Australia misses Eurovision glory
Results of Semi Final 1 mean Montaigne is out of the grand final in Rotterdam.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Coronavirus, Eurovision, News, Top Stories, Video
Australia has failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest grand final.
The first Semi Final was held earlier today (5am AEST) at Rotterdam Ahoy arena but Montaigne was not one of 10 countries to qualify.
Sadly it marks the first time Australia has missed the Grand Final, taking place Sunday morning Australian time, since we have officially competed (2015).
Montaigne, who did not attend in Rotterdam, performed via Live on Tape from Sydney due to travel restrictions, and watched Live this morning with the Australian delegation.
Qualifying countries are in bold:
- 🇱🇹 Lithuania / The Roop – Discoteque
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia / Ana Soklič – Amen
- 🇷🇺 Russia / Manizha – Russian Woman
- 🇸🇪 Sweden / Tusse – Voices
- 🇦🇺 Australia / Montaigne – Technicolour (Live-on-Tape performance)
- 🇲🇰 North Macedonia / Vasil – Here I Stand
- 🇮🇪 Ireland / Lesley Roy – Maps
- 🇨🇾 Cyprus / Elena Tsagrinou – El Diablo
- 🇳🇴 Norway / TIX – Fallen Angel
- 🇭🇷 Croatia / Albina – Tick-Tock
- 🇧🇪 Belgium / Hooverphonic – The Wrong Place
- 🇮🇱 Israel / Eden Alene – Set Me Free
- 🇷🇴 Romania / ROXEN – Amnesia
- 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan / Efendi – Mata Hari
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine / Go_A – Shum
- 🇲🇹 Malta / Destiny – Je Me Casse
SBS replays Friday 21 May at 8.30pm.
babes, look. i knew this would happen. we were at a severe disadvantage. but it’s okay! i’m proud of the song and glad i got to share it with you on the eurovision stage. thank you for your support 💖
— Montaigne (@actualmontaigne) May 18, 2021
my favourite part of being in eurovision this year, apart from all the love and support of the fans, has been performing alongside such an impressive roster of acts, esp @_Go_A_, @dadimakesmusic, manizha, and the roop, who are such clear-headed & thoughtful artists
— Montaigne (@actualmontaigne) May 18, 2021
This post updates.
Share
- Tagged with Eurovision Song Contest
25 Responses
I don’t really understand why we didn’t send Montaigne to the Netherlands. We sent cricketers to India and it seems to me Netherlands would probably be far safer. Were giving vaccinations to Olympians to compete in Tokyo surely a similar arrangement could have been organised for the Eurovision team.
No vaccines…..answered here.
Certainly the worst Aussie effort so far and like many of the returning acts they suffered from the song not being as strong as their original effort. The staging though was well done – if it hadn’t been mentioned you wouldn’t know she wasn’t live in the arena.
Overall though a weak semi-final – only 4 or 5 were really worthy of going through.
So much hate in these comments. Montaigne has been gallant in difficult circumstances. It’s music – not everyone is going to like everything and Eurovision is all about pushing the boundaries.
Congratulations Montaigne on a job well done and for your classy responses this morning.
Unfortunately, but by the same token Eurovision does ask viewers to vote on how much they like a song / performance. She did her best and it was much better than Mardi Gras event. We won’t qualify every year, but circumstances against 2021.
I guess what I mean is that a generic people pleasing song doesn’t *always* grab votes – sometimes it’s the songs people either love or hate that get the cut through with televoting. Often the winning Eurovision contestants (think Loreen, Conchita, Netta, Salvador Sobral) are unique artists who perform something authentic to them.
We had an uphill battle with the live-on-tape, and this was probably the second most competitive semi final ever (2018 Semi 1 was probably tougher) – if we were in Semi 2 we may have had a chance for slots 8-10. As you said, we can’t qualify every year – and part of me is looking forward to watching the final without worrying about how we will fare!
The remote performance may well have been a negative but the plain fact is that this song was a very poor choice as a Eurovision entry. Nothing against Montaigne, she seems remarkable … the song was not.
That song is a grower….I hated at the beginning and now I love it….
Growers have their place. Sadly, Eurovision isn’t it…..
Oh, that’s disappointing. I liked the song, but agree maybe last year’s was better overall. I thought it held up well enough but am not entirely surprised it didn’t go through. In other news, go Norway! Also loved Ukraine.
Not surprised sounded dredful
Shocked … not shocked
She was terrible choice last year and was even worse this year
#Dami2022
It’s disappointing but not surprising unfortunately. We had so much against us this year and honestly her song from last year was so much better than this one. We put up a fight and she gave it her best though and thats all we can ask for. Hopefully we can bounce back next year. Croatia was robbed though. Malta is my favourite alongside Sweden currently. I don’t understand why Italy is favourite though.
I’m not surprised, very predictable outcome. Terrible song.
My vote for Australia’s next representative is Tones And I. I thought Eurovision was going to be held at Sydney Opera House? 😆
Montaigne is an ace artist but unfortunately there was just too much going against her to have a real chance… starting with the truly bland, awful song.
The production of Australia’s production this year is our weakest effort yet. I am sure our lack of effort to make the trip to Rotterdam would have gone against us too. Let’s hope we are invited back next year & we go all out.
Secured until 2023.
Very disappointing result. 😢 My heart breaks 💔 for Montaigne not being there but better safe then sorry.
No need to watch any more Eurovision.
Alas I feel even if she was in Rotterdam the song was too divisive to make it through in addition to the running order. But at least we get to experience that feeling now when the country does not qualify. In saying all of that nearly all my faves got through, especially Ukraine and Russia 🙂
Remote performance aside, Australia’s song just wasn’t good enough.
No surprise, it’s a rumour going around that a number of countries and judges despise Australia being allowed to compete in their event
Mike the judges have voted Australia well every other time. Public vote will always be a challenge without neighbouring countries. We’ve been top 10 every other year except one, so SBS / Blink have a fine track record.
Totally agree, David. The professional juries have shown Australia a lot of love since we joined the contest. To Mike’s point though, our more recent results in the public vote do seem to suggest that the novelty of Australia being there has worn off. That said, neighbourly voting helps too, but the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Israel and Austria have all won in the last decade or so and aren’t part of any blocs – so, it’s not everything.
This surprises anyone….. So happy Israel got through. Loving Malta