Looking back at Australia's Eurovision debut at Vienna 2015

Aussies around the world rejoiced when it was announced Australia would join the Eurovision 2015 in Vienna as 'one-off wildcard entry' just over ten years ago.

We're now back in the city where it started for us: Vienna!

To celebrate returning to this beautiful city, let's look back to our debut with Guy Sebastian and his sensational entry Tonight Again.

The announcement: we're in!

On a Tuesday morning in February of 2015, Aussies learnt the news that we would participate at Eurovision. A truly surreal experience.

Jessica Mauboy's guest performance the prior year planted the idea for ORF, Austria's state broadcaster, to invite us as a 'one-off wild card entry' straight to the final of Eurovision 2015. This was part of the Contests 60th anniversary year.

This brought the novelty of having 27 countries in the final as the Big 5, host nation and Australia all pre-qualified. We were also allowed to vote in both semi-finals!

“It would be remiss of us to throw the world’s biggest party and not invite our Australian friends, who have such a long history and connection with Eurovision” - Jon Ola Sand

In the event of Australia's victory, it was agreed that SBS would co-host the Contest in conjunction with an EBU Member Broadcaster in a European city and we would be allowed to participate in 2016.

Guy Sebastian

Rumours of our artist selection began to swirl through Australian media for the next month until SBS confirmed Guy Sebastian on 5 March 2015!

At the time of the announcement, Guy had already released 8 albums, claimed 6 #1 hits in Australia and his single Battle Scars went Platinum in the US, making Guy one of the few artists in Australian music history to achieve this.

Australian audiences first discovered Guy Sebastian when he was crowned the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003, he has since gone on to become a household name in Australia with 42 platinum and three gold certifications.

The birth of Tonight Again

Fans would only have to wait a couple of weeks as on 16 March the music video for Tonight Again dropped on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

One of the biggest stories of Tonight Again was it's somewhat unconventional conception...the song was written in just one week between the announcement of Australia entering Eurovision and the song's iconic debut.

"Truly, we jumped in the studio and let it happen because I wanted to write something fun!  We all have moments you don’t want to end and you wish you could live those moments every day so I wanted to write a song about that feeling."

Guy was on tour at the time Australia was announced as entering the contest. Head of Delegation Paul Clarke said at the time "I never expected him to have the time to write a song. But he has come up with a cracker, a 12th hour gem. It has a great soul feel that is so infectious."

The performance

Photo credit: SBS

The performance leaned on being polished but understated. A slick pop performance that gave Guy the platform to blast out those incredible vocals and show off his undeniable steeze.

Early ideas reportedly used more lighting and pyrotechnics, but the team scaled things back so the final act felt simpler, more fun, and focused on vibe, soul, and delivery.

He performed in a stylish blue velvet jacket and hat, with backing vocalists and choreography adding movement without distracting from the song. The result was a confident, modern debut for Australia that stood out for its restraint as much as its energy.

A magical top 5 result

What a historic moment when Australia received our first 12 points ever on debut at the Contest! And from the eventual winning nation Sweden no less, this won't be the first time Australia and Sweden swap a cheeky 12 points.

Thank you also to Austria and the United Kingdom for giving us 12 points as well, a warm welcome to the contest from the host nation and our friends the United Kingdom (presented by the delightful Nigella Lawson).

Tonight Again currently stands as our second-best result, claiming 5th place in an incredibly strong year.

Tonight Agan went on to claim a gold certification in both Australia and Sweden as well as charting in Australia (#12), Austria (#16), Sweden (#22), Iceland (#24), Belgium (#28), Germany (#44), Switzerland (#47), Netherlands (#71) and the United Kingdom (#178).

Australia's continued legacy at Eurovision

Photo credit: RTV

There is no doubt Guy Sebastian's incredible result, warm reception and memorable performance played a huge role in our return to the contest in 2016.

Who knew the song he wrote in one week would go on to cement Australia's continued legacy at the Contest and open the door for peers such as Delta Goodrem to also represent our nation.

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