Pop queen Montaigne chases spot in 2021 Eurovision via video with Nordic allies rating her to make the grand final

Montaigne is the first Australian Eurovision representative to compete via video but she may not be the only one with COVID breaching the Rotterdam bubble.

MONTAIGNE should be in Rotterdam, throwing her all into her final rehearsal of Technicolour ahead of her 2021 Eurovision Song Contest semi-final performance tomorrow.

Instead, Australia’s representative is at home, maintaining a quiet confidence she will get across the line to qualify for the grand final with the live-to-tape performance she recorded in a Sydney studio in March.

SBS decided not to go to Europe after assessing the risk of COVID transmission to the artist and their broadcast team was too great to travel.

Australia's Eurovision hopeful performing Technicolour. Picture: supplied

Under strict conditions monitored by contest organisers, they recorded three versions of Technicolour in an hour, with the final entry to be broadcast “on stage” during the semi-final.

“I never saw the final cut. I’ve been so close to it this whole time and had nothing to compare it to but now, I can see things a bit more objectively, I think it’s pretty good,” she said.

Condensing her Eurovision experience into an hour instead of the weeks of rehearsing and campaigning in The Netherlands was disappointing, particularly after missing her shot last year.

Montaigne soaking up the Eurovision vibes at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville Sydney. Picture: John Appleyard

Montaigne has also had to contend with the online trolls; while Eurovision’s mission is inclusivity, the haters who don’t want Australia there target our artists via social media every year.

“I feel like I have the resilience and sense of self to be able to deal with it. I was struggling halfway through the campaign because I was also taking the pill and I think that was messing with me mentally, I felt fragile all the time,” she said.

“When someone says something negative to me I just block them and I try to prop up people who do have something constructive or nice to say.

“When they something negative it’s like ‘You’re not interested in music, I have nothing for you, what is the point of this interaction?’”

The hyper-pop Technicolour, which Montaigne premiered live at the Sydney Mardi Gras parade in March, is a tough vocal, with tricky phrasing and epic high notes at the end.

Her futuristic Thunderdome “live to tape” performance has already won approval from sections of the hardcore Eurovision fanbase whose votes are counted with the judging panels from each of the 39 countries competing. It has already generated more than 1.5 million streams ahead of the official contest kick-off.

Australia cannot vote for her but SBS Commissioning Editor and Head of Delegation Josh Martin says our Eurovision allies – the Nordic voting bloc – have signalled they are backing us to make the grand final.

“Technicolour is a brilliant, complicated song and not everyone is going to like it and that’s fine – I’ve seen it said it is slightly ahead of its time in the Eurovision world,” Martin said.

“Montaigne doesn’t play safe and that’s why we love her and that’s why we back her and feel like we have such a terrific entry.

“The challenges for us to qualify are high but we’re optimistic, and have had comments from friends from other delegations who are in Rotterdam and have watched her performance play out on the big screen. And they’ve said ‘You’re qualifying’. But you can never take anything for granted with Eurovision.”

Behind the scenes at the hectic Eurovision live record session in Sydney. Picture: supplied/SBS

While she is the only artist not physically in Rotterdam out of this year’s 39 competitors, Montaigne may not be the only one whose semi-final performance is via video.

A member of the Polish delegation tested positive to COVID last week and another from Iceland on the weekend, with organisers previously stating any act whose team contracted the virus would be barred from performing on the Rotterdam stage.

They would have to submit their live-on-tape recording filmed prior to travelling to The Netherlands.

The 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast both live and in prime time on SBS and SBS On Demand from the first semi-final on May 19 at 5am.