Here’s how many of you watched Dami Im take 2nd place at Eurovision
Preliminary overnight figures from OzTam showed that a total 934,000 tuned in to SBS to watch Dami Im take second place in a closely battled Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. In the meantime, her song entry Sound Of Silence has entered the Top 10 in 17 countries.
Generally, most Australians tend to tune in to the evening replay than the livecast which begins at 5 am. However this year, given the excitement of Im’s early strong lead, more woke up early. An average of 407,000 watched, peaking at 8.30 am with 527,000. But through the day all major TV channels had announced the winner. The evening replay from 7.30 pm drew 407,000, compared to 592.000 in 2015.
It was a remarkable success for SBS, ranking 16th show of the night. (The Voice on Nine continued to lead the night with 1.361 million).
It will be interesting to see what the combination metro and regional figures will be for 2016. Last year it was a record total of 4.2 million during the semi-finals and Grand Final after Guy Sebastian became Australia’s first official entrant since the contest began in 1956. In 2015 there were 215,000 Eurovision-related tweets from Australians; 6 million Eurovision tweets were sent globally.
The tally for the global telecast is yet to be finalised, but last year it was watched by 200 million.
Unlike Sebastian who automatically went into the Grand Final on a wild card to a #5 ranking, Im had to fight through the semi-finals. Im lost the Grand Final by a mere 23 points with Sound Of Silence before a crowd of 10,500 at the Ericsson Global arena.
The song has gone to #1 in Australia, Malta, Finland and Lithuania. It’s second spot in Norway and Sweden and occupies #3 in Estonia, Poland, Belgium, Slovenia and Mongolia. It sits at #5 in Greece.
Source: Whale Report
Bookies had always expected Australia to take second spot in Stockholm. The money was on Russia to win, and the Ukraine on third spot.
Instead it was the Ukraine’s Jamala and the political song 1944 who won with 534 points, Australia followed with 511 points, and Russia, represented by Sergey Lazarev’s You Are The Only One was relegated to third.
Australia was in the lead from the 12 maximum votes from the professional jury panel across Europe. But change of voting rules this year meant they only constitute 50% of the finally tally. The rest is made up of televotes from around the world, and Australia was at #4 with 191 votes. Ukraine scored 323 and Russia 361.
SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid said: “Dami’s Grand Final performance was magnificent and against such strong competition we’re so proud that her talent was supported, and acknowledged by the Eurovision community.
“As newcomers to the competition, finishing second is incredibly humbling and a testament to Dami’s ability to connect with all audiences. Dami is the perfect musical ambassador of modern multicultural Australia, showcasing our country’s creative talents to the world.
“As the Australian broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest for over 30 years, it is the perfect example of the SBS charter in action with its celebration of diversity, culture, and inclusion and we are honoured to have been invited once again to compete.”
Australia’s involvement in Eurovision remains a moot point, both here and abroad. But it has been pointed out that the countries involved are not exactly from the Continent only. Members of the European Broadcasting Union or the Council of Europe are also allowed to participate. Israel, Turkey and Azerbaijan can compete — and all have won and hosted.
This year there has been a push from the US and Canada, primarily by recent migrants and the LGBTQ community. Both use Eurovision as one way to connect with others in their communities around the world.
This year, the US got its first live telecast, on the Viacom-owned cable channel Logo, which specialises in LGBTQ-oriented programming. Canada has got a telecast since 2014 via Netherlands-based OUTtv but on a week’s delay which has kept ratings down.
Justin Timberlake’s performance this year (not included in the US telecast over rights issues) sparked speculation that it might be a prelude to an invitation for the US next year. After all Jessica Mauboy’s interval live set in 2014 led to an official invite to Australia the year after.
But such speculation has been nixed by its Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand. He is emphatic there are no plans for a Worldvision Song Contest just yet, especially with broadcasting time schedules. Sand also stresses that despite how the contest expands, it will always be staged in a European region city.
That was part of the deal if Australia had won. But the vote-grabbing performances by its two official entrants should entitle Australia to another invitation next year.
SBS says, “It is not yet certain whether Australia will return for Eurovision 2017, as we would need to receive a invitation from next year’s host country, and this is unlikely to be confirmed for some time.” But regardless of what happens next year, SBS confirms it is continuing to develop its option to set up an Asia-Pacific version of the contest.
Sound of Silence writers, David Musumeci & Anthony Egizii of DNA Songs have received the Marcel Bezençon Composer Award, which is presented to the best and most original composition at Eurovision, as voted by the participating composers.
.@DNASONGS win prestigious peer-voted #Eurovision award, as voted by 40 out of 42 countries! https://t.co/719YrV8Stb pic.twitter.com/Y3urxva0ou
— APRA AMCOS (@APRAAMCOS) May 16, 2016