100 songwriters and composers have now contributed to writing songs for Australia at Eurovision, Junior Eurovision and 'Eurovision - Australia Decides'.
Several songwriters have had the privilege of writing multiple Eurovision songs for Australia.
From 'Sea of Flags', sung and co-written by Jessica Mauboy as part of Australia's semi-final interval act at Eurovision 2014, to Sheldon Riley wowing us with his self-penned track 'Not The Same', at Eurovision 2022, we take an in depth look at the songwriters and composers (based on the APRA/AMCOS song catalogue) that have written multiple songs for Australia.
Anthony Egizii & David Musumeci (DNA Songs)
Songs: 'Sound of Silence' / 'Don't Come Easy' / 'We Got Love' / 'Don't Break Me'
Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci known collectively as DNA Songs, have had the privilege of writing four Australian Eurovision songs!
They have worked with MANY artists in the Australian music industry from Delta Goodrem, The Veronicas, Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll and Kate Miller-Heidke, just to name a few.
When it comes to international acts, the duo has written songs for Ricky Martin, Stan Walker and Brian McFadden.
DNA Songs first wrote 'Sound of Silence' for Australia's second shot at Eurovision in 2016, when Dami Im blew us all away in Stockholm with her incredible vocals. Dami won the jury vote and almost took out the whole Contest, finishing in the runner-up spot, Australia's best result ever.
The songwriting duo won a Marcel Bezençon Award in the composer category for 'Sound of Silence', as pictured above. The award is decided by a jury consisting of the participating composers who vote for the best and most original composition. This was Australia's first time claiming a Marcel Bezençon Award.
DNA Songs would go on to write Eurovision songs for Australia for two more consecutive years. In 2017, the duo wrote 'Don't Come Easy' with Michael Angelo, which was sung by the young X-Factor talent Isaiah Firebrace in Kyiv. He finished in an impressive 9th place in the Eurovision Grand Final.
In 2018, Anthony and David wrote 'We Got Love' with Jessica Mauboy where her performance secured Australia another Eurovision Grand Final place for the fourth time in a row.
In 2020, they wrote 'Don't Break Me' with Montaigne for 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' where Montaigne went on to win. Unfortunately 'Don't Break Me' did not get to be performed on the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam due to the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the Contest being cancelled.
Louis Schoorl
Songs: 'Tonight Again' / 'Can We Make Heaven' / 'Little Fires'
Louis Schoorl is a Dutch-born Australian songwriter and producer. He has worked with many huge Aussie acts from 5 Seconds of Summer, Jessica Mauboy, Dami Im, Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem, just to name a few.
Louis first got a taste of Eurovision when he contributed to the songwriting for the first competitive Eurovision song for Australia in 2015 where Guy Sebastian performed 'Tonight Again' in Vienna. Guy finished in 5th place making for an impressive Eurovision debut for Australia.
Louis then co-wrote 'Can We Make Heaven' for the then newly crowned The Voice Australia winner Diana Rouvas. 'Can We Make Heaven' was selected as one of 10 songs for 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' 2020 and was performed by Diana. She finished in 7th place.
He would go on to contribute again to 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' two years later when he co-wrote the emotive 'Little Fires' with Jaguar Jonze and PJ Harding. Jaguar Jonze's impressive and "fiery" performance got her the jury win on the Gold Coast and a 3rd place overall finish.
As well as writing Eurovision songs for Australia, back in 2018 Louis co-wrote Benjamin Ingrosso's Eurovision entry for Sweden, 'Dance You Off'. The song finished in 7th place at the Eurovision Grand Final in Lisbon.
Tania Doko
Songs: 'Piece of Me' / 'Pushing Stars' / 'We Are'
Tania Doko is one of the great Aussie pop song writers. Tania is one half of Bachelor Girl that ruled the Aussie charts in the late 90s with hits like 'Buses and Trains' and 'Treat Me Good'.
Tania is a multi-talented artist who works as a youth worker, podcaster, artist mentor and writing coach. She moved to Sweden where she became a songwriter for hire in the thriving Stockholm music community.
She has co-written and featured on hit records by The Veronicas, Tina Arena, Jessica Mauboy, Samantha Jade Delta Goodrem and Swedish Eurovision 2016 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. So it comes as no surprise she has contributed to three of Australia's Eurovision songs.
In 2016, Tania co-wrote Australia's second Junior Eurovision entry, 'We Are', along with Matthew Samuels, Zale Epstein, Ali Tamposi and Brett Kruger. The song was sung by Alexa Curtis and finished in 5th place with 202 points. It remains Australia highest scoring song at Junior Eurovision.
Tania went on to complete at the inaugural 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' in 2019 with the song 'Piece of Me', a song which was initially meant for Jennifer Lopez. It was co-written by Tania together with Christian Fast, James Roche and Peter Månsson. Tania finished in 8th place.
In 2020 Tania Doko co-wrote her second 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' entry. This time she collaborated with George Sheppard from the Brisbane-based band Sheppard, Martin Carl Olof Eriksson and Mattias Lindblom. The song was performed by young talent Jordan Ravi. Despite Jordan Ravi's energetic performance the song finished in 10th place.
Michael DeLorenzis & Michael Paynter (Msquared)
Songs: 'Bite Me' / 'Champion' / 'We Will Rise'
Msquared (Msquared Productions) are a duo of songwriters and producers, Michael DeLorenzis (Mike Delo) and Michael Paynter.
Michael Paynter has himself been a solo artist back in the 2000s and then competed on season two of The Voice Australia in 2013. Paynter was coached by Joel Madden and made it to the Live Finals when he was eliminated. DeLorenzis comes from a musician and producer background. The duo have worked with Masketta Fall, Nussy, LeeA and Chris Sebastian (Guy Sebastian's brother).
They first got a taste of Eurovision when they wrote 'Champion' along with Grace Laing for Jael Wena at Junior Eurovision 2018. 'Champion' finished in 3rd place and is Australia's equal best result at Junior Eurovision.
The following year the duo would co-write Australia's next Junior Eurovision song with Jordan Anthony. The trio wrote 'We Will Rise', performed by Jordan, which finished in 8th place at the Contest, another great result for Australia.
In 2022, Msquared co-wrote G-Nat!on's 'Bite Me' along with the young talented Leea Nanos aka LeeA. They previously worked on LeeA's single 'Domino'. The trio created a banger track that opened the 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' show. G-Nat!on's explosive performance of 'Bite Me' got them a 3rd place finish with the public vote and an overall 5th place spot.
Deena Lynch (Jaguar Jonze)
Songs: 'Rabbit Hole' / 'Little Fires'
Deena Lynch aka Jaguar Jonze has participated at 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' twice now (the first artist to do so) and contributed to the song writing for both of her entries.
The multi-talented singer songwriter first competed in 2020 with 'Rabbit Hole'. Jaguar co-wrote the punchy track with Aidan Dowling Hogg. She gave a hugely electrifying performance with a stage reveal! 'Rabbit Hole' finished in 6th place. The song became a favourite within the Eurovision fan community and secured Jaguar a dedicated group of fans she refers to as her cubs.
Jaguar would return to Australia Decides in 2022 with 'Little Fires' which she co-wrote with 'Tonight Again' song writer Louis Schoorl and PJ Harding.
When it came to writing a song for her Australia Decides return, Jaguar revealed in a interview with us here at Aussievision about the song writing process:
"I locked myself up for about a month. And I wrote seven songs for ‘Eurovision Australia Decides’, I don't think I've ever worked so hard in pumping these songs out, but I wanted it to be my best work. And so I put everything into making that happen."
'Little Fires' went on to secure Jaguar a jury win! She finished in 3rd place overall behind winner Sheldon Riley and televote favourites Voyager.
George Sheppard
Songs: 'On My Way' / 'Pushing Stars'
George Sheppard is one of the main vocalists from the Brisbane-based band Sheppard.
The indie group consists of the three Sheppard siblings George, Amy and Emma, who are supported by Jason Bovino and Dean Gordon. The group first competed at Australia Decides in 2019 with their entry 'On My Way'.
The song was written by George, Amy, Jason, and Jon Hume from the New Zealand band Evermore. The band finished in 3rd place. The song has become the most streamed Australia Decides entry ever with over 27 million streams on Spotify.
George would go on to write his second Australia Decides song with 'Pushing Stars'. He co-wrote the song with Tania Doko, Martin Carl Olof Eriksson and Mattias Lindblom. 'Pushing Stars' was performed by Jordan Ravi and finished in 10th place.
Back in September 2022, Amy Sheppard revealed that the band Sheppard have been approached to write another Eurovision song for Australia, but she was coy, saying:
"I can’t really say who it’s for, but we may or may not be writing one of the songs for Eurovision this year.”
Then when it was announced that Australia will opt for internal selection for Eurovision 2023 the band put their hand up for a shot at representing Australia on the big stage. There is no word yet from SBS if discussions have taken place or if any decisions have been made.
It could be likely that George will write a third Aussie Eurovision song and possibly perform it in Liverpool!!
Isabella Kearney-Nurse & Roberto De Sá
Songs: 'This Is Not the End' / 'Together'
Isabella Kearney-Nurse and Roberto De Sá have now twice collaborated on Australia Decides entries.
The duo have collaborated with The Veronicas for their 2019 song 'Think of Me'. Isabella has worked on The Voice Australia and The Morning Show as well as providing her vocals to film scores and music albums. She worked on Guy Sebastian last album 'T.R.U.T.H'. Roberto is a songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Sydney. He has previously collaborated with 5 Seconds of Summer.
In 2019 the duo co-wrote the Australia Decides entry 'This Is Not the End' together with Mark Vincent, who also performed it. The powerful ballad suited Mark's huge vocals. His performance got him a 7th place finish.
Isabella and Roberto would collaborate again, this time with Mitchell Firth, Andy Hopkins and Bernadette Duncan for the inspirational song, 'Together'. It was performed by Australia's Got Talent star Mitch Tambo for Australia Decides 2020. Mitch's indigenous-influenced entry earned him a 5th place finish.
Jessica Cerro (Montaigne)
Songs: 'Don't Break Me' / 'Technicolour'
Montaigne has written two Eurovision songs for Australia.
The indie singer first competed at the second Australia Decides on the Gold Coast in 2020.
Montaigne's entry 'Don't Break Me', which she co-wrote with DNA Songs, went on to win the jury and come second with the televote to overall win the contest.
Unfortunately the song didn't make it to the Eurovision stage as the Covid pandemic took over which led to the cancellation of the 2020 Contest. It was the first time Eurovision was ever cancelled.
As Montaigne didn't get the opportunity to compete at Eurovision in 2020 she was internally selected to represent Australia in 2021 in Rotterdam.
Montaigne initially wrote 'JC Ultra' as a potential Eurovision song. The song was inspired by the CIA mind control program MC Ultra and is about an alien who spreads pro-alien propaganda into the world. The song was canned by her team as they found that it would be too challenging for a Eurovision audience.
Montaigne would end up opting for her self penned track 'Technicolour' which she wrote together with Dave Hammer. Dave Hammer is also known as David Haddad, and is a Sydney based producer originally from New Zealand. He has worked with Lime Cordiale and Jaguar Jonze. The pair wrote an experimental pop and hyperpop song, a genre not seen at Eurovision.
Due to Covid-19 border restrictions in Australia, Montaigne didn't get a chance to perform on the Eurovision stage, instead competing with her 'Live-on-tape' performance. She became the first performer to not compete at Eurovision live on stage. 'Technicolour' finished in 14th place in semi-final 1 in Rotterdam.
Jessica Mauboy
Songs: 'Sea of Flags' / 'We Got Love'
In 2014 it was announced that Jessica Mauboy would be invited to perform in Copenhagen as an interval act for the Eurovision second semi-final in recognition of Australia's dedication to the Contest.
Jessica Mauboy was initially believed to be performing 'Never Be The Same' which she co-wrote with DNA Songs. However this didn't eventuate with Jessica only performing 'Sea of Flags' which she co-wrote with Ilan Kidron and Stuart Crichton. 'Never Be The Same' was still released as the fourth single off her third studio album 'Beautiful'.
The Australian Idol 2006 runner up went on to be the first Aussie to perform on the Eurovision stage representing Australia, though in a non-competitive capacity. Jessica ended up performing the Eurovision interval act song at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Four years later Jessica Mauboy would return to the Eurovision stage this time as a competitor representing Australia in Lisbon at Eurovision 2018. Jessica would write her first competitive Eurovision song 'We Got Love' together with DNA Songs, the Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci duo. 'We Got Love' secured Jessica a spot in the Eurovision Grand Final where she finished in 20th place.
Leea Nanos (LeeA)
Songs: 'Set Me Free' / 'Bite Me'
Leea Nanos was selected to compete at the inaugural 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' on the Gold Coast in 2019. She performed her ballad 'Set Me Free' which she co-wrote with Frank Dixon. Leea's powerful performance came 7th in the televote and finished 9th overall. The contest became a huge platform for the young singer songwriter to establish herself a solo artist.
Leea Nanos, now stylised as LeeA, went on to release many follow up singles including 'Don't Call Me' and 'Bad Girl' just to name a few. She then released 'Domino' in 2021 in collaboration with rapper MOTI and filmed a music video with KPOP dance group 'Bias Dance Crew' from Melbourne.
LeeA would make a return to the Australian Eurovision national final in 2022 as a songwriter. The young talent would go on to write 'Bite Me' with the Msquared duo (as credited on the APRA AMCOS site). The song was performed by the Adelaide-based girl group G-Nat!on who rose to fame on The Voice Australia. 'Bite Me' finished in 3rd place with the televoters and in 5th place overall.
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