Eurovision 2016: Australia Enters The Competition For A Second Time, How Did They Place?

Originally, Eurovision was a song contest for European countries. However, Australia’s love for Eurovision and the fact they are a country under the commonwealth of England has finally scored them a place in the competition. But, after making it through the semi-final round, how did they place in the finals?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Eurovision 2016. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed the finals and wish to avoid spoilers.

Article UPDATED Saturday May 14, 2016.

The 61st edition of Eurovision has just ended. The song contest always promises big songs, big outfits, power ballads and an overuse of glitter, key changes, and wind machines. For Australia, Eurovision 2016 is the second time they have been granted entry into the competition. In 2015, they placed fifth in Eurovision with Guy Sebastian singing “Tonight Again.” And, this was a great effort considering Sebastian was suffering a pretty bad head cold during the performance.

For Australians who love the often cheesy song contest, Eurovision 2016 also offers their second chance to vote in the competition. But, it comes with a catch, a 5 a.m. catch. Aussie fans had to get up extra early in order to vote for their favorite contestants and to view Australia’s 2016 entrant, Dami Im, as she sang “Sound of Silence.” While that may not be too much of struggle for the first night, considering how much Eurovision drinking games play in the whole Eurovision experience, for many, Sunday morning was a major issue.

What watching Eurovision at 5am looks like #SBSEurovision #Eurovision #TheStruggleIsReal pic.twitter.com/LsOsJl0q1e

— Rachel Tsoumbakos (@mrszoomby) May 14, 2016

Dami Im’s song in Eurovision 2016 has been a hit with Australians as well as the Eurovision audience in Stockholm, Sweden, who gave Im a standing ovation after her performance, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Many Australian fans prefer Im’s power ballad over the much boppier “Tonight Again” by Guy Sebastian last year. As far as whether it looks like a typical Eurovision power ballad, well, there was that epic dress, and the fact Dami started her performance perched atop a giant pillar. Added into the number was a slightly cheesy attempt at interaction with computer generated images, and I think we have a winner as far as Eurovision power ballads go. Dami’s presence managed to fill the stage without the need for any backup distractions; although, her nerves did show a little.

But, nerves or not, her performance was strong enough to get her through the second semi-final round and into the final of Eurovision 2016. Luckily, those nerves weren’t such an issue when she belted her song out again during the final.

Dami Im is a former contestant on Australia’s version of The X Factor. Initially, Im was eliminated from the competition but brought back after another contestant decided to leave. Dami then went on to win The X Factor. So, nerves should be nothing new to Dami Im. However, Eurovision 2016 is on a much larger scale than The X Factor in Australia, something she told the Sydney Morning Herald as she struggled with was the sheer size of Eurovision 2016.

“When I am on that stage, when I was rehearsing, that thought of hundreds of millions just kept popping up. That made me shake a little bit, so I’m trying to fight that off. I think it’s important to just try and perform for that one person.”

So how did Australia place in Eurovision 2016?

After a resounding lead with the judges vites, Australia maintained their strong lead right up intil the very end. While Russia was the favorite coming itno the competition, it was Ukraine that pipped everyone at the post, beating Australia by a mere 23 points with a total score of 534 points. Australia placed second with 511 points and Russia came in third with 491 points. Ukraine’s Jamala repeated her winning song, “1944”, in tears after her country was announced victorious.

You can view Ukraine’s winning Eurovision performance below.

The full results of Eurovision 2016 are below.

1. Ukraine 534
2. Australia 511
3. Russia 491
4. Bulgaria 307
5. Sweden 261
6. France 257
7. Armenia 249
8. Poland 229
9. Lithuania 200
10. Belgium 181
11. The Netherlands 153
12. Malta 153
13. Austria 151
14. Israel 135
15. Latvia 132
16. Italy 124
17. Azerbaijan 117
18. Serbia 115
19. Hungary 108
20. Georgia 104
21. Cyprus 96
22. Spain 77
23. Croatia 73
24. United Kingdom 62
25. Czech Republic 41
26. Germany 11

Did you enjoy Eurovision 2016? Let us know your favorite contestants by commenting below!

[Image via Martin Meissner/Associated Press]