Australia’s milkshake man Go-Jo out of Eurovision
Australia’s Eurovision hopes have been dashed after singer Marty Zambotto, known by the stage name Go-Jo, was ousted from the competition in a shock finish to a hotly contested second semi-final in Basel, Switzerland.
Zambotto’s song, Milkshake Man, blended dance, synth-pop and kitsch, a combination that has historically won easy favour with the Eurovision audience. But in one of the most competitive years in memory, it did not prove a winner with the European TV audience.
With Australia now out of formal competition, the 10 winning countries from the second semi-final – Lithuania, Israel, Armenia, Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Malta and Greece – progress to this weekend’s final, along with the winners of the first semi-final, Norway, Albania, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal and Ukraine.
Once there, they will be up against the so-called “Big Five” – the biggest members of the European Broadcasting Union, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – and the hosting country, in this case Switzerland, who all get an automatic slot in the final.
While Sweden’s KAJ turned in a singularly strong competition-winning performance in the first semi-final, the second semi-final was more heavily loaded with strong performances, including Israel’s Yuval Raphael, Austria’s JJ, Malta’s Miriana Conte and Finland’s Erika Vikman.
Speaking after the event, Zambotto said he hoped he had made Australia proud, regardless of the result. “We put so much work and effort in, I know I could not have worked harder,” he said.
The 29-year-old West Australian-born singer described the elimination phase, in the final moments of the semi-final, as “one of the most horrible experiences; the camera is on you, you see the other artists, and you just don’t know. It was very tense.”
SBS telecast host Tony Armstrong said everyone was disappointed with the news. “We’re mourning Go-Jo, Marty, and all the work that he did,” Armstrong said.
Telecast co-host Courtney Act acknowledged the success of Milkshake Man, which has accumulated more than four million streams on Spotify. “The song will live on,” Act said.
The focus in Basel now shifts to the showdown in this weekend’s final, but the past week has not been uneventful.
Protesters wave the Palestinian flag as Yuval Raphael performs at Eurovision.Credit: Getty Images
Earlier, during the dress rehearsal for Israel’s entrant Raphael, protesters attempted to interrupt her performance, unfurled a Palestinian flag and blew whistles. The incident was not visible in the video feed of the show.
“Security personnel were able to quickly identify those involved and escort them out of the hall,” a statement from Swiss host broadcaster SRG said.
Raphael is a survivor of the Hamas-led attack at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for the attack on southern Israeli communities, in which about 1200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials. It has left Gaza on the brink of famine, aid groups and international agencies say.
Ahead of this year’s competition, more than 70 former Eurovision contestants – including former winners Irish singer Charlie McGettigan, and Portuguese singers Salvador Sobral and Fernando Tordo – signed an open letter to the contest’s organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), calling for Israel to be removed.
Compared to higher profile political tensions, the minor imbroglio over Maltese singer Miriana Conte’s homophonic song title – Kant – seems mild. After initially approving the song title, the EBU changed its mind, forcing Malta to introduce changes to both the lyrics and title. (It was changed to Serving.)
Malta’s national broadcaster PBS described the ruling as an “abuse of power and an unjust application of the rules”.
This was Australia’s 10th year in the competition. Our best result was in 2016 when Dami Im performed Sound of Silence, and dazzled the professional juries and television viewers voting from home into a score that put her in second place, behind Ukraine’s Jamala, who performed 1944.
France’s Louane performs on stage at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett
Australia’s defeat shocked the Eurovision fans on the ground; Go-Jo had mounted an aggressive media campaign across Europe, and many felt he was an easy contender for a slot in the final.
It is the third time Australian has failed to qualify, after Montaigne in 2021 and Electric Fields in 2024.
Go-Jo performing Milkshake Man for Australia at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.Credit: Alma Bengtsson
The 2025 Eurovision competition features artists and songs from 37 countries performing in 20 languages. It is being staged at the St Jakobshalle stadium in Basel, Switzerland.
The Eurovision Song Contest final will air live at 5am AEST on SBS on Sunday. SBS will replay the two semi-finals on Friday and Saturday from 7.30pm, and the final on Sunday at 7.30pm.