Delta Goodrem steps into the Eurovision spotlight

If you think Delta Goodrem seems like a natural fit for Eurovision, you would be correct.

She belts out stadium-size pop ballads with ease, she’s not beyond an overly emotive “oooh errr” and she knows her way around a wind machine. The big question should be: why has it taken until now, the eleventh year of Australia being in the competition to get Goodrem onto the stage?

“I’d been asked a couple times,” Goodrem admits. “But I’d always been on projects, I’d been on tours ... then this time it felt like the right timing. So I thought, let’s go for it, let’s enjoy this moment.”

And once she signed up, she realised she was walking in the footsteps of many of her musical idols.

“Olivia Newton John and Celine Dion have both been a part of Eurovision journey. I thought that was really special. They’re the two people who really made me inspired to even do music in life.”

Goodrem’s song, Eclipse, is a classic pop banger that feels like it was made for the Eurovision stage and critically, on the playlist for Euro discotheques throughout the northern summer. She wrote it in collaboration with her songwriting team and she says it was a good motivator to get back in the studio and write songs for her next album.

“We have been working on the album for the last two years, in between touring and then going back in the studio. And I said, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got to finish this album! We’ve got to finish this music. Let’s be creative and talk about Eurovision.’ And they were like, ‘we’re coming over, let’s go’. So they all came to us, and we just had the most amazing month writing in the in the studio.”

Goodrem says being in London while Eurovision was on last year allowed her to see first hand the buzz the competition creates throughout Europe when it’s on.

“You see these powerful performances and moments and it’s such a celebration of music,” she says. “This year I’m discovering (more artists). I really love Denmark. I love discovering them. You don’t have to speak the language to be moved by these songs.”

Being the eleventh Australian at Eurovision has its positives too. Goodrem says the tired question of why Australia is in a ostensibly European competition has been largely put to bed. And she has been able to hit up the previous performers for tips.

“I’ve definitely texted a couple of my mates. We’ve spoken about it, I love that it brings such a community and there’s a real passion for that community. My friends they just all had wonderful times. They all just really enjoyed it, that’s the feedback I’ve got.”

And she has felt the power of that community right behind her.

“When I’ve been out and about people have been like ‘let’s go Eurovision, let’s go!’ and we are just going to go and enjoy it and fly the Australian flag.”

The Eurovision Song Contest airs from May 13 to 17 on SBS and SBS on Demand