Entertainment

Jessica Mauboy storms into Eurovision finals with Tina Turner-esque belter

May 11, 2018

Aussie singer Jessica Mauboy wowed the jury with a pared-back stage set and powerful performance of 'We Got Love'. Source: Getty

Aussie singer Jessica Mauboy is through to the final of the heavily watched Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal’s capital Lisbon.

Mauboy was competing in the contest, which is traditionally used by European countries to trade tit-for-tat point-scoring, for the first time with a pop song called ‘We Got Love’. And as commentators pointed out, she stormed through the second round of semi-finals with a performance that was very under-produced by typical Eurovision standards – just her in a short, glittery dress, with her powerful voice winning over the jury.

The Herald Sun even said that it appeared she was channelling Tina Turner as she belted her way through lyrics such as “I don’t know what your mind is thinking, but don’t give up, because we got love”.

The singer must now go up against performers from Serbia, Moldova, Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Denmark, Ukraine and the Netherlands, as well as performers from the 10 countries that got through in the first semi-final round, in the final, due to be held on Saturday May 12 in Portugal. It’s the 63rd Eurovision, which is a staple in many Europeans’ TV viewing calendar.

In a shock event, though, Russia didn’t make it through to the final, which prompted some joking on social media.

That feeling when you can rig a US election and a UK referendum but can't hack the #Eurovision vote pic.twitter.com/GdQAW9HUdj

— Charlie Hayes🇺🇦 (@oxfcharlie) May 10, 2018

The official Eurovision organisers paid tribute to Mauboy, a Northern Territorian who was ‘discovered’ was on Australian Idol in 2006 and has gone on to win Aria awards for her albums.

We got LOTS of Love for that performance from Australia's @jessicamauboy! #ESC2018 #AllAboard #AUS pic.twitter.com/X3IS8bhhoa

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 10, 2018

But Mauboy may be a long shot at winning, given the political nature of the voting in Eurovision, which often sees nations with commonalities forming voting blocs to help their contestants through. Australia’s very inclusion in the competition has been questioned by some, with a story this week in Britain’s Radio Times explaining that the country was first invited to do a one-off performance in 2014 as an interval act at the semi-finals.

Then Australia was given a chance to compete in the competition itself in 2015, with an automatic inclusion in the grand final that saw Guy Sebastian, representing Australia, finish in what Radio Times described as a “vey respectable fifth place”. Australia now competes annually but with no special favours, having to win its way through by competing in the semi-finals.

Because Eurovision is televised all over the world, there are a few other competitor countries that aren’t actually in Europe, including Israel. Aussie representative Dani Im, who like Sebastian and Mauboy, is a talent show alumni, came very close to winning, coming second in 2016.

But even should Mauboy win, there’s no hope of the Australia hosting the contest in 2019, as is the tradition for the winning country. Radio Times says there’s a special rule that forces Australia to nominate a European co-host who’ll stage the comp, instead of the European performers heading Down Under.

That didn’t look like darkening Mauboy’s day, though. The 28-year-old posted a lovely picture of herself just before her performance all glammed up and ready to hit the stage.