On Wednesday night, despite the thunderstorms, Brisbane audiences welcomed an international troupe of Eurovision superstars with loving arms, as Eurovision on Tour kicked off its Australian leg at The Tivoli.

It was especially emotional for Dami Im, our own local Eurovision entrant who, in 2016, narrowly missed taking out the top prize when she received the highest score from the judges but just missed out with the public vote, finishing second. A clear crowd favourite at the concert however, Im’s performance of her show stopping entry, ‘Sound of Silence,’ reminded everyone just how great her vocals are, and had this reviewer in tears.

The concert brought together a colourful collection of past competitors and winners from across the decades, and saw them sing alongside one another in a non-competitive celebration. Each artist performed a short set of two songs apiece, although some performed a medley and in doing so, managed to squeeze in a third song. Given there was no program or official set list, this reviewer has made a full song credit list below, complete with link to Spotify for fellow music nerds and Eurovision enthusiasts. In addition to the artists’ own originals, the singers covered some of the past winning songs and iconic contributions from artists across the years.

Hosting the night were the charismatic duo Soraya from Spain and Senhit, the Italian-Eritrean who previously competed for San Marino. The pair had great cheeky banter but never overstayed their time on stage. It was an epic three hour concert which didn’t start until 8pm due to fan meet and greets scheduled beforehand, so there was a lot to get through and the concert never dropped its energetic pace.

The tour’s dancers came from all over the world including Spain and Ecuador.

There wasn’t a weak link among the singers, and each brought their own personality and performance magic to their sets. Special mention must go to the stunningly sparkling costumes. Soraya proudly performed in her original 2009 costume (after 15 years it still fits!), while Azerbaijan’s Efendi simply dazzled in her gold dress.

Concert highlights were many, and included the aforementioned emotional performance by Im, the powerhouse vocals of Malta’s Destiny, Suzy from Portugal’s crowd conga line (a first for the tour!), Sunstroke Project’s set featuring Epic Sax Guy, the visually entertaining set by THE ROOP, and Efendi’s set which perfectly blended pop with exotic world music. Sydney’s Silia Kapsis had the closing set and more than held her own on stage as a singing and dancing bundle of energy; extraordinary to think she’s just 17 years old. Senhit and Destiny performed a fabulous duet ‘Due Vite,’ while Linda Martin, Nicki French and Esther Hart performed Abba’s iconic Eurovision winning song ‘Waterloo.’

Concert co-host Senhit rocks out in one of her many costume changes.

Although this reviewer was previously not a devout Eurovision fan, it was heartening to see so many in the crowd who were, all enthusiastically singing along to the lyrics of EVERY song. In turn, there were a lot of first timers like myself in the crowd who were absolutely blown away by the level of talent and the entertaining spectacle of the concert. Host Senhit hinted at the tour becoming a recurring event, and we can only hope this becomes the case.

With a concert in Melbourne last night, and one to come tomorrow night in Sydney, the chance to catch this international celebration of music is fast running out.

Eurovision on Tour is on at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney on Sunday 17 November.

Info: https://www.eurovisionontour.tv/

Tickets: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/Shows/Show.aspx?sh=EUROTOUR24

Images: supplied, from the Madrid leg of Eurovision on Tour

Re-live all the music at my Eurovision on Tour Spotify playlist!

Eurovision on Tour set list:

Emmelie De Forest (Denmark 2013 Winner)

Cover: Refrain by Lys Assia (Switzerland, winner of the first ever Eurovision Song Contest, 1956)

Only Teardrops

Linda Martin (Ireland 1984, 1992 Winner)

Why Me?

Terminal 3

Ovi & Ilinca (Romania 2010, 2014, 2017)

Yodel It!

Playing with Fire

Destiny (Malta 2020, 2021, also 2015 Junior Eurovision Winner)

Cover: Euphoria by Loreen (Sweden 2012)

Medley: All Of My Love / Je me casse

Cover duet with Senhit: Due Vite by Marco Mengoni (Italy 2023)

Soraya (Spain 2009)

La Noche Es Para Mi

Cover: Dime by Beth (Spain 2003)

Dami Im (Australia 2016)

Sound of Silence

Cover: Rise Like a Phoenix by Conchita Wurst (Austria 2014)

Jalisse (Italy 1997)

Fiumi di parole

Cover: Nel blue dipinto di blue (Volare) by Domenico Modugno (Italy 1958)

Suzy (Portugal 2014)

Quero Ser Tua

Cover: La La Love by Ivi Adamou (Cyprus 2012)

Senhit (San Marino 2011, 2020, 2021)

Medley: FREAKY! / SloMo (Cover, Chanel – Spain 2022)

Adrenalina

Esther Hart (Netherlands 2003)

Cover: Arcade by Duncan Laurence (The Netherlands 2019)

One More Night

Sunstroke Project (Moldova 2010, 2017)

Hey Mamma

Run Away

Efendi (Azerbaijan 2020,2021)

Cleopatra

Mata Hari

Nicki French (United Kingdom 2000)

Don’t Play That Song Again

Cover: Love Shine a Light by Katrina and the Waves (UK 1997)

Cover: Waterloo by ABBA (Sweden 1974) featuring Esther Hart and Linda Martin

THE ROOP (Lithuania 2020, 2021)

On Fire

Discoteque

Silia Kapsis (Cyprus 2024)

Cover Medley: Fuego by Eleni Foureira (Cyprus 2018) / My Number One by Helena Paparizou (Greece 2005)

Liar

Finale – all cast

Cover: Insieme by Tote Cutugno (Italy 1992)