Vienna 2015, 60th ESC 40 for 40: Guy Sebastian "Tonight Again" (Australia's ESC Debut!)

Now what you're about to see is real. Nothing is fake or made up, but yes. This is history made in the EUROVISION Song Contest this year.

That being said, Australia is making their ESC debut in Vienna, and will compete in the Grand Final as a 'guest' participant. Therefore, their first ever ESC participant is Guy Sebastian (pictured), who will perform "Tonight Again" on May 23.

"Tonight Again" is just a typical, mainstream pop tune, with mainstream pop vibes. I feel that Australia's ESC debut is not going to be a good one. They could get less than ten points. Welcome to the ESC Australia.

Now why is Australia in the ESC to begin with? Australia is one of the largest non-European viewing markets for the ESC on TV, as it has been broadcasted on SBS since 1983. Could this open the door for non-European nations to compete down the road? I mean, there's already have been such case in ESC history. Morocco competed in 1980, as their only ESC appearance. Cyprus, geographically Asian (but culturally European), has been in ESC for a while and will return this year. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Israel are all culturally Asian, and also compete in this event (except Turkey, which has been absent since 2012). Maybe Kazakhstan could come on board? Stay tuned.

Up next: Uzari & Maimuma "Time"

Australia GUEST Country at Vienna 2015; Competes in Grand Final. No Jokes Here.

Link.

The US is next? Maybe they'll scour WA and SA for that act.

Cricketer Phil Hughes Dies From Freak Accident in Match

Link.

Sochi 2014: The Countdown Series: Australia

114 days until the opening ceremonies at Sochi 2014. Up next on the countdown: Australia.

Australia has participated in the winter Olympics since the first winter games of 1924, with the exception of St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948 and Lake Placid in 1932. A total of nine medals were won by Australians in the winter games.

Of the nine medals earned by Australia in the winter games, five are gold, including Steven Bradbury's men's 1000m final on the short track at Salt Lake City. He previously earned bronze in that event at Lillehammer 1994. Bradbury is one of five who won gold for Australia in the winter games joining:

• Alisa Camplin, women's freestyle skiing, gold at Salt Lake City 2002
• Lydia Lassila, women's freestyle skiing, gold at Vancouver 2010
• Dale Begg Smith, men's freestyle skiing, gold at Turin 2006
• Torah Bright, women's halfpipe (snowboarding), gold at Vancouver 2010

As of now, Australia is expecting to send four to Sochi, in the men's 1000m speed skating and in three figure skating events.

Up next: Austria

Congrats Sydney Roosters!

 

2013 NRL PREMIERS!

 



NRL Grand Final: Manly v Sydney Tonight!

Last weekend's AFL Grand Final saw yet another huge television audience as Hawthorn grabbed it second premiership since Alistair Clarkson took over as coach.

Shifting gears from the AFL Grand Final to the NRL Grand Final. Why the connection? Both are two of the highest watched sporting events in Australia. And tonight, it is the National Rugby League's Grand Final between Sydney and Manly, which can be seen tonight on Fox Sports 2 in the states at 2:30am Central.

More live rugby on US TV, the better. Go Sea Eagles, even though my Cowboys or Broncos aren't playing.

NRL Finals Series 2013 This Weekend!

The Sydney Roosters are the team to beat in 2013, as the NRL finals series begin.

On Friday, the first match of the finals series took place as South Sydney defeated Melbourne 20-10 in the first of two qualifying finals. The second qualifying final will feature Sydney and Manly on Saturday night.

The two elimination finals feature Queensland and Cronulla in one match, while the other elimination final will be decided between Canterbury and Newcastle.

To recap...
QUALIFYING FINALS
(1) Sydney v (4) Manly
(2) South Sydney v (3) Melbourne
ELIMINATION FINALS
(5) Cronulla v (8) Queensland
(6) Canterbury v (7) Newcastle

In the states, Fox Sports 2 will carry the matches. For live timing and scoring, visit NRL.com.

Elizabeth Hurley to Reporter: "You Should Go Fuck Off!"

After a bad match in Perth, Shane Warne didn't want to say not much to this ten reporter. Instead, all the talking was by his fiancee...

 

 

Classic. The man was tired.

Julia Gillard Trips Down On Camera!

Check out the Australian Prime Minister's trip by a plant while walking. This was on her tour of India:

I wonder if Tony Abbott paid Jeff Gilooly to finish the job...

Australian PM Gillard on Tony Abbott: "A Sexist and Misogynist." What?

Australian PM Julia Gillard's rant on PM rival Tony Abbott from a few days ago:

Okay, Gillard, you're setting yourself and those who voted you in years back. Harden the fuck up, because you're gonna be voted out at the '13 election. My two cents, from someone who follows Aussie politics (thanks Chaser).

Bathurst 1000 This Weekend!

Australia's greatest V8 race is this weekend, with the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Sunday afternoon.

Garth Tander and Nick Bercat are defending race winners from last year in a factory Holden.

Race is LIVE Sunday across Australia on 7. Unsure if SPEED will carry this race here in the States.

Congrats to the Melbourne Storm...

 

2012 NRL PREMIERS!

 

 

Despite a boring second half, the Storm held on to be Canterbury to win another NRL premiership!



They're Back!

The Chaser are back for another season of The Hamster Wheel on ABC1 (Australia) later this month. What is the Hamster Wheel? It is the Chaser's show dedicated to the flaws in the media, where not only they attack newspapers as well as televsion, where they attack their own network (ABC) as well as their rival (SBS) and the commercial networks (7, 9 and ten), but media outside of Australia as well, including here in the United States.

Here's a promo for the new season of the Hamster Wheel:

You Know I'm Fat...

Leisel Jones in a practice session at London's Aquatic Centre.

...I'm fat! You know it...yeah right!

Huge NRL Rugby Hit!

St. George-Illawara v South Sydney NRL rugby from over the weekend. Check out this huge hit, as South Sydney's Greg Inglis (1) lays out the Dragons' Dean Young (13)!

Sam Kekovich is Back!

Australia's "Lambassador" to the world is back at it again...

Auto-tuned Sam (yuck) in a cover of Aqua's "Barbie Girl":



London 2012: The Countdown Series: Australia

196 days until the London Olympics. Up next on the parade of nations: Australia (AUS). The host nation of the summer Olympics in 1956 (Melbourne) and 2000 (Sydney).

A summer Olympic powerhouse, the Australian subcontinent has garned 439 medals since their first summer Olympics in 1896 (first year of the modern Olympics), including 131 gold medals.

Of course, if you remember correctly, one of the big stories coming out of Beijing 2008 was the dominance in the water of one Stephanie Rice. The Queenslander scored three medals, including the 200m and 400m individual medleys. A couple years after Beijing, Rice lost her endorsement with Jaguar after she posted a tweet on twitter with a word that in today's world is derogatory toward homosexuals (you figure it out). She has been fighting through shoulder injuries that required surgery. No word where she will go from here.

Rice is part of one of the world's swimming programs that have been dominant over the years, not just in the Olympics, but elsewhere, such as the Fina World Championships. In fact, their 58 medals are second to the United States swim team in most medals earned in the swimming portion of the summer Olympics. To date, the most medals earned amongst Aussie swimmers are 5-Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe, with 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze each.

Speaking of the Thorpedo, he's quietly making a comeback. Or is he? Last attempted comeback was in 2006, but it failed. Now he's trying again, and possibly resume his rivalry with Michael Phelps ala Athens 2004. Thorpe to this day won three golds-all in his own backyard at Sydney in 2000, including the 400m freestyle.

But the swimming isn't what makes the Australian Olympic program successful, in a country that is dominated by a mixture of Australian Rules Football and rugby, there's also some bright spots as well in various sports. In fact, in athletics, we all seen the women's 110m hurdle final with Sally Pearson at Daegu in September. Pearson, expected to be a top contender in that race at London, smoked the field. What will we see out of the Queenslander in early August?

In all, 272 athletes will represent Australia in 15 sports (at the present time), and not just athletics (see Pearson) and swimming (as mentioned). Men's and women's (field) hockey, basketball (featuring Andrew Bogut?) and water polo have qualified.

Up next: Austria

Somebody Got Their 15 Minutes of Fame!

Luckily the Nine reporter didn't get the shit scared of and continued on. Brave psychy there.

Friday Jukebox 10.7.11

Classic '90s rock from down under with Hunters & Collectors' Holy Grail. Enjoy.

Bellator 53 and Bathurst 1000 Alert!

The welterweight tournament continues this Saturday night with two semifinal matches as Chris Lozano takes on Doug Lima, while Ben Saunders takes on Luis Santos.

Welterweight (170 lb./76.5kg) tournament

Semifinals

Ben Saunders v Luis Santos

Chris Lozano v Doug Lima

And also on the sporting front, the Aussie V8 Supercars' biggest race of the year at Bathurst in New South Wales takes place Sunday. The annual race will be live in the states on Speed Saturday night.