Oops. Jessica Mauboy voted second-worst dressed at Eurovision.
More bad news from Europe after our performance in Portugal.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Eurovision, News
Jessica Mauboy’s purple sequinned dress in the Eurovision Song Contest has been voted second-worst outfit according to Belgian website Songfestival.
The Barbara Dex Award, named after Belgian’s 1993 entrant, has gone to Macedonian duo Eye Cue (pictured below).
As Wiwibloggs notes:
Marija started her performance in a thigh-skimming pink outfit with an open back. It was so loose and ill-fitting that most press assumed she would have it tailored following her first rehearsal. She did not.
Halfway through the performance she removed the covering to reveal a grey shorts and top co-ord which featured pink embellishments and a very strange motif on her chest. It appeared as if she had two large eyes sewn on to her cleavage.
Australia’s Jessica Mauboy was cruelly described by historian John Kennedy O’Connor as looking like “…she’d escaped from Wentworth and been let on stage. It was dreadful. She was describing herself in the media as Australia’s Beyonce. Clearly she’s never seen Beyonce.”
Harsh!
TV Tonight readers were critical of our staging but nodded to politics as a key reason for our low vote.
Barbara Dex Award Winner 2018: The Top 5
FYR Macedonia – Eye Cue
Australia – Jessica Mauboy
Belgium – Sennek
Montenegro – Vanja Radovanovic
Israel – Netta
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29 Responses
I have different take on why Jessica didn’t do so well. As someone who has watched Eurovision for many years I actually thought this year the contestants in the finals were probably the strongest I’ve seen. For one thing the usual dud contestant was missing. It seems that last years Portugal winner might have made countries this year up their ante and send better entries. Jessica by comparison did look mediocre which normally would work but next to this years crop it actually was underwhelming. Also I think she didn’t play to the camera well. When they announced she got the lowest televoting score there was clear outcry from the audience which makes me think she must have been better onstage than on TV.
Don’t know why Australia even bothers participating pure waste of time personally.Heard only a small part of Jessica on the news and it was horrible
Its good exposure for artists hat struggle to do well outside of Australia, with 200 million watching the finale worldwide it exposes your music to a wider audience. Jess charted at number 1 in itunes in Malta and was top 25 in 30 other countries. I don’t think either SBS nor Jess would consider it a waste of time.
Considering some of the outlandish costumes I think she should take it as a compliment.
I dont understand who a) picked that dress, b) directed that staging and c) told Jess to get he crowd to sing parts rather than her.
It all looked awful on stage, did it look that great in rehearsals?
And the poll option of ‘Europe doesnt want Eurovision staged in Australia is not a real reason – if Australia wins they will choose a European country to host on our behalf (which would almost certainly be the UK as our head of state). There is no way Eurovision would work in an Australian time zone.
I understand your point, but there is some opinion that while we know Eurovision will not be staged here, many in Europe may not. Hence is it a reason for affecting votes?
Euro does not = Australasia. Only European countries should be entered.
like Israel
“Israel was able to enter the contest as the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, which is responsible for the event.”
From Wikipedia
Yes I know. My point was if people are going to say “Eurovision = only Europe” then there are a number of countries, not just Australia, that are outside of that. Even Morocco entered one year.
The name Eurovision does not refer to Europe but to the European Broadcasting Union of which SBS is an associate member of.
I did not comment before….but sadly….I was not impressed with the dress…I thought it may be just my, old as dirt, taste.
Just for starters ?
I took your advice and did a Google search. For a contest that began in 1956, it has contributed very little to to the world of music.
Disagree. Acts have charted in Europe for decades. You are filtering through an Australian prism in 2018. It is culturally very significant.
Mad respect David! You’ve done a wonderful job this year covering Eurovision, and are getting better every year.
Um aren’t abba one of the biggest acts of all time? Australia takes its musical lead mainly from the US, but if you look at a global chart (as in a combination of all charts – not just the us) these acts feature constantly and for decades
Being Greek I can tell you any big Greek artist over the last 30 years has done eurovision
Even just looking at an Australian perspective, years before the contest was even being shown here songs from the contest were making their way to Australia anyway. ABBA is the obvious one but Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu), Love Is Blue (L’amour est bleu), Puppet On A String, Congratulations, Save Your Kisses For Me, Making Your Mind Up just a couple…
I disagree.
The very first Grammys award for Song and for Record of the Year (in 1958) were for “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (more commonly known as Volare). This song actually came third in the 1958 Eurovision Contest and was performed by Domenico Modugno. Even Dean Martin covered this song!
The contest was used as an international launching pad for Celine Dion, the great Nana Mouskouri, Julio Iglesias and for the juggernaut that was Abba.
Hard to know how to vote in that poll. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th options are all relevant. Jess was up against it, given the poor song (bland ballad, when topical songs are more popular), horrible dress, and uninspiring staging (what was she standing in front of?). That’s before political factors even come into play.
Jess sang her heart out, but SBS and Sony gave her nothing at all to work with.
Maybe a good thing. We don’t want some overseas promoter liking her and taking her. She will just have to come back to OZ where we all love her, whatever she is wearing. She is a talented darling.—- ( and should have won )
All I read was “ Australia comes 2nd at Eurovision “ Hooray !
Actually, who cares ? Whilst I accept that a lot of people enjoy it, it’s just a bit of fun that doesn’t really contribute much at all to music.
Aside from ABBA, who else has had great success thanks to Eurovision ?
Umm you will find lots with a little help from Google! Ever heard of Celine Dion? Just for starters….
Olivia Newton John
Olivia was already successful in Australia, the US and the UK, as well as winning a Grammy, before she did Eurovision.
How do you measure success though? Only if they have hits in English speaking countries? A lot of them are successful in their countries and neighbours just not globally.
Julio Iglesias,
Bucks Fizz! I loved them back in the day!
.i hate to admit it but the performance was bad and the outfit was terrible . she rocks up in what looks like sequenced shorts and a bling singlet top.over the top glamour gown would have been more appropriate plus isn’t this her second go at it .Tina Arena maybe next time ?or Sia?.
Tina Arena nor Sia would take part. Already famous artists often decline participation in Eurovision because if they do badly it could hurt their reputation.
Not entirely. I heard some very big names were keen last year but did not want to follow Dami Im.