Think Guy Sebastian was the first Australian performer to compete at Eurovision...? You'd be wrong!
Before Australia got to officially compete in Eurovision, (as a guest) back in 2015, many Australians, some who were born here and others who called it home at some stage had already made an impact at Eurovision.
One particular Aussie-born Irish man even won Eurovision twice! Yes, we are claiming Johnny Logan aka Mr Eurovision as our own for this article.
We're looking at all the Australian artists and performers where Australia has incidentally participated and competed in Eurovision. These artists have a connection to Australia or were born here but are not any of the artists who have officially represented Australia from 2015 onwards.
The New Seekers - ‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’
(2nd place - 1972 - United Kingdom)
The New Seekers were formed after the disbanding of the Australian band The Seekers from the 1960s. In the new band, there were two Australians: Peter Doyle and Marty Kristian. They scored the UK's seventh runner-up position at Eurovision with ‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’ which was co-written by Australian Tony Cole.
Olivia Newton-John - ‘Long Live Love’
(4th place - 1974 - United Kingdom)
Before English-born Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John became world-famous in Grease and Xanadu, Olivia represented the UK in 1974. Coming into the 1974 Contest, ‘Long Live Love' was one of the favourites and finished in 4th place behind a little known band called ABBA. The Eurovision single reached no. 11 on the Australian singles chart.
The Shadows - ‘Let Me Be The One’
(2nd place - 1975 - United Kingdom)
The Shadows have had many band members and in 1975 one of its members was Melbourne-born John Farrar. Interestingly, John Farrar worked with Olivia Newton-John, writing and producing some of her biggest hits including ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’, ‘Magic’ and produced Newton-John’s ‘I Honestly Love You’ which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1975.
Brotherhood of Man - ‘Save Your Kisses for Me’
(1st place - 1976 - United Kingdom)
Okay, so this maybe a hugeeeee stretch but we are claiming Martin Lee who was part of Brotherhood of Man. He was born in the UK but spent five years of his childhood in Australia. Lee was the lead singer on Brotherhood of Man’s iconic winning entry ‘Save Your Kisses for Me’. Their Eurovision single was a huge success and reached no. 1 in seven countries across Europe and reached no.5 in Australia.
Johnny Logan - 'What’s Another Year?'
(1st place - 1980 - Ireland)
We can truly claim Johnny Logan as our own as he was born in Frankston, Victoria back in 1954. His family returned to Ireland together with Logan when he was just three years old. The Aussie-born Irishman ended up winning Eurovision twice as an artist for Ireland, a feat now equalled by Sweden's Loreen, and won Eurovision again for the third time in 1992 as composer for the Irish entry ‘Why Me?’ by Linda Martin. He also was composer to Linda Martin’s 1984 Irish entry ‘Terminal 3’ which finished in runner up position. And folks, thats why they call him ‘Mr Eurovision’.
Johnny Logan - ‘Hold Me Now’
(1st place - 1987 - Ireland)
Gina G - 'Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit'
(8th place - 1996 - United Kingdom)
One of the better known acts in Australia, Gina G represented the UK in Oslo with 'Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit’. She was born in Brisbane but went on to become a DJ and singer in Melbourne before heading over to the UK in 1995 to pursue her singing career. 'Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit’ went on to finish in 8th place at the time. It also gave Gina G some worldwide charting success scoring her a no.1 single in the UK and no.5 in Australia.
Texas Lightning - ‘No No Never’
(14th place - 2006 - Germany)
This musical quintet from Hamburg is fronted by Newcastle-born lead singer Jane Comerford. While living in Europe in 2005, Jane joined the country group Texas Lightning who won the German National Final show with Jane’s self penned song ‘No No Never’ beating second placed Thomas Anders by nearly 150,000 votes. They managed a 14th place in the Eurovision 2006 Contest in Athens.
Genealogy - ‘Face the Shadow’
(16th place - 2015 - Armenia)
The group Genealogy who represented Armenia in 2015 consisted of six members with five from each different continent of the Armenian diaspora. Mary-Jean O’Doherty who is an American-Australian operatic singer represented Oceania. She was born in Houston, Texas to an Australian father and an Armenian mother who was from Greece.
Anja Nissen - 'Where I Am'
(20th place - 2017 - Denmark)
Anja Nissen is the winner of the third series of 'The Voice Australia’. Her parents both come from Denmark and Anja followed her Danish heritage and took part in ‘Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016’ where she only just missed out on representing Denmark. This didn’t stop her though as she returned the following year and won with 'Where I Am' with a big power ballad, finishing in 20th place.
Marius Bear - 'Boys Do Cry'
(17th place - 2022 Switzerland)
Marius Bear was born in Switzerland but both parents have lived in Australia for some time and Marius does have an Australian passport. Marius also went to live in Australia for a while but left when he was eight years old however he does keep in contact with his Aussie family and friends. Marius' heartfelt ballad 'Boys Do Cry' made it into the Grand Final to finish in 17th place.
Andrew Lambrou - 'Break a Broken Heart'
(12th place - 2023 - Cyprus)
Young singer songwriter, Andrew Lambrou is from Sydney and is an Australian with a Greek-Cypriot background. He grew to fame through posting of pop song covers on YouTube, such as ‘Havana’ by Camila Cabello and ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ by Zayn featuring Sia (the latter with over 2.5 million views!) Lambrou was internally selected by the Cypriot broadcaster to represent Cyprus at the 2023 Contest and finished in 12th place in the Grand Final.
Silia Kapsis - 'Liar'
(2024 - Cyprus)
Well they say when you are on a good thing, stick to it and once again, Cyprus has tapped into Aussie talent and chosen 17 year old sensation Silia Kapsis to represent Cyprus. Silia's performance was high energy and she has sailed through to the Grand Final. Like Andrew Lambrou the year before, Silia is born and raised in Sydney and of Cypriot and Greek heritage. Silia will perform in the 1st half of the Grand Final on Saturday night (Malmo time)/Sunday morning (Australia time). GO GIRL - WE ARE BEHIND YOU!
In addition to these artists there have been a number of creative directors, songwriters, back up singers, dancers and more Aussies that have been involved in the Contest. It shows just how far we've come and why we have a special place in the biggest song contest in the world.
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