Interview: How to become a National Final songwriter with Elliot Harris

Ever wondered how to go from a Eurofan to a National Final songwriter? The talented Elliot Harris has lived both worlds and is going to give us a peek behind the songwriter's curtain! From the process to creating an entry to advice he would give to those willing to give it a try. Elliot is fresh off making it to the final audition round of Luxembourg Song Contest 2026.

We're joined here by the delightful Elliot - a National Final songwriter, fan media journalist and long-time Eurovision friend! Please tell us a little bit more about yourself and your journey to finding Eurovision.

Hello everyone, as Liv said, my name is Elliot Harris, from the United Kingdom and been a listener of Aussievision for a solid six years now and even met some of the team in Liverpool!

The first contest I remember sitting and watching properly is 2008 - I know I saw bits of some previous like 2004. BUT the love really hit in 2011 - I saw on the news Jedward were performing that night in the semi final and thought it would be a laugh to see them try in a competition and turned out I loved it and haven't missed a live show since.

When I first met you we were both in fan media and now you've flipped to the other side, creating the songs that we used to analyse so much. How does one go from Eurovision pundit to Eurovision songwriter?

I've always loved being creative, I used to short stories in my teens, and one night I was in my feelings and wrote out a song, that snowballed when I was put in contact with two lovely Norwegian ladies Vanja and Amalie, who knew someone from my Eurovision team, and the rest snowballed and is history I guess. It was something I tried on a whim a few years ago and alongside the punditry side being an outlet for my love of journalism, this allowed me to be creative in a different way and somehow balanced the two.

You created a song that made it to the second round of the audition process of Luxembourg Song Contest 2026 - congratulations! What is the first step you made when deciding you'd submit an entry this year and how long was the process from start to finish?

For this instance, the song was wrote first and the artist found second. The song has been around since 2021, and we've submitted it every year in some capacity. But this came together through the "Team-Up" section and initiative which Luxembourg had this year. Which was basically a place for artists to apply to the Luxembourg Song Contest, but without a song, and producers and songwriters to register their interest.

The song was part of my application package and all the singers had access to all our stuff we attached in said package, as did we have access to them and anything they attached. I came across the lovely Patrícia Venâncio, emailed her, she heard my stuff, loved the song and wanted to give it a go, and then decided to submit it as one of her entries. 

Patrícia Venâncio competing in the audition round of Luxembourg Song Contest with Elliot's song

What is the process like to actually submit a song? Do you just email it somewhere or is there a special portal or something? I think I'd find it as stressful as submitting a university assignment....

So once we decided to submit the song, it was via a email which linked to a portal I believe. The artist had to send all the information, but we had to fill out our own forms if we were credited in any way. I am talking, producer, songwriter, composer etc etc. And yes was just as stressful as getting all your stuff done before an assignment deadline, because they asked for a lot of information! We actually got confirmation of our submission after the deadline as the system went down or slowed down due to the volume submissions on deadline weekend

How do you handle the pressure of creating something that will be judged by both a jury and potentially the general public on an international stage?  

It is tough, I always tell myself in regards to the public "some will love it, some will hate it" and then ask myself if I am in the right mindset mentally to handle people publicly criticizing and disregarding your song.

Otherwise I just make sure before submitting it, listen to it a few times and if I still get a sense and feeling that song is strong and there are several possibilities and elements I can pick out which makes us stand out, I am ok with it. At the end of the day I can only worry about what I can control.

I heard that perhaps there was some grumblings about how the qualified artists were announced, are there some suggestions for room for improvement?

Girl, this was my biggest critique of the whole process. Elsie Bay who was a juror there did an insta story of how they were going to announce it. They called each act forward one by one and hit a big button on the desk, if the light above them turns white, congrats, you're in, turns red, you're out. I get for the final 15, you want some tension and drama to announce the finalists, but I'd rather they do it how they did last year and just have all the acts on stage and announce it one by one.

I found out later, the first two acts called forward got in, and then we were called third up. So Patrícia said she knew they wouldn't announce 3 yeses in a row, and then had to stay on stage and wait for the results of the other 12, when she had already been eliminated. I think for a closed round, which wasn't being broadcast live anywhere, that level of drama and tension just wasn't needed - and a lot, if not all the acts shared the same feeling.

If you could write for any Eurovision or National final artist, who would you choose?

Oh my god so many! First choice would be Elsie Bay, I always said Death Of Us was the song that got away and could've won in 2022. And having her on the Luxembourg Song Contest jury this year was a major oh my god and nerve wracking knowing someone whose music I loved was judging mine and I am so honoured again that she saw potential in what I wrote to bring it back for the final round.

Otherwise I'd love to work with Goldielocks as her style of music and vocals are so effortless and cool. TEYA from Austria 2023 is an amazing songwriter I'd love to work with, AIKO. Hugo One who is in the Luxembourg selection this year also - there are so many but I think Elsie Bay would be a dream collab.

Elliot with Remo Forrer, Teya & Salena

How long was it from sending your entry to the Luxembourg Song Contest team to finding out the fate of your entry, whether it had made it to the televised final or not?

The deadline was 21st September 2025 at 12pm CET, we submitted it a few hours prior to that. I was then told on October 2nd, we had advanced to the live audition rounds, where we given our time slot and date, which was 25th October, we were allowed to make any minor revamps and touch ups to the melody and backing vocals up to the week prior to auditions.

We perform on the 25th (Saturday), wait to hear if we have advanced to the final round which took place on the 26th (Sunday) where the finalists were decided that evening also, but obviously although we knew the result we were under a strict NDA to not say anything until the finalists were announced on the 30th. So all in all a very short window and turnaround time from Radio Télévision Luxembourg (RTL).

How much do you think about jury appeal versus public appeal when writing?

That's a tough one, I kinda just let it be and make sure what I am writing I am happy with and something I am happy to have my name attached to. If i had to pick, I'd say the jury, the public, you can never try and guess or predict what they'll like and enjoy, some love a ballad, some love a bit of camp and kitch. So I tend to focus a little more on the elements i know the jury are asked to look for, for the televote side - I'd say I make sure it is something where the message is something which others can see themselves in and latch onto - even though more often than not what I write is my own stories and experiences in some regard

What advice would you give a fellow songwriter that is newer to the national final scene and wanting to sink their teeth in?

"You are going get told no, and it's going to sting[...]it sucks, and it's going to hurt for a moment, but don't give up, believe in yourself. If you truly believe something is good enough, like I did with this song, someone else will also and run with it."

I have had rejections from: Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland (the year The Code was submitting so, had no shot there in the end) and been rejected by artists - even this year in Luxembourg, it sucks, and it's going to hurt for a moment, but don't give up, believe in yourself. If you truly believe something is good enough, like I did with this song, someone else will also and run with it.

It takes time and it is very easy to give up, so don't, you never know when it'll be your time and your year. But most of all, enjoy it, music and writing is all about self expression and make sure you do something which is true to you, and not something to tick off a checklist on a jury members criteria. 

Is there anything with your process for Luxembourg Song Contest 2026 you would have done differently if given another chance or wish you knew in advance?

Honestly, I don't know, the only negative feedback we got from the jury was they felt or could see the song being sung wasn't her [Patrícia Venâncio's] story (which is true at the end of the day). Obviously if we had time to write something scratch I'd have loved to have done that, but again we only got the details for each early August, so had six weeks max to make something work - so honestly, no.

We made the final 15 out of 83 songs the jury heard, so no. I am so proud we got as far as we did and I don't really wanna meddle with anything that could ultimately changed that

What elements did you include (or avoid) to ensure the track stands out in a competitive field?

Without giving away too much, the songs strength lies in its lyrics, so for me I always focus on them and try and do more than base level imagery and references. We deffo wanted some elements to match the strength on the lyrics and the build in areas, so an inspo in the pre-chorus is some drums build into the chorus, which was inspired by Sound Of Silence. I always want to make the first ten seconds attention grabbing, whether that's something big and drama in the melody or a strong vocal moment or strong lyrics, I always wanted people invested from the start, something that makes them take notice and look up from the start.

Do you have any plans for other songs or national final entries in the pipeline?

At the moment no. I wish I did and if an opportunity came up I'd jump at it. Despite the state of Eurovision after the vote last week (and fully everyone reactions and reasons taking a step back) I know the national finals people still enjoy, and I'd love to have an entry in there for people at home to watch and bring a little bit of cheer to them that a lad who is just a big old Eurofan in this online space had a song for everyone to support back home and across Europe and Australia.

Thank you so much for your time Elliot - what a fascinating look behind the national final curtain this has been! Good luck with your future songwriting endeavours.

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