Australia’s Eurovision 2019 representative Kate Miller-Heidke and Australia Decides runner-up, Electric Fields, both played a part in the New Year festivities last night in Sydney.
Happy 2019!
What better way to herald in the New Year than with Eurovision, and this is exactly what happened at the strike of midnight in Sydney as the year turned from 2019 to 2020.
This year’s contestant from Australia, Kate Miller-Heidke, and the act she beat to fly the flag, Electric Fields, both were included on the soundtrack that accompanied the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Hosted around the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge, Sydney’s fireworks are one of the most visited, and expensive, New Year’s Eve events in the world.
Almost cancelled at the eleventh hour due to potential fire risk in a country that is currently being sadly ravaged by deadly bushfires – the fireworks went ahead accompanied by two Eurovision recent hits.
Electric Fields and their song ‘2000 and Whatever’, which finished a close second in Australia Decides last February, were the song to kickstart the midnight fireworks. The first track to be played on the Australia Broadcasting Corporation‘s (ABC) soundtrack, “happy 2000 and whatever” could be heard as the first fireworks hit the sky.
A fitting opening, the song incidentally was first played live at a New Year’s Eve concert in 2018 – this time though the track went national, featuring on the country’s flagship midnight event.
Kate Miller-Heidke, who graced the stage in Tel Aviv in May, was also included on the soundtrack. The 7th Heaven remix of ‘Zero Gravity’ played during the second half of the fireworks that erupted around the Harbour Bridge.
New Year’s Eve in Sydney
The inclusion of both songs by ABC on their soundtrack for one of the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve events is music to the ears of Eurovision fans – both in Australia and across the world.
The event and its television broadcast was watched by millions in the country, and also raised money for the Red Cross in Australia. The Red Cross are aiding volunteer firefighters who are putting their lives at risk to stop the bushfires in the country.
The prayers and wishes of the ESCXTRA Team go out to those affected by the bushfires and by those brave servicemen volunteering to try and stop them.
Did you hear any Eurovision songs at New Year’s Eve parties across the world? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates!
