Australians have long been renowned for our plucky, never-say-die spirit, but perhaps few examples of that trait are as crystalline as the way we seem to have forced our way into the Eurovision Song Contest over the past few years to become a repeat contestant.
Sure, part of the organisers' willingness to welcome Australia back in 2017 — announced overnight along with the wider competing group — may have something to do with the incredible performance put in by Dami Im this year, taking out second place from among a field of entrant countries who really didn't want us there, but there's something to be said for the community's broader efforts in making enough noise as to make Eurovision relent in annoyance.
Also making their return to the contest next year will be Romania and Portugal, both of which sat out the 2016 tournament, while Bosnia & Herzegovina — which did appear this year — will not take part as its national broadcaster, BHRT, undergoes restructuring.
As ABC reports, the 2017 Eurovision contest will be the largest in several years, welcoming competitors from 43 countries to the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine.
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According to the European Broadcasting Union's executive supervisor of Eurovision, Jon Ola Sand, it's the largest field of entrants since 2011's event in Dusseldorf.
Im's result in this year's Eurovision event — running up to Jamala, from Ukraine — was the best outcome for an Australian performer in our short history of competing, and came after a controversial change to tallying rules that saw juries' votes weighted equally against television viewers' votes.
Inaugural Aussie competitor Guy Sebastian claimed fifth place in 2015, a year after we first nudged our way into sharing Eurovision airtime with a special guest performance from Jessica Mauboy.
The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in May.
