Eurovision Song Contest 2023: Winner revealed – and how Australia placed

There’s been a history-making result at today’s Eurovision Song Contest – but how did Australia place? WARNING: Spoilers.

Eurovision co host Hanna Waddingham.

WARNING: Eurovision spoilers below.

The winner of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest has been announced, with Sweden’s entry Loreen triumphing over Finland after a nailbiting vote-count.

It makes Loreen only the second act in Eurovision history to win twice, after her 2012 triumph with the stone-cold Eurovision classic Euphoria.

This year’s competition took place at Liverpool Arena in the UK, with Britain acting as surrogate host for the contest for last year’s winners Ukraine, who are unable to host due to the war.

A history-making win 

Sweden’s Loreen romped home the jury vote... Picture: Getty

...but Finland’s Kaarija won the public vote. Picture: Getty

Sweden’s entry Loreen has been this year’s favourite ever since she won Sweden’s Melodifesten Eurovision decider back in March with her soaring power ballad Tattoo.

Loreen, who previously won Eurovision in 2012 with the classic Euphoria, had done the near-impossible by entering again with a song that was just as good as her first. The track, her vocals, that trademark Loreen simple-yet-powerful staging: Since March, it’s seemed like she’d make history and become only the second artist ever to bag a second Eurovision win. She’s been far and away the bookies favourite, right up to today’s final.

Loreen celebrates her win. Picture: Oli SCARFF / AFP

But, going into this week, it almost felt like the hype made her peak too early: By Eurovision week, a lot of attention had turned to a lesser-heard entry, Finland’s Kaarija with his high-octane rap song Cha Cha Cha. Gurning faces, cha cha dancers, a bare-chested singer in a lime-green puffer bolero: It may not have the timeless qualities of Loreen’s entry, but it certainly captured Eurovision fans’ attention this year.

The final tally on the leaderboard.

In the end, Loreen romped it home in the jury vote, scoring a massive 340 points - miles ahead of the second-placed competitor Israel, with 177 points. But Finland well over 300 points from the public vote, briefly leapfrogging them ahead of Loreen into pole position.

But Loreen scored enough public votes to give Sweden a comfortable win over Finland - with 583 points to their 526. Israel’s pop princess Noa Kirel came a distant third, with 362 points.

Finland and Sweden go head-to-head.

It means Loreen is only the second act in Eurovision history to have won twice - the other is Johnny Logan, who won for Ireland in 1980 and 1987.

How Australian placed

Aussie rockers Voyager made a respectable placing. Picture: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

West Australian rock band Voyager tore the roof off the Liverpool Arena with an energetic performance of their song Promise.

And for their efforts, the rockers were rewarded with a very respectable top 10 position, placing 9th - the third time we’ve done so.

We received 130 points from the jury, but a disappointing 21 points from the public vote. There was some good news though - it turns out Voyager placed first in the public vote from their earlier second semi-final (strange, then, that the public seemed to cool on them by the time of the final).

This was the eighth time Australia has competed at Eurovision. In that time, we’ve placed in the top 10 four previous times, making it as far as number two with Dami Im’s Sound Of Silence back in 2016.

But there have been a few dud results too – two years later, poor Jess Mauboy only placed 20th with her anthem We Got Love, while singer Montaigne fell victim to the pandemic, their 2021 entry failing to make it past the semi-finals when they competed from Australia rather than travelling to Europe.

Last year’s entry, Sheldon Riley, exposed the sometimes stark difference between the jury and popular votes: The jury voting accounted for 123 of his 125 points, after he scored just 2 points in the public vote. Thanks to that jury love, he managed to place 15th in the competition.

The UK flops once more

UK entry Mae Muller. Picture: Anthony Devlin/Getty

The UK had another solid entry this year with Mae Muller’s I Wrote A Song About You. Unfortunately, she received a grand total of just 24 points, a result that was met with a chorus of boos inside Liverpool Arena, as host Hannah Waddingham called for calm. In the end, the UK came second-last, with only Germany performing worse on 18 points.

From second in the competition last year to second-last this year - was the UK’s big Eurovision comeback just a statistical blip?

Another big upset came for France, with performer La Zarra widely tipped to be one of this year’s main contenders. A top-five placing seemed to be on lock for her - so even she couldn’t hide her disappointment when cameras cut to her after it was revealed she’d come 16th in the competition.

Watch her give the camera a little wave - then turn her hand upside down to ever-so-quickly flip her middle finger at the viewers at home:

PTDRRRRRRRR je t’aime La Zarra (et vive la France of course) #Eurovision#Eurovision2023pic.twitter.com/vo3aj2Gta4

— .🫀. (@ArmoxRedd) May 13, 2023

A surprise royal performance

Kate Middleton's surprise Eurovision cameo.

None other that the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton made a surprise cameo at the start of the grand final. She appeared in a video package, playing the piano in a brief clip that was recorded in a Windsor Castle drawing room earlier this month. Her playing was paired with a performance from last year’s winners Kalush Orchestra, who recorded their part in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A Eurovision star is born

Eurovision co host Hanna Waddingham.

This year’s Eurovision hosts are former Mis-Teeq star Alesha Dixon, Eurovision veteran Graham Norton, Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina and actress Hannah Waddingham. All great talent, but Ted Lasso and Sex Education star Waddingham has undoubtedly emerged as the breakout star of the panel this week. Through the two semi-finals and today’s final, she’s been a joy to watch: Impossibly glam in a series of stunning gowns, she’s nailed that perfect Eurovision mix of cheesy, silly and sometimes very earnest.

A longtime Eurovision fan who was genuinely thrilled to land the gig, she also seems to be having the most fun of anybody on that stage. As SBS commentators Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst suggested, could the UK perhaps send West End veteran Waddingham as their entry next year?

Watch the Eurovision Song Contest now on SBS On Demand, or watch the replay of the grand final which airs 7:30pm Sunday on SBS.