Pop star Delta Goodrem has dramatically increased Australia’s odds of winning the Eurovision Song Contest, after a stunning performance of her power ballad, Eclipse, at Thursday’s semi-final.
The singer is now second favourite for the competition, and is rapidly closing in on Finland, who have long been predicted to lift the trophy.
If she succeeds on Saturday, it would be a first for Australia – who joined the contest as a one-off wild card entry in 2015 but quickly became a permanent fixture.
Eurovision is phenomenally successful in the country, despite its distance from Europe, with more than a million people regularly tuning in to watch the show.
Goodrem, who is known to UK TV fans for her role in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, is one of the biggest-selling female artists in her home country.
She signed her first recording contract at the age of 15 and has scored four number one albums.
Speaking to the BBC, she called her Eurovision experience “surprisingly beautiful”.
“To see people flying the flags for music and being with us has been an awesome thing to see.”
