Aussievision Team: Sam

Name and where you live

G'day I'm Sam and I live in Melbourne!

Where to see more of Sam

Bluesky: @samzhihong.bsky.social

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I was born and raised in Sydney. I moved to Canberra for university and after I graduated spent the first two years of my full-time career there. Recently I have moved to Melbourne, where I'm looking forward to exploring the city and making new friends. So Eurovision fans in Melbourne, please feel free to reach out!

My interests outside of Eurovision include: tennis (although I'm a better watcher than player), history, palaeontology and watching comedy tv shows.

My father is Taiwanese and my mother is from Hong Kong. Given I am Australian, have parents of an Asian background who met at an American university, and am intrigued by a certain European singing competition - I feel like I am truly a global individual.

What is your Eurovision journey?

I got into Eurovision through arguably the greatest Eurovision act of all – ABBA. When I was in Kindergarten my teacher made us dance to this really catchy tune called Mamma Mia. I thought the song was absolutely brilliant so I asked my dad if he knew the song and who sang it. Luckily for me, my dad was a huge ABBA fan and he gave me a copy of ABBA Gold. A little while later, when I was in Year 3, I discovered that ABBA had taken part and won a certain contest called Eurovision in 1974. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The first time I watched Eurovision properly was in 2010 and the first act on the broadcast was Moldova’s SunStroke Project featuring Epic Sax Guy. Compared to other opening acts in semi-final 1 over the years, I pretty much hit the jackpot.

My Eurovision adventure was taken to the next level, or went u-u-u-u-u-p as Loreen would say, when I moved to Canberra for university in 2018. At my residential college I met a resident, who I quickly realised was as obsessed with Eurovision as me. We would often spend hours in the dining hall after lunch chatting about the contest. We decided to put these conversations to more constructive use and began a one-hour weekly radio show dedicated to Eurovision on our university's radio station.

Towards the end of 2022, Aussievision ran a Q&A session on their Instagram story. I cheekily asked how I could join the team. The lovely Kyriakos got back to me, and I formally applied to be part of Aussievision. In October 2022 I officially became a contributor of this wonderful website.

Do you have any affinity with nations other than Australia?

A bit of a long stretch but my mother grew up in Hong Kong when it was a British Overseas Territory, so a part of me wants to see the United Kingdom do well.

Otherwise aside from Australia the two other countries I tend to root for are Sweden and Poland. My friends one birthday got me Eurovision scarves of the three countries.

Any Aussievision highlights?

Being a part of the Aussievision media team in Malmo for Eurovision 2024 has definitely been the highlight.

Aussievision Malmö 2024 team! (Left to Right: Hayley, Cooper, Sam & Liv)

As a kid I was obsessed with Loreen's Euphoria in 2012 and the following year saw my favourite Eurovision presenter Petra Mede host the show in Malmo. So it was great fate that my first live Eurovision experience was in Malmo, with the show hosted by Petra, thanks to another Loreen victory.

It was such a wonderful privilege to be the press centre amongst all the other Eurovision superfans, watching the rehearsals before anyone else in the world. Somehow shy, introvert me found the courage to ask Cyprus' Silia Kapsis a question at the first semi-final results press conference.

I would like to thank Dale, Liv and the rest of the Aussievision team for allowing me to have this memorable experience.

Quick questions on Eurovision entries

Best winner:

I honestly can't choose between three Swedish winners: ABBA's Waterloo in 1974, Loreen's Euphoria in 2012 and Loreen's Tattoo in 2023. When Sweden win, they do it well!

Favourite three non-Australian entries:

Popular by Eric Saade (Sweden 2011), Si by Gigliola Cinquetti (Italy 1974) and To nie ja! by Edyta Gorniak (Poland 1994).

Favourite Australian entry:

Dami Im's Sound of Silence in 2016. I have been a huge fan of hers since she won X Factor in 2013. She is a great inspiration to me and other Australians of Asian ancestry.

Makes you dance:

We Will Rave by Kaleen (Austria 2024), Rim Tim Tagi Dim by Baby Lasagna (Croatia 2024), and Hajde da ludujemo by Tacji (Yugoslavia 1990).

Favourite non-qualifier:

Same Heart by Mei Feingold (Israel 2014).

Favourite Eurovision year:

1994. I find that when countries debut at Eurovision they usually start off on a high. With a record seven countries debuting this year, this made for a competition of incredible standard. Whilst the winner may be forgettable, I love the entries from Poland, Russia, Finland, Germany and Hungary. Also, as a fan of Celtic music, I can't go past the most iconic Eurovision interval act ever - Riverdance!

Favourite national finals:

Sweden's Melodifestivalen, Ireland's Eurosong, Spain's Benidorm Fest and Finland's UMK.

Favourite national final songs:

Kingdom Come by Anna Bergendahl (Sweden 2020), Cool Me Down by Margaret (Poland 2016), Hoida mut by Benjamin (Finland 2023), and Sinceramente by Annalisa (Italy 2024).