
Didirri - 'Raw Stuff' - 37 points
Mitch Tambo - 'Together' 33 points
Jaguar Jonze - 'Rabbit Hole' - 31 points
Diana Rouvas - 'Can We Make Heaven' - 27 points
iOTA - 'Life' - 22 points
Jordan-Ravi - 'Pushing Stars' - 21 points
So there we have it Jack Vidgen is our, somewhat surprising, jury winner. It had love across the board with 12, 10, 10, 8, 7 and 6 points given to the song.
Will he do this well in the jury at Australia Decides? Tune in on Saturday night to find out.
The live broadcast across Australia on SBS and at SBS On Demand on Saturday 8 February from 8.30pm (AEDT).
You can also see what we had to say about all 10 acts with our own rankings in our Australia Decides Song Review Podcast Series.
They are 10 bite-size episodes going through each song and artist with our own rankings plus the views and placings from the whole Aussievision team.
Listen and subscribe via:
Or wherever you get your podcasts!
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