Courtney Act revealed as Australia’s Eurovision spokesperson

EXCLUSIVE:

“Good evening Europe!”

Drag artiste Courtney Act will be Australia’s Eurovision Song Contest Spokesperson, delivering the scores on behalf of the nation on Sunday.

Courtney Act said: “I tried the Eurovision front door on Eurovision: Australia Decides 2019 to no avail, so now it’s the Eurovision side door to be the Aussie score announcer on the big night! I’m so excited to cheer on Sheldon, look fab, and enjoy a magnificent night of camp and music.”

Australia’s 2022 Eurovision Jury members have also been confirmed by SBS:

• television personality Dylan Lewis
• 2021 Eurovision entrant Montaigne
• comedian, actor, author Matt Okine
• Triple J host Bridget Hustwaite
• Director of Member Relations and Partnerships at APRA AMCOS Milly Petriella.

 The Jury was selected by SBS and had to meet the criteria set out by the EBU. 

Broadcast

Live early morning broadcasts (AEST)
• Semi Final 1 – Wednesday 11 May, 5am SBS
• Semi Final 2 – Friday 13 May, 5am SBS (Featuring Sheldon Riley) * Australia votes
• Grand Final – Sunday 15 May, 5am SBS * Australia votes

Primetime evening broadcasts
• Semi Final 1 – Friday 13 May, 8.30pm SBS
• Semi Final 2 – Saturday 14 May, 8.30pm SBS (Featuring Sheldon Riley)
• Grand Final – Sunday 15 May, 7.30pm SBS

NB: TV Tonight publishing Live results this week.

Public Voting *

Viewers in countries of participating broadcasters, including Australia, are invited to vote for their favourite songs in the Eurovision Semi-Finals and Grand Final. Their votes make up 50% of the total vote.

The other 50% of the vote is decided by a National Jury in each participating country. Each jury comprises of a team of respected local music and entertainment figures with experience in the industry and, of course, a passion for the world’s biggest song contest.

As per the official Eurovision rules, viewers can vote in the Semi Final in which their country is participating, as well as the Grand Final. For Australian viewers, this means they will need to tune into the Live broadcast of Semi Final 2 on Friday May 13 at 5am (AEST) and the Grand Final on Sunday 15 May at 5am (AEST).

Eurovision’s official voting partner, Digame, has created a new online voting platform, exclusively for Australia’s public Eurovision vote. This means there will be no SMS or Televoting in Australia during the live shows. For the first time, all of Australia’s public votes will be received via the new online Voting Portal, which can be accessed via www.esc.vote

• The new voting portal will be open to Australians during the voting period in Semi-Final 2 and the Grand Final.
• Just like SMS voting, votes will be limited to 20 per person and will cost 55c per vote.
• Users can allocate 20 votes to one act, divide their votes between multiple acts, or just make one vote for their favourite.
• Jury members and public voters can’t vote for their own country, so you can vote for any act in Semi Final 2 and Grand Final except Sheldon Riley. Here’s a run-down of all the 2022 acts and their songs.
• Full voting terms and conditions will be available on the voting platform.
• For more information about the new Australian voting process, see here.

SBS Eurovision ‘Feels’

If you miss out on voting during the live shows, don’t worry! You can still tell us how you feel about each performance during the primetime broadcasts by sharing your ‘feels’ via the SBS Eurovision ‘Feels’ sentimentimeter at sbs.com.au/Eurovision.

The ‘Feels’ sentimentimeter is a real-time poll that will display everyone’s results on screen once the song has finished.

Australians will also be able to join in the conversation using the hashtag #SBSEurovision during the interactive evening primetime broadcasts. Tweets and party pictures will then be selected to appear on screen.

Bios:

Courtney Act
Boy, Girl. Artist, Advocate. Courtney Act is more than just the sum of her parts. She is a contemporary artist and queer community advocate who embodies the zeitgeist of an era. One of the first artists to show their gender fluidity. From her beginnings in Australian Idol, to winner of Celebrity Big Brother UK and runner up in Dancing With The Stars Australia. Courtney is a Series Host of One Plus One, an in-depth interview show seen on the ABC, is a Podcast Queen with Brenda, Call Me (NOVA) with her best friend, Vanity, and a best-selling author with the release of Caught In The Act by Shane Jenek. 2022 is already busy with a fabulous season on Dancing With The Stars All Stars (Ch7) and her debut with the Sydney Theatre Company as Elvira in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

Matt Okine
Matt is a comedian, actor, musician, and writer. After spending three years hosting Triple J radio’s hugely successful national breakfast show, Matt hung up his headphones to create the TV adaptation of his award-winning stand-up show The Other Guy. When he’s not writing books and shows or performing, Matt works on his hip hop side project Boilermakers as well as the ARIA nominated kids act, Diver City, with fellow ex Triple J presenter KLP.

Montaigne
Following the release of EP The Life of Montaigne and then debut album Glorious Heights, Montaigne’s evolution as an artist was a journey fans and industry became part of, as they were able to witness her growth as a musician and performer on stages nationally. The release of Glorious Heights featuring the ARIA Platinum certified single ‘Because I Love You’ propelled Montaigne onto more radars around the country and earned accolades including a #4 ARIA Chart position and the ‘Best Breakthrough Artist” award at the 2016 ARIA Awards. 2019 saw the arrival of the sophomore album, a collection of observations and stories beautifully delivered against a backdrop of sprawling and theatrical sounds, fittingly titled Complex. The album was ‘representative of the artist who had been powering ahead in carving out her own lane in Australian music – bold and undeterred. 2020 brought another pivotal moment for Montaigne, as she was selected to represent Australia at Eurovision in Rotterdam 2020, having won the Eurovision: Australia Decides competition with her stunning original song, ‘Don’t Break Me’. Returning in 2021 to represent Australia on the world stage in a live broadcast to Rotterdam with her single ‘Technicolour’. Reining in her new era of music with the single ‘Now (In Space)’, Australian pop maverick Montaigne followed the release collaborating with one of the world’s most celebrated and influential artists, David Byrne on her new single ‘Always Be You’.

Bridget Hustwaite
Having judged in The Age Music Victoria Awards, NT Song of the Year Awards and ARIA Awards, Bridget Hustwaite is absolutely thrilled to be joining the Australian jury for The Eurovision Song Contest 2022. A respected and familiar voice in the Australian music industry, Bridget is the friendly host of Triple J’s flagship new music program, Good Nights. Outside of radio, Bridget is the bestselling author of How to Endo: A Guide to Surviving and Thriving with Endometriosis, and presenter/producer of new podcast series, Figuring Out 30.

Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis has been entertaining for twenty-five years. He works as a television presenter, a radio presenter, a musician and an actor in theatre and film. He is also a sought-after emcee and supports charity causes he’s passionate about.

Milly Petriella
Milly works with APRA AMCOS’ 110,000 members to help collect their worldwide royalties and create global songwriting opportunities and programs to help increase awareness and return of Australian songwriters and publishers. Beloved in the music industry for every one of her 27 years at APRA AMCOS, she was nominated for the Industry Impact Award at the inaugural The Industry Observer Awards in 2018. On top of her role as Director of Member Relations & Partnerships for APRA AMCOS and Creative Director of APRA’s Music Awards, Milly runs other initiatives such as the APRA AMCOS Ambassador program, The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting competition and SongHubs. More recently Milly has developed a relationship with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras delivering an industry showcase event, Express Yourself – Queer Discovery a showcase for emerging LGBTQI+ musicians, a joint initiative with Mardi Gras and APRAAMCOS. As well as being on the Board of Nordoff Robbins, Milly also sits on Country Music Advisory Group, is on the Jury for Australia Decides Eurovision competition and is the Creative Director of the APRA Music Awards.