Will Australia keep up their record of top 10 finishes with Jessica Mauboy?
During Eurovision 2014, the EBU hinted at a participation of Australia in Eurovision for the first time. Australian pop star Jessica Mauboy performed one of her songs as the interval act to honour the many Australians following the contest every year. In 2015 they actually entered the competition properly and in their first three years, they never missed out on a spot in the top 10. Last year however, Isaiah only received 2 points from televoting in the final, but thanks to his top 5 spot with the jury, he ended up at a respectable 9th position. This year Australia needs to serve the goods to impress the televoters as well and in order to do that, they brought back Jessica Mauboy, who will perform the pop tune ‘#We Got Love’ in Lisbon in May. Is another top 10 position in sight for them?

Jessica Mauboy rose to fame in her home country finishing as a runner up in the 2006 season of X Factor. What followed is a long string of successful singles and three albums to her name. We will just have to wait and see if ‘#We Got Love’ will be her next hit, because I am not at all convinced this was the best she could have come up with. ‘#We Got Love’ is an uptempo pop tune of the generic kind that does not stand out in any way after the first few listens. To be honest, the only thing that grabbed my intention were the painfully cliche lyrics they came up with. “Love is stronger than fire, so don’t give up, ’cause we got love.” Really!? We get a handful of tracks with the same subject matter in Eurovision every year and this one is definitely not one of the strongest. Also, what is up with the hashtag in the title? If you want to go for a hashtag, then actually use a proper one instead of spaces in between the words. That is not how hashtagging works, Jessica!

To end on a lighter note, the production of the tune is on point and it sounds like she will be able to belt away in the last chorus. She is a talented vocalist (although her 2014 interval act didn’t really do her justice) and with the right staging, she might be able to sing herself into the final. I just wish she would have gone for something a little more exciting or memorable, like her single ‘Never Be The Same’ or even her debut track ‘Running Back’. I don’t believe that ‘#We Got Love’ deserves to go anywhere near the top 10 on the Saturday night.

Review of Semi Final Performance:
Australia has learned quickly in Eurovision. The country has only participated three times, finishing in top 10 in every single attempt. This year, Jessica Mauboy represents the country with a typical Eurovision tune. Is it a bop? Yes. Does it have some cliche lyrics about a better world? Check! Does the chorus stick in your head after the performance? Sure thing! Performance wise however, the Australian delegation simply disappointed. There is no act. Sure, Jessica has got a bubbly stage presence which is enjoyable to watch, but her dance moves are a little too unpolished for a TV competition if you ask me. Vocally, there were quite a few bum notes, especially in the second half of the song. Personally I don’t think Australia deserves another top 10 finish, but who knows. This generic song seems to be more popular than I anticipated.

Review of Final Performance:
Australia’s Jessica Mauboy gave another vocally questionable performance of her not so great tune ‘We Got Love’. The hook is decent, but the lyrics just sound too cliche to these ears and those bigger notes in the last chorus were simply butchered. Mauboy has a nice stage presence though and she does her best to keep the public at home hooked with just herself dancing around. Unfortunately, the televoters gave her the least amount of points and Australia had to be saved by the juries (who put her in 12th position), resulting in the 20th place overall.

Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS –BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CROATIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – HUNGARY – ICELAND –IRELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM