{"id":453374,"date":"2026-05-17T11:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T11:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/453374\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T11:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T11:08:12","slug":"she-was-phenomenal-she-was-iconic-delta-goodrem-wins-praise-as-australia-places-fourth-at-eurovision-eurovision-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/453374\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She was phenomenal, she was iconic\u2019: Delta Goodrem wins praise as Australia places fourth at Eurovision | Eurovision 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delta Goodrem\u2019s fourth-placed Eurovision<\/a> finish has dashed Australia\u2019s hopes of winning the world\u2019s biggest song contest for the first time but won resounding praise for the \u201ciconic\u201d singer.<\/p>\n

The former Neighbours star dazzled at the grand final of the Eurovision song contest in Vienna, Austria, early on Sunday morning Australian time.<\/p>\n

Performing her power ballad Eclipse, Goodrem had been considered one of Australia\u2019s best chances for the top prize since Dami Im finished second in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While voters loved her, she couldn\u2019t beat the Bulgarian singer Dara<\/a>, whose party anthem Bangaranga took out the 70th edition of the contest in the first win for the eastern European nation.<\/p>\n

Goodrem stands at a sparkling, golden piano as she performs her song Eclipse at Eurovision. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke\/EPA<\/p>\n

Goodrem thanked those who supported her along the Eurovision journey after the release of the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresenting Australia on the Eurovision stage and being part of this incredible community has been unforgettable,\u201d the 41-year-old singer-songwriter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for all the love and support from home and around the world. It has carried me every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DeltaDelta Goodrem performs Eclipse in the second semi-final of the Eurovision song contest \u2014 video<\/p>\n

Performing eighth out of 25 acts, Goodrem stood at a sparkling, golden piano, dancing across the keys and belting out the lyrics, \u201cOne touch, one kiss, all my life for a night life this.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the song rose to a crescendo, she ascended to a platform that rose from the instrument while sparklers and fog machines unleashed behind her.<\/p>\n

Goodrem\u2019s performance was ranked second after the jury votes were allocated. Photograph: Christian Bruna\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Eurovision tragics, draped in flags, wigs and everything from fanciful golden gowns to traditional European clothing, braved the early morning chill across Australia to watch Goodrem sing.<\/p>\n

Leo Chant spent days making an applique of diamantes to recreate Goodrem\u2019s costume for a broadcast party at Hurstville, in Sydney\u2019s south.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting so long \u2013 for the 10 years that Australia has been in it \u2013 for Delta to participate,\u201d said Chant, who also heads the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was phenomenal, she was iconic, she was Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo Chant (centre) recreated Delta Goodrem\u2019s grand final outfit for a Eurovision viewing party in Sydney. Photograph: Nadir Kinani\/EPA<\/p>\n

Hopes were high as results began to flow in.<\/p>\n

The Eurovision winner is decided by votes from each country\u2019s jury of industry professionals and viewer votes cast by phone or text.<\/p>\n

Neither the jury nor the public can vote for their own country.<\/p>\n

The act with the most points wins and the victorious country hosts the competition the next year.<\/p>\n

By the time the jury\u2019s votes were allocated, Australia was sitting in equal second place with Denmark, behind Bulgaria.<\/p>\n

Crowds celebrate at a Eurovision broadcast party. Photograph: Nadir Kinani\/EPA<\/p>\n

But the public poll rewrote the leaderboard, pushing Israel to second and Romania into the final podium slot, narrowly ahead of Australia.<\/p>\n

The result came as a surprise after bookies\u2019 pick Finland faded to sixth, while Australia had been positioned as the second favourite.<\/p>\n

It was the nation\u2019s second-best performance in Eurovision behind Dami Im\u2019s Sound of Silence, which finished runner-up to Ukraine\u2019s Jamala in Stockholm in 2016.<\/p>\n

It was an emotional rollercoaster for the dozens gathered in Sydney\u2019s south at the Eurovision broadcast party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was expecting that she would come top three, but top four is still exceptional,\u201d Chant said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe still did Australia proud. But you have to hand it to Bulgaria. They were amazing and they\u2019ve never won it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eurovision tragics brave the early-morning chill across Australia to watch Goodrem sing. Photograph: Nadir Kinani\/AAP<\/p>\n

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese<\/a>, also praised the star\u2019s performance, saying he had watched the coverage as the votes rolled in.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelta Goodrem is someone who can be very, very proud of her efforts,\u201d he told reporters on Sunday. \u201cAnd all Australians are proud of Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

The often irreverent song competition has been marred by controversy as several countries boycotted it this year as a protest against Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n

The public broadcasters of five countries \u2013 Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia \u2013 oppose Israel\u2019s involvement over the country\u2019s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delta Goodrem\u2019s fourth-placed Eurovision finish has dashed Australia\u2019s hopes of winning the world\u2019s biggest song contest for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-453374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}