Eurovision reaches its grand final on Saturday night in Vienna, with Finland, Greece and Australia among the favourites and one of the contest’s most striking stories coming from a 27-year-old Greek singer who was busking in Athens eight months ago.
Akylas, who represents Greece with the song Ferto, said he had been working as a waiter before quitting to sing in the streets. “I was in Athens, I was working as a waiter, and I quit my job to start singing in the streets,” he said. “I had so many people telling me that I was wasting my time. People would bully me in the street [while] I was busking, trying to pay my rent and my bills. I was struggling – so it's crazy that now I'm representing my country at Eurovision.”
That trajectory has helped make Ferto one of the night’s most talked-about entries, and bookmakers have tipped it for a top-three finish. The song mixes rave synths, video game sound effects and traditional Greek instruments such as the lyra, while looking back at Akylas’s childhood during the Greek financial crisis. “It's about all the parents, who are trying to provide the best for their children, and all the sacrifices that they make, like my parents did,” he said.
The Greek entry lands in a final where Vienna again becomes the backdrop for Eurovision’s taste for excess, and for songs that push beyond the standard pop template. That has been especially clear this year in the Australian camp, where Delta Goodrem’s Eclipse has become a late mover after Thursday’s semi-final, with bookmakers slashing her odds. The song opens with a baroque piano breakdown before a key change in the final refrain, a structure that fits the contest’s long affection for dramatic turns and, in many cases, operatic flourishes.
Australia’s place in Eurovision remains one of the event’s most unusual arrangements. The country was first invited in 2015, for the contest’s 60th anniversary, as a one-off wildcard entry, then asked back every year after that. It has become part of the field despite crashing out in last year’s semi-final, and its persistence has made the contest feel less like a European club and more like a global television habit.
That habit dates back decades. Eurovision winner Abba in 1974 helped spark Australia’s obsession with the contest, and the attachment has lasted through wins, near misses and annual speculation about how far an Australian entry can go. Earlier this week, Graham Norton said on the Wanging On podcast that he had been discussing a possible Australian hosting arrangement with broadcaster Joel Creasey. Norton said Australia makes a deal with someone every year in case it wins so that person can host the contest for them.
For now, though, the focus is on Vienna and on which story survives Saturday night. Akylas arrived from the streets with a song rooted in family sacrifice and national hardship. Goodrem has arrived with odds that suddenly look shorter than they did before Thursday. If one of them goes all the way, this year’s Eurovision will reward not just spectacle but a song with a clear backstory and a performance strong enough to carry it to the end.
