Eurovision Song Contest Finds New Star In Australian Singer Guy Sebastian, Coming Fifth With 'Tonight Again'

Aussie Wossie Great? Yes, He Was!

Guy Sebastian can make the long journey back to Australia with his head held high, after earning his country fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest on their first - and possibly only - time of joining in the competition.

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The EBU had invited Australia to participate as a marker of the show's 60th anniversary, and in recognition of Australians' faraway support for the contest, and they returned the gesture by sending one of their most respected singers.

Guy gave a great rendition of pop-funk song 'Tonight Again' and earned a very respectable 196 points.

Guy Sebastian celebrates voting triumph in Vienna

For now, at least, Guy will remain Eurovision's only Australian participant, as there are no plans for present to include them again, despite his fine performance. However, with their record proving so impressive thus far, it would seem churlish to exclude them from now on.

Some Australians had doubted that Guy had the requisite chops to pull off a show of this stature, but he proved any doubters wrong, and did his career no harm at all, charming the audience in the hall in Vienna, and the 200million watching worldwide.

Guy Sebastian's rendition of 'Tonight Again' earned a respectable fifth position

Guy came to fame Down Under with victory in the first ever 'Australian Idol' show in 2003, and has a robust fanbase of his own

"Eurovision isn't always a showcase for actual talent but this year Australia has gone for one of our finest new voices, not someone who'll look good in front of a wind machine," applauds Cameron Adams, music writer for News Limited in Melbourne.

Unlike some previous Eurovision entrants, Guy Sebastian is no novelty act, with Cameron Adams citing the 33 year-old musician's impressive sales to date - nearly four million albums in a country of 23 million people, and the bulk of the material written himself. He's had six number one singles in his own country, as well as a million-selling single in America, 'Battle Scars', where he duetted with rapper Lupe Fiasco.

Guy's foray into Eurovision territory meant that, for the first time in its history, the many Australian fans of the contest were able to watch the show live, even it meant staying up until 5am this morning to do it. For years, the fans have had to expend efforts in keeping away from the results, so that their Eurovision shindigs aren't ruined by too much fore-knowledge.

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