Why Thelma Plum should represent Australia at Eurovision 2025

With Eurovision 2024 firmly in the rear-view mirror and Eurovision 2025 still some time away, the off-season is a fantastic time to take stock and reflect on where Eurovision is headed and what you would love to see in future editions.

As we do every year, the Aussievision team is using this time to consider some of the incredible Australian artists who we would love to see take up the challenge of representing the nation in Switzerland next year.

Today, we put the spotlight on Gamilaraay singer-songwriter and three-time ARIA award nominee Thelma Plum.

Who is Thelma Plum?

Thelma Plum has been a mainstay of the Australian indie-pop scene for over a decade.

Originally entering the industry via Triple J Unearthed (an ABC-affiliated radio station designed specifically to discover and promote music by unsigned Australian artists), Plum quickly gained rotation on Triple J and built a national profile.

She has released three EPs, one album and numerous singles, with her 2019 studio album Better in Blak reaching number 4 on the ARIA charts.

The title single of that album, also titled Better in Blak, also made the top 10 of Triple J’s prestigious Hottest 100 countdown for 2019, making it the most successful Hottest 100 result for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist at the time.

Most recently, Thelma was announced as a headliner at Triple J’s One Night Stand all-ages music festival alongside G Flip and Ruel. She has also recently announced a new single, Nobody’s Baby, expected soon.

Here are three reasons why we think Thelma would be a great choice to represent Australia at Eurovision in the future!

A different sound for Australia

Australia’s acts to date at the Eurovision Song Contest have often oscillated between aggressively mainstream pop – think Jessica Mauboy’s We Got Love or Dami Im’s Sound of Silence – and music that sits decidedly in its own unique genre, be that Voyager’s synth-metal or Kate Miller-Heidke’s operatic pop.

Largely untouched to date is the midpoint between these two things – Australia’s indie scene, emblematised by the national youth radio station, Triple J.

While many love to bemoan the fact that Triple J is "no longer as good" as they remember when they were young, it has launched many an Australian music career, and brings with it a particular sound that for many is synonymous with the Australian music scene.

Thelma Plum is a great example of this sound – the laid-back, authentic, Australian-infused pop that she produces has been the soundtrack of many an Australian university party.

The lead single from her most recent EP, Backseat of My Mind, is a great taster for her style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNK2621AaU4

 Only Montaigne has really attempted to engage with this part of the Australian music market. Getting Thelma involved could be a great way to expand the international impression of what Australian music can do.

Local flavour

Second, Thelma's music is infused with a local sensibility that could really communicate a different side of Australia to international audiences.

Born and raised in Brisbane, Thelma found herself returning to the city during the COVID-19 pandemic after a stint in London and rekindling a passion for the Queensland capital.

Her 2022 EP Meanjin confirmed this deeply felt attachment. “Meanjin” is the Turrbal name for Brisbane, and across this EP Thelma explores her relationship to the city in a number of different contexts.

Promoting the release, Thelma spoke about why she turned to such a local, distinctively Australian theme during the pandemic:

“In strange times you always tend to look back at warm memories for comfort, and when I was confined to an apartment overlooking The Brown Snake, I found myself writing music about Meanjin, the place I grew up in and have gravitated back to."

This was shown most literally in the EP’s lead single, The Brown Snake, which pays a loving tribute to the Brisbane River in all its muddy glory, as well as the city that has sprung up around it (and which will play host to the 2032 Olympic Games).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbL5Rd7hNao

In recent years, Eurovision has rewarded artists that ground themselves in a sense of place and leverage local identities to tell a story about where they come from. An artist like Plum could use this to her advantage to promote an image of Australia which doesn’t always get shown in the international sphere.

First Nations excellence

Finally, Thelma would continue the trend of incredible First Nations artists representing Australia at the world’s largest music competition, following in the footsteps of Isaiah, Jessica Mauboy and Electric Fields.

Thelma Plum’s music has never shied away from exploring themes drawn from her experience as a Gamilaraay woman in modern Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExMjEwymQ3A

Her 2019 single Better in Blak was written in response to a torrent of racist abuse she received online, with the song reflecting on Thelma’s resilience and capacity. Other songs on the album of the same name explore similar themes, particularly the tracks Don’t Bring a Good Girl Down, Woke Blokes and more.

Thelma could bring a different, more explicitly political Indigenous voice to the Song Contest, which speaks to the realities of contemporary life in Australia.

You can find out more about Thelma Plum here –

Official Website - https://www.thelmaplum.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thelmaplum

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thelmaplum/

Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/discover/thelma-plum

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCergLDwNNpxR-q9fYfK4y-g

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/0C6qzW0Am8OVyHSoT57fnC

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