Portugal's Salvador Sobral has taken home the honour of winning Eurovision 2017 with his song Amor Pelos Dois (Love For Both Of Us), scoring 758 points overall. Our own Australian entrant Isaiah Firebrace came in #9 of the 25 grand finalists with Don't Come Easy, Aussie entrant for Denmark Anja Nissen finished up at #20.
As Fairfax reports, the jury placed Australia at fourth overall, however it seemed Firebrace's performance didn't click as well with the TV audience as after audience voting was taken into account, Firebrace slipped down to ninth place.
Firebrace said, "The Grand Final atmosphere in the arena tonight was amazing, and I took all that energy into my performance. I want to say a big congratulations to Salvador from Portugal, and all the incredible singers who gave it their all in the contest.
"Meeting and performing with the artists from other countries, and getting to know the Ukrainian people has been an experience I will never forget and I will always be honoured to have represented Australia."
Until now, Portugal had the longest streak in Eurovision history without a win, with Sobral stripping back the usual Eurovision theatrics and going for a simple jazz ballad penned by his sister Luisa Sobral instead (she also performed with him). As Billboard reports, he told reporters after his win, "I never wrote a song to play on the radio stations. My album came out in 2016 and nobody gave a shit. It’s the way jazz is."
Despite this, it has already topped iTunes charts in 14 countries worldwide. It's a well-deserved win for Sobral, who also suffers from a serious and ongoing heart condition and was almost advised not to perform at Eurovision by his doctors. He was given special dispensation and his sister stood in for him during Eurovision's rehearsal.
A streaker draped in an Aussie flag also made headlines this year, when he crashed Ukraine's performance and mooned the crowd. He was revealed to be Ukrainian serial "prankster"/harasser Vitalii Sediuk, who recently made headlines for trying to kiss Kim Kardashian's backside and trying to physically pick up model Gigi Hadid in Milan. As News Corp reports, he faces a fine or five years in prison.
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