Another three acts have been announced for Australia’s national selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. These acts are Courtney Act, Aydan Calafiore, and Leea Nanos, who go onto join the four previously announced acts Electric Fields, Kate Miller-Heidke, Mark Vincent, and Sheppard.
Eurovision – Australia Decides will take place at the Gold Coast on 9 February 2019 and will be hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey. There are still three more acts to be revealed, as well as a whole range of songs that we cannot wait to hear, however newly announced Courtney Act has already dropped her single before anyone else. It is titled “Fight For Love” and was written by Danny Shah, Felicity Birt, Courtney Act, and Sky Adams.
More About Australia’s Newly Revealed Acts For Eurovision – Australia Decides
Courtney Act
To people in Australia, the US, and the UK, Courtney Act needs no introduction, we all know who she is and many people across Europe, Asia, and America will know who she is too. This is because she’s been building her career for a number of years. The drag name is a pun on the phrase caught in the act. His real name is Shane Jenek.
Starting his career in 2003, Shane Jenek auditioned for the first season of Australian Idol, where he didn’t make it through, however, he returned as Courtney Act where she advanced all the way through to the Semi-Final group stages and went on to be chosen as a wildcard, but failed to make it into the Top 12. This was the same season that Guy Sebastian went onto win – he’s known in the Eurovision world as being the first Australian act for Eurovision where he placed fifth overall, in the Grand Final in 2015’s Eurovision Song Contest.
It wasn’t until 11 years later that Courtney Act gained international success becoming a contestant on the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, making it all the way to joint second with Adore Delano – also a singer, who was a contestant on American Idol – behind the winner Bianca Del Rio.
Recently, she won the series 21 of Celebrity Big Brother, in the UK, which expanded her career. She went on to host the TV show The Bi Life which was shown on E! in Ireland and the United Kingdom. She also has an upcoming talk show one-off episode on Channel 4 titled “Courtney Act’s Christmas Extravaganza”.
On the music side, she has released an EP titled Kaleidoscope, and a whole bunch of singles, over the years, with her debut single “Rub Me Wrong” charting on the Australian ARIA chart at 29 in 2004, just after her time on Australian Idol. She also teamed up with Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 and Willam for a three-piece girl group named The AAA Girls, who released five singles and an album titled “Access All Areas”.
Considering the last drag queen who entered the Eurovision Song Contest, went on to win – Conchita Wurst with “Rise Like A Phoenix” in 2014 – Courtney Act may have a great chance, especially since she’s internationally known.
She’s also the very first Eurovision – Australia Decides act to release their single. Her song is titled “Fight For Love” and has already received a great reception from her fans. It’s a catchy track that’s full of so much meaning and is certainly Eurovision fuelled, however, the past few years have shown that typical Eurovision tracks aren’t always guaranteed a win, but this has a good shot depending on staging.
Aydan Calafiore
This is another act that is somewhat a household name in Australia, as he competed on the seventh season of The Voice of Australia, which is the most recent season; where he placed fourth, having previously auditioned for season six where he didn’t get a turn. He also previously appeared on talent shows in Australia, including 2012’s revival of Young Talent Time, and season seven of Australia’s Got Talent, in 2013, where he made it to the semi-finals.
He went on to release the single “Something About You”. With his experience of talent shows, he’s got a good chance of doing well on Eurovision – Australia Decides and subsequently the Eurovision Song Contest depending on whether he is chosen to represent Australia.
https://youtu.be/sb6UPCghIpU
Leea Nanos
Now, this act is known as a wildcard, or in the case of the video above she’s being introduced by SBS’s Eurovision – Australia Decides, as she isn’t as known as her fellow competitors. She’s just 16 years old, but what she lacks in star quality, she makes up for in her voice and music.
She has released three singles to date and even competed on the eighth season of The X Factor – which is the most recent season before it was cancelled in 2016 – in front of Eurovision-alum Guy Sebastian, as well as three other judges. The two years may have served her well and she could well be the dark horse of the competition.
There are more acts to come, we wonder who will be announced next. We certainly cannot wait to find out.
The Eurovision – Australia Decides will take place on 9 February 2019 with a 50/50 jury and televote to determine their Eurovision representative. It will be hosted on the Gold Coast, Queensland by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey.