10 Australian artists who have covered Eurovision songs

Australia's love for the Eurovision Song Contest started well before it hit the small screen on SBS back in 1983.

Whether Aussies knew it or not, they were buying records of covers of Eurovision songs from the current pop singers in the 1970s which charted on the Australian music singles chart.

Since then, a few Australian artists have covered their favourite Eurovision songs, and even one group in Victoria, Australia, became a tribute band for one of the most infamous groups to win Eurovision!

In celebration of our love for Eurovision we take a look at 10 Australian artists that have covered and performed Eurovision songs.

Check out who we discovered:

Pat Carroll - ‘All Kinds of Everything’

Released: 1970

Before Dana’s Eurovision winning song for Ireland was out in Australia, a cover was released by Melbourne singer Pat Carroll. It peaked at No.28 until it was charted jointly with Dana’s single release which reached No.37 on the Australian singles chart (Kent Music Report).

Pat was well known in the 1960s and early 1970s and her collaboration with Eurovision alumni Olivia Newton-John. In the mid-1960s the two singers formed a duo, Pat and Olivia, and went on to win a song contest in Melbourne. While they split not long after that, they both went of to perform overseas.

Liv Maessen - ‘Knock, Knock Who's There?’

Released: 1970

Australian pop singer Liv Maessen released a cover of the runner-up Eurovision 1970 entry ‘Knock, Knock Who's There?’ originally by Mary Hopkins from the United Kingdom. The single was released before Mary’s Eurovision song was out in Australia.

Liv’s version reached No. 2 on the Go-Set Australian National Chart and reached No.9 in the 1970 End of Year chart. Mary Hopkins' original song managed to peak at No. 5 on the Go-Set Australian National Chart.

Björn Again - ‘Waterloo’

Performed: 1989 - 2021

When it comes to the Eurovision 1974 winners from Sweden, ABBA and Australia it is a match made in heaven! ABBA began their charting success in Australia with their song ‘Ring Ring’ which peaked at No. 7 in 1973. The following year after Eurovision they released ‘Waterloo’ which reached No.4 on the ARIA Singles chart. In Australia, they accumulated two No. 1 studio albums, two No. 1 compilations, (‘The Best of ABBA’ has gone 22 times platinum and ‘ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits’ has sold 17 times platinum) and six No. 1 singles. ‘Fernando’ topped the chart for 14 weeks.

When the Swedish group disbanded in 1982, a void had to be filled and it came from a group of four Aussies from Victoria to form, Björn Again, in 1989. They became an Australian ABBA tribute band who have been endorsed by ABBA themselves!

Björn Again have performed for over 30 years and are a global phenomenon. The band started off performing around the country before heading overseas for their first performance outside of Australia in 1992 where they went to ABBA heartland Sweden. There they even got to meet Benny and Björn.

The Aussie band have had huge success. They were the support act for the Spice Girls at Wembley Stadium, they performed at the opening ceremony for the 2020 cricket tournament in India along with Lionel Ritchie and UB40, and they even appeared as a headline act at Russell Crowe’s wedding in 1994, just to name a few of their achievements. The band are currently learning the new songs from ABBA's newly released studio album 'Voyage'.

Orianthi - ‘Believe’

Released: 2009

Orianthi, who is originally from Adelaide, is best know for being hand picked by Michael Jackson for his ‘This Is It’ concerts. She became Michael’s lead guitarist and was at all the rehearsals before his death in 2009. Orianthi then appeared in the ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ film.

The same year Orianthi released her second studio album and first with a major record label, ‘Believe’. The album was named after a song on the album, ‘Believe’ which is a cover of Denmark’s 2009 Eurovision entry ‘Believe Again’ by Niels Brinck. Niels finished in 13th place at the Eurovision Grand Final.

Orianthi’s ‘Believe’ album reached No. 88 on the ARIA Album chart and No. 77 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The lead single from the album ‘According to You’ became a worldwide hit and reached No. 8 in Australia on the ARIA Singles chart.

Ronan Keating and Paulini - ‘Believe Again’

Released: 2010

Denmark’s 2009 Eurovision entry has also been covered by one of the original Australian Idol performers, Paulini who is now set to compete at ‘Eurovision - Australia Decides 2022’.

Paulini sung ‘Believe Again’ as a duet with former Eurovision 1997 presenter and former Boyzone boyband member Ronan Keating. In fact Ronan Keating co-wrote the song along with Lars Halvor Jensen and Martin Michael Larsson.

In 2010, Ronan released the cover as the lead single of his album ‘Duet’. The pair performed the song together for the first time on ‘The X Factor Australia’ where Ronan was a judge. The single reached No. 73 on the ARIA Singles chart in Australia.

Greg Gould - ‘Euphoria’

Released: 2017

Greg Gould is an artist and songwriter that has seen recent success with his album ‘1998’ which reached the top of the Australia album chart in 2020. He has previously headlined major events like the Full Moon Fest in New York, the Sydney Mardi Gras official after party and Hamburg Pride, just to name a few.

In 2017, Greg released an EP, ‘Don’t Let Go’. It features his self penned song ‘Today’, and covers of En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go (Love)’, Estelle’s ‘American Boy’ and Loreen’s Eurovision 2012 winning song ‘Euphoria’.

The ‘Don’t Let Go’ EP reached No.16 on the ARIA singles chart in 2017. Greg released a music video for ‘Euphoria’ which features true love stories from the LGBTIQ+ community in Australia.

Peter Wilson and Sean Smith - ’Verona’

Released: 2018

In August 2018, Australian singer Peter Wilson released a duet with UK singer Sean Smith of the Estonian entry ‘Verona’ from the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, originally by Koit Toome and Laura.

Peter and Sean’s version was produced by Matt Pop and managed to chart around the world on the iTunes chart. The ‘Verona’ cover was released in a Remix EP which peaked at No. 1 on the Electronic Albums Chart in Argentina and No.1 in New Zealand and Denmark on the Vocal Chart. In Australia and the UK the EP peaked at No. 5 on the iTunes Electronic Albums Chart.

Peter Wilson is releasing a new single, 'The Great Unknown' on February 25 from his upcoming album set to be released this year.

Casey Donovan - ‘Tonight Again’

Performed: 2019

Casey Donovan opened the show at the inaugural ‘Eurovision - Australia Decides’ in 2019 with Guy Sebastian’s ‘Tonight Again’, which finished in 5th place at Eurovision 2015. The former Australian Idol winner wowed the audience with her powerful vocals and her energetic stage charisma.

Casey left such a lasting impression that she went on to compete at ‘Eurovision - Australia Decides’ the following year in 2020. Her entry ‘Proud’ won the televote and came in second place overall behind Montaigne and her entry ‘Don’t Break Me’.

Dami Im - ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’

Performed: 2020

Dami Im gave Australia its best Eurovision result in its short history, with a runner up place at the 2016 Eurovision Grand Final with ‘Sound of Silence’. This was only Australia’s second competitive appearance at the Contest. Dami scored a huge following of fans who still support her to this day.

During 2020 when parts of the world were in lockdown and artists had to resort to online shows to connect with their fans, Dami hosted her own Eurovision themed show, ‘Eurovision Iso Party’.

Dami performed many Eurovision songs, including her own entry ‘Sound of Silence’ and even Måns Zelmerlöw’s Eurovision 2015 winning song ‘Heroes’.

She also performed an AMAZING rendition of Conchita Wurst’s Eurovision 2014 winning song for Austria, ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’. Dami continues to showcase her great talents and vocals.

Montaigne - ‘Repondez Moi’

Performed: 2020

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Contest because of the global Covid pandemic, a Eurovision Home Concert series was created to give the 2020 Eurovision artists exposure online and to entertain fans of the Contest.

In episode 2 of the series, Australia’s Eurovision representative, Montaigne, performed a rendition of the Eurovision 2020 Swiss entry ‘Repondez Moi’ by Gjon’s Tears. Montaigne showcased her French in the performance.

Montaigne went on to be internally selected for Eurovision 2021 where she performed ‘Technicolour’ representing Australia.

And there you have it, 10 Aussies that have covered and shared their love for the Eurovision Song Contest.

What are you favourites? Which other Aussie artists do you recall have covered or performed Eurovision songs?

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Check out Every Eurovision song to chart in Australia