Today’s newsletter comes to you directly from Basel, Switzerland — the host city of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.

I’m here to witness the sequin-filled, pyrotechnic magic of this year’s competition up close, and if the semi-finals were anything to go by, we’re in for a real treat.

Australian performer Go-Jo dazzled and delighted fans with his song ‘Milkshake Man’ on Thursday night (local time). Despite a lot of love from the crowd here, the WA muso missed out on a spot in the grand final. It means Australia has stopped short of the big dance two years in a row.

The main event will see 26 finalists perform in front of 12,400 fans at an indoor arena called St Jakobshalle. Thousands more will watch large screens in Switzerland’s biggest football stadium, right next door, while millions of viewers from more than 150 countries watch on TV. (That includes Australia, although most of you will be fast asleep, with SBS coverage starting at 5am Sunday, AEST.)

Whether you’re a seasoned fan or a first-timer, here’s your cheat sheet to all things Eurovision.

Eurovision 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Australia competing as a nation in the song contest. But how did we end up in a European competition in the first place?

Australia’s history with Eurovision dates back several decades. We actually had an Aussie perform in Eurovision in 1974, when Olivia Newton-John represented the UK.

SBS has been broadcasting the contest to Australian audiences since 1983.

In 2014, Jessica Mauboy performed (but didn’t actually compete) at Eurovision, in honour of our long-standing fandom. Organisers must’ve liked what they saw, because Australia was officially invited to compete the following year.

Guy Sebastian finished fifth overall for our competitive debut in 2015. The next year, Dami Im cemented Australia’s status as a Eurovision contender when she finished second. (If you haven’t already seen it, I highly recommend you check out her iconic performance. Eurovision fans here in Switzerland are still talking about it!)

The reason we’re allowed to compete actually comes down to the more than two million Australians who tune in to watch Eurovision each year.

It turns out that the way Eurovision operates has much more to do with relationships between broadcasters than geographical boundaries.

The first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 was seen as an experiment in live simultaneous transnational broadcasting — pretty new technology at the time.

It was administered by an organisation called the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU now has 68 members, who are all eligible to take part in Eurovision.

The EBU also has dozens of associate broadcasters in other countries outside of Europe, including here in Australia.

It’s not exactly clear when, but at some point the EBU decided these associates may also be eligible to participate in Eurovision on a case by case basis. That’s how Australia made it onto the lineup!

While Australia is allowed to compete, we still have to fight for our spot in the finals.

Eurovision is a contest, after all, and every good competition has rules.

According to Eurovision organisers, the main ones relating to competing songs and artists are:

“Songs must be original and no more than 3 minutes in length, lead vocals must be performed live, [and] no more than 6 performers can take to the stage during any one performance.”

The competition is broken up into three live performances, including two semi-finals. Competing countries are split across the two semis, and audiences vote to send the top 10 from each group through to the grand final. This year, the list of countries eliminated early includes Belgium, Croatia, Ireland and us.

Another six countries automatically qualify for the grand final. This includes the host country – typically the previous year’s winner – meaning Switzerland did not have to perform at this week’s semi-finals.

Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the UK also automatically qualify for the grand final each year. Known as the "Big Five," these countries contribute the most financial support to Eurovision.

Once the cohort is narrowed down to 26, there can only be one winner, decided by a complex voting process. Here’s how it works.

Grand final voting takes place once all countries have performed. Each country (including semi-finalists) has a five-person jury of local music industry professionals, who award points to their top 10 favourite songs. The maximum number the jury can give to a song is 12 points.

Meanwhile, viewers can submit votes via text, phone, or app. The number of votes is converted into points.

Neither the viewers nor the jury can vote for their own country.

Since 2023, a "Rest of the World" vote also means viewers from non-participating countries can have their say. This vote is counted as one combined "country" in the televote.

The country with the highest combined total of points is the winner.

Sweden is a consistently strong competitor, and this year is no exception.

The seven-time Eurovision winner is considered a front-runner with KAJ’s performance of the high-energy pop track "Bara bada bastu" (which translates to "[Let's] just sauna"). It’s the first Swedish-language song that Sweden has sent to the Contest since 1998. The country is tied with Ireland for the most Eurovision titles, and there’s a lot of hype for this song on the ground here in Basel.

Sweden may be the favourite, but my pick is Austria. The country has only won twice in Eurovision’s nearly 70-year history, but 2025 could be their year! The moving track “Wasted Love” from Austrian-Filipino artist JJ was a standout during semi-final two. You can watch the spine-tingling performance here.

Other standouts include Justyna Steczkowska from Poland. The 52-year-old singer is now a two-time Eurovision finalist, after she represented her country at the 1995 song contest. Keep an eye on Finland, too. Performer Erika Vikman was a clear crowd-favourite at the semi-finals, and is sure to impress again on Saturday night.

The Eurovision Grand Final begins live from Basel at 5am (AEST) on SBS and SBS On Demand.

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