Montaigne has seen her Eurovision dream come to an end after Australia failed to qualify for the Grand Final of the song competition.

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Due to COVID-19 the Australian delegation opted to submit a pre-recorded performance, that was filmed under strict conditions, rather than travel to Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

Montaigne was the fourth of sixteen performers being judged in the first Semi-Final and failed to gain a spot. It’s the first time Australia has failed to make it through the semi-finals since joining the competition in 2015.

The first year Australia was in the competition we were represented by Guy Sebastian, it was pitched as a one-off appearance by Australia to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary. Sebastian was automatically included in the Grand Final and skipped over the heats.

In 2016 it was announced that Australia’s participation would be on-going, but we’d have to slog it out in the semi-final rounds like most of the nations participating. Since then Dami Im, Isiah Firebrace, Jessica Mauboy and Kate Miller-Heidke have all made it through to the Grand Final.

Not making it through to the final has been  a double-blow for Montaigne who was picked to represent Australia in the 2020 competition that ended up being cancelled due to COVID-19.  This year countries were allowed to send the same artist they had selected previously, but they had to submit a brand new song.

Eurovision die-hards have debated Montaigne missing out on the Grand Final with some suggesting being a video submission may have played a part, while others have debated if the song Technicolour might just not have gained enough supporters.

Also knocked out of the competition at the end of the first semi-final was Ireland, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Croatia and Macedonia. The assigning of countries to the two semi-finals is done randomly, and commentators have noted that many of the weaker tunes fell into the second semi-final scheduled for Friday morning.

Ireland’s Lesley Roy is sharing the disappointment, having returned after the failed 2020 outing, she also failed to gain enough votes to progress. Ireland hold the record for the most wins ever in the competition, having been the victor seven times over it’s 65 year history, but in recent years they’ve more often failed to qualify than make it through to the final.

Also knocked out in the first round were Slovenia’s Ana Soklic with Amen, North Macedonia’s Vasil who wore a disco ball costume to sing his operatic tune Here I Stand, Romania’s Roxen with Amnesia, and a surprise omission was Croatia’s Albina who presented the incredibly catchy song Tick Tock.

Check out OUTinPerth’s ‘no more than two-words’ review of every tune in the competition.

Watch Eurovision on SBS.
LIVE early morning broadcasts
Semi Final 2 – Friday 21 May, 3am (AWST)
Grand Final – Sunday 23 May, 3am (AWST)

Primetime evening broadcasts
Semi Final 1 – Friday 21 May, 8.30pm
Semi Final 2 – Saturday 22 May, 8.30pm
Grand Final – Sunday 23 May, 7.30pm

OIP Staff

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