{"id":676435,"date":"2026-05-17T09:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/676435\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T09:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:13:13","slug":"who-were-australias-jury-for-eurovision-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/676435\/","title":{"rendered":"Who were Australia’s jury for Eurovision 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Erica Padilla Music\/Facebook<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of this morning’s Grand Final broadcast on SBS, commentator Courtney Act revealed the members of Australia’s jury for Eurovision 2026! Let’s find out a little bit more about the seven member Australian team.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Eurovision 2026 Jury <\/p>\n

Director, choreographer and performer Kelley Abbey<\/p>\n

Singer Erica Padilla (Australia Decides 2022)<\/p>\n

Entertainer and performer Hans the German (Matt Gilbertson)<\/p>\n

Singer, actress & internet personality Indiana Massara<\/p>\n

Radio presenter and host Mitch Churi<\/p>\n

Music producer & member of Electric Fields Michael Ross (Eurovision 2024, Australia Decides 2019)<\/p>\n

Music industry producer Millie Millgate
\n
<\/p>\n

Kelley Abbey<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kelley Abbey has years of experience working as a performer, choreographer, director, singer and dancer. She has starred in and choreographed major productions including Grease: The Arena Spectacular, Fame the Musical, Sweet Charity, Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret\u00a0and The Boy from Oz in the Arena, winning multiple Helpmann, Green Room, Mo and Variety Heart awards throughout her career. She also worked alongside Baz Luhrmann\u00a0on the stage adaptation of Strictly Ballroom\u00a0and earned international recognition for her work as choreographer, principal motion-capture consultant and lead performer on the Oscar-winning film Happy Feet. Beyond theatre and film, Abbey has choreographed and appeared on television programs including So You Think You Can Dance, Superstars of Dance\u00a0and Dancing with the Stars Australia and played Jo-Jo Adams on soap opera E Street between 1991 and 1993.<\/p>\n

Erica Padilla<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Erica Padilla is a Melbourne-based pop and soul singer-songwriter, content creator and vocal coach who first gained attention as a finalist on Eurovision: Australia Decides\u00a02022 with her original song To The Bottom. Padilla has built a strong online following through her powerful vocal performances amassing more than 1.3 million followers on TikTok and 172,000 on Instagram. Alongside releasing original music she performs at corporate events, festivals and community programs, while also mentoring young performers through her Elevate Singing Studio. In 2025, Padilla expanded her profile further as a cast member on Netflix\u2019s Building the Band where she was a member of girl group Siren Society.<\/p>\n

Hans the German<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

‘Hans the German’ is the flamboyant, accordion-playing alter ego of Adelaide-born entertainer and former journalist Matt Gilbertson. Hans rose to prominence through America\u2019s Got Talent\u00a0in 2018 and later reached the Grand Final of America\u2019s Got Talent: The Champions, while also earning multiple Best Cabaret awards and the prestigious Icon Award at the Adelaide Fringe. Beyond his touring cabaret productions, he expanded into traditional theatre in 2024, appearing as Maximilian in State Opera South Australia\u2019s production of Candide.<\/p>\n

Indiana Massara<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Indiana Massara is a singer, actress, model and content creator from Perth, who rose to prominence after moving to Los Angeles as a teenager to pursue a career in entertainment. Best known for playing Rooney Forrester in the popular Brat series Chicken Girls, she has also appeared in films including Hero Mode\u00a0and The Crusades, while building a strong online presence with more than 9 million followers across social media platforms. Alongside her acting career, Massara has established herself as a pop artist earning radio play internationally and touring alongside artists such as Ava Max, Why Don’t We\u00a0and Bryce Vine. She has also co-hosted the popular Dropouts\u00a0podcast and continues to expand her music career.<\/p>\n

Mitch Churi<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mitch Churi is known for his decade-long career across radio, television, podcasting, stand-up comedy and live event hosting. He rose to prominence hosting the KIIS FM national night show The Night Show with Mitch Churi, and later co-hosted The Pickup\u00a0and the podcast Is It Just Me? Churi has also built a strong television presence with appearances on programs such as The Project, Today, Today Extra, Beauty & The Geek\u00a0and Love Island Afterparty, and in 2025 launched his own late-night style podcast The Mitch Churi Chat Show, where he has interviewed stars including Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish\u00a0and Miley Cyrus. Awarded Best Music Presenter at the 2022 ACRA Awards and named Australia\u2019s Most Relatable Broadcaster in 2024, Churi is also a sought-after MC, keynote speaker and brand collaborator.<\/p>\n

Michael Ross<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Michael Ross is a singer, songwriter, pianist and producer from Adelaide, best known as one half of the duo Electric Fields\u00a0\u00a0(Eurovision 2024, Australia Decides 2019). Ross began his career after appearing on The X Factor Australia\u00a0in 2013 before forming Electric Fields with Zaachariaha Fielding in 2015. Ross has composed original music for Baz Luhrmann’s streaming series Faraway Downs and has also been involved in collaborations with many of Australia’s major symphony orchestras.<\/p>\n

Millie Millgate<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Millie Millgate\u00a0is a leading Australian music industry executive and the inaugural Director of Music Australia. She spent nearly 15 years as Executive Producer of Sounds Australia, where she played a key role in building Australia\u2019s global music export presence. Her wider contributions include board roles with organisations such as Support Act, MusicNSW, FBi Radio and Arts Training NSW, and she has previously served as a member of the Australian jury in 2018 and 2021.<\/p>\n

How Australia’s Jury voted in the Grand Final<\/p>\n

For continued updates on all Eurovision Song Contest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram. All the links can be found at: https:\/\/linktr.ee\/aussievisionnet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo credit: Erica Padilla Music\/Facebook At the conclusion of this morning’s Grand Final broadcast on SBS, commentator Courtney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-676435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}