It was the breaking news of the season: Australia will compete at the Eurovision Song Contest. Allegedly this will be a unique occasion, but nevertheless, this headline caused some controversial debates among Eurovision circles, including the justified question: Will it really just be a one-off? Really?

Some voices, including mine, have responded: What’s the problem? If Australia feels like they belong, let them in. Morocco (which participated in 1980) isn’t in Europe either, so what are some thousand kilometers more in the day and age of the internet, when you are often closer to a friend “down under” than to your neighbour next door?

However, things are not that simple in this case, as Australia is playing the game with special rules – and this I am not a fan of, as it’s a distortion of the competition. Also, one might argue that this could open doors for all kinds of other countries, and so the question is raised: “Where will the line be drawn?”

It would be interesting to fast-forward a year and see how these things have developed. For now, however, all things considered, I am welcoming Australia to the Eurovision Song Contest.

The country that’s also a continent is sending Guy Sebastian to Vienna, a very popular singer who has achieved many top 10 hits at home and in New Zealand, and even has entered the charts in parts of Europe before. His career kicked off when he won the first season of Australian Idol, back in 2003. In the meantime, he has released over twenty singles and seven studio albums and been on tour numerous times.

Tonight Again was written and produced within 48 hours prior to its submission to Eurovision. Does it show? Maybe. First of all, we can all be happy that this isn’t another ballad. It’s a mid-/ uptempo song with a lot of brass, a tight, modern production with a lot of positive energy – actually just what this very contest needed. So, does it work? It does – but probably not on the first listen, when it counts. Will it appeal to the housewife in Akureyri as well as to the school boy in Yerevan? I doubt it. The Australian entry will find its fans, for some reason I expect some votes from Denmark and Georgia, but it isn’t instant enough – or simply good enough – to do a lot of damage on the scoreboard.

My verdict however is that it’s still a decent song. Not a masterpiece, but some juries and some televoting audiences will enjoy it and vote for it. I do rather enjoy it too, but whenever I hear it, something is missing. It all feels a bit like songwriting by numbers.

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