★★★★★ 0/5

Sony paid entry fee for SBS into Eurovision

Sony, not SBS, footed the bill for Guy Sebastian to compete in Vienna, says SBS managing director.

4
Leave a comment

IMG_9404_EV

Sony Music paid the entry fee for SBS to compete in Eurovision, SBS managing director Michael Ebeid has told a Senate estimates committee today.

SBS paid a broadcaster fee for the event and sent five staff to Vienna, however the cost was minimal.

Elsewhere SBS has indicated a desire to return to the contest after bumper ratings figures this year.

Earlier this week he said, “Eurovision for SBS is the perfect example of the SBS charter in action with its celebration of diversity, culture, and inclusion. Guy’s performance was outstanding and against such strong competition we’re so proud that his talent was supported, and acknowledged by the Eurovision community.”

Source: AAP

4 Responses

  1. I could have sworn this was mentioned when they announced Australia was competing or was that only artist travel costs that were previously reported?

  2. It does make you wonder:

    1. Was there really a search for someone to be our representative? Or was it always going to be Guy as part of the payment agreement?

    2. Was the song really written in the 2 weeks from the announcement date to when the song was first aired publicly? Or again, was the song pre-chosen by Sony as part of the agreement?

    Should a record company really be able to use a back door to buy an entry into the ESC?

    1. I suspect you will find once SBS had been welcomed into the event it then set about finding musical partners and ended up with Guy through Sony. I don’t think the above suggests Sony was in place first or paid their way in. They paid because it was a good move for them to be involved. In the end it was a win / win.

Leave a Reply