The votes are in and in a massive upset Australia has not made it through to the Eurovision grand final.
Electric Fields vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and producer and keyboardist Michael Ross glittered on the Eurovision stage.
But it was not enough.
They were joined by vocalists Brendan Maclean, Alyson Joyce and Simi Vuata, as well as Fred Leone on the yidaki.
It is the first time the traditional instrument has been played on the Eurovision stage.
Their song One Mikali (One Blood) also brings the Yankunytjatjara language to Eurovision for the first time with a worldwide audience of around 162 million people.
Fifteen countries competed, 10 got through.
The Big Five (The UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) along with the hosts Sweden (last year’s winner) are given an automatic entry to the grand final.
The countries who have made it to the grand final in random order are:
- Serbia — TEYA DORA — RAMONDA
- Portugal — iolanda — Grito
- Slovenia — Raiven — Veronika
- Ukraine — alyona alyona & Jerry Heil — Teresa & Maria
- Lithuania — Silvester Belt — Luktelk
- Finland — Windows95man — No Rules!
- Cyprus — Silia Kapsis — Liar
- Croatia — Baby Lasagna — Rim Tim Tagi Dim
- Ireland — Bambie Thug — Doomsday Blue
- Luxembourg — TALI — Fighter
These are the countries that missed out:
- Poland — LUNA — The Tower
- Iceland — Hera Björk — Scared of Heights
- Moldova — Natalia Barbu — In The Middle
- Azerbaijan — FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov — Özünlə Apar
- Australia — Electric Fields — One Milkali (One Blood)
Semifinal two will take place from 5am AEST on Friday with the grand final to be held on Sunday from 5am AEST.
A devastated nation is waking up to the news but reacting with pride in the performance.
How has Australia fared in the competition previously?
Australia has been in the top 10 five times since it began competing. Singer Dami Im has had the country’s strongest result. She came in second place with Sound of Silence in 2016.
Guy Sebastian is the next contestant to place higher than the others. In 2015, he was fifth.
Isaiah Firebrace (2017), Kate Miller-Heidke (2019) and Voyager (2023) all finished ninth.
Australia was invited to participate in a non-competing capacity in 2014 and returned in 2015 as part of the competition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the event. It was meant to be a one-off, but Australia has continued to show up.
SBS has been covering the event since 1983.
Semifinal one performances (in order of appearance)
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