Previously on the Novympia channel:

- You're freaking me out.
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We're not women in STEM,
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And coming up:

It's a good hook.

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I find you very rude.

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Cue the snafu!

Ah, g'day.

Yes, hello, bloody hell, yes.

Welcome to another
Novympia Eurovision reaction video.

My name is Nova.

Yeah, and I'm Olympia.

Today we are dressed like chicks.

Yeah.

Sometimes that happens 'round here.

Sometimes. Sorry 'bout it.

Mmm meant to tell you about that.

Today we are reacting 
to Australia's entry for Eurovision 2024.

"Oh my god!"

Why are they even in it, 
they're not even in Europe

(laughs)

Joking, I'm joking

I would just like to say that 
Olympia is actually not Australian.

"So you're a liar. 
Not only are you fake, you're a liar.

There you go. Ba-boom."

I'm not Australian, no.

That is a lie.

Ah, yes, no I am.

And also, how lovely 
to react to my home nation today.

She's a liar.

Yes.

And a fraudster.

Also, just very very quickly,

because I know good goddamn well 
there will be comments:

Australia, yes they're not in Europe.

They were invited to take part 
in Eurovision in 2015

as a bit of a milestone celebration

'cause they'd broadcast Eurovision 
for years and years and years.

And then they were just like, 
well we're already in it,

we might as well stay in it.

There are several countries in Eurovision 
not in Europe, but they are in the EBU.

The requirement is that you are a member 
of the European Broadcasting Union,

and Australia now are.

So they're in it, 
and I love that they're in it,

and we're not gonna talk about it 
any more.

Now, who is representing Australia 
for 2024, Nova?

Are they called Electric Fields?

So, Electric Fields are a duo.

It's electronic music and I know that 
the one artist is called Zaachariaha.

Forgive me, I can't remember 
the name of the other one.

What I do know is that Electric Fields 
participated in Australia's national final

which they haven't had now 
for a couple of years,

but they did have one 
called Australia Decides.

It was really good.

And they entered into, 
I want to say it was 2019

with a song called "2000 And Whatever".

So we are aware of Electric Fields, 
and in particular

the vocalist Zaachariaha,

who is an Indigenous artist, 
nonbinary artist, has a killer voice.

The charisma that exudes 
when they're onstage

A really infectious stage presence.

And the vocal is insane.

So, we have heard the song 
they're submitting this year.

We have, I'm also glad 
that we're not doing a blind reaction.

I know a lot of you guys 
prefer a blind reaction,

but sometimes I think it is best 
for us to listen to a song a few times,

do a little bit of research, 
and just sit with it.

Because my initial reaction to this 
probably wouldn't have been

as positive or a strong 
as the feelings I have for it now.

Yes, and I mean, some of the songs 
we have reacted to blindly,

some we've sat 
and milled over for a while,

so there's gonna be a whole, you know-

throughout the whole playlist 
of reaction videos for this year,

there's a bit of a mixed bag in there.

But we thought 
"2000 And Whatever" was sick,

I think that would've been 
an excellent entry for Australia.

Yeah, I liked that.

Let's watch this one if you're ready to.

Yeah.

And we'll talk about how we feel 
that this is gonna go for them.

So the song is called "One Milkali", 
which translates to 'one blood'.

I will say, straight off the bat, 
that this is a "music video",

if you can call it that.

This is a lyric video, let's be real.

So interestingly, the Eurovision channel 
called it "official video".

On their channel, 
it's called a lyric video.

Is it? Okay, interesting.

Because - but I've said this, though.

Hang on a second, 
let's just pause it before.

I've said this before, though,

Eurovision has a way of defining 
how it uploads its videos,

either as "Official Music Video" 
or "National Final Performance".

They're very binary like that,

they don't come up 
with anything in between.

So they've called this 
"Official Music Video",

it's not a music video!

Like, it literally isn't, 
'cause they're just sitting there

with the lyrics - it's a lyric video.

Okay, okay.

So this doesn't give away anything, 
really, does it?

Okay.

Okay so we've got--

This is the bit where I feel like 
we've got like, it starts to get going.

There's literally a digeridoo in this, 
which is- I'm obsessed with that,

I love that element

So it's very easy listening

(singing) Milkalila, milkali

When I first saw this, 
I was a bit disappointed,

Because again, we're provided 
with this visual which looks

incredibly low-budget and very simple,

and I was a bit disappointed with that.

I also didn't initially react very well 
to the song, but now I think it's a vibe.

Yeah, I'm not in love with like, 
a message song.

They tend to be sometimes 
very kind of like, I don't know,

feed the world, or save the Earth, 
or we're all one voice, or whatever.

They tend to be sometimes, 
a little bit like, an eyeroll.

So the idea is like, we are one blood, 
we are one kind of like, human,

and therefore 
we should celebrate our differences

rather than be divisive about it.

So, it's a very straightforward message.

They don't tend to do-

I don't think they tend 
to do very well at Eurovision though,

I feel like that's something 
that people are gonna resist about it.

I don't like the lyrics.

Some of the lyrics are a little... 
perhaps a bit clunky.

I don't even know if it's clunky,

I just... maybe it's just me 
being a miserable sod,

but it's kind of a bit too happy for me, 
and I want a bit more of an edge to it.

And maybe the edge is that 
this is a queer couple

and that's kind of lost on us, 
being queer

I don't know if they are a couple, 
I don't know if we can say that

They just went in for a kiss, 
they just kissed each other

So? I kiss Char all the time, 
what's your point?

(laughs)

The thing is, okay-

The thing that disappoints me- 
or, it's not even disappointing,

but knowing the performance that 
Zaachariaha gives consistently onstage,

and the vocal,

it's difficult to know exactly 
quite how impressive

and how much of a show this is gonna be, 
just based on the studio recording.

It's not very much to go off, is it?

It's not much to go off,

and I think a lot of people 
have written this off,

but would be foolish to.

Because I think this is going to be- 
I mean, the production on this is lovely.

It's not, like, 
the most fresh-sounding thing.

There are a few elements 
that make it a bit dated in my opinion.

It's very retro, I would say

It sounds a little bit... I don't know, 
there's a few kind of like house elements,

or things that are a bit... 
not necessarily too fresh.

I hate that that was the way 
the song was introduced.

You'd rather nothing?

I would really have preferred 
a live performance,

and I find it odd that 
they couldn't have scrambled together

to put a live performance together.

Even if it was then 
dubbed with the studio cut,

like, I think that would've been
more pleasing to look at.

I think this automatically 
makes people go like, no budget, er...

It does feel a bit weird.

I don't know.

Perhaps they're just biding their time 
and when it's gonna be done live,

it is gonna be a show

Hopefully.

Because if you go 
and watch "2000 And Whatever"-

I mean, I can't undersell 
how impressive Zaachariaha's vocal is.

I much preferred that song, I have to say.

And their style of performing 
is just very, very impressive,

and it gets- it's like 
a party starting kind of like,

I don't know.

It just like, turns everything into like, 
an arena - almost - feeling.

'cause it is just like, 
very, very impactful.

I like the point of view, 
I like that these are queer artists,

Zaachariaha's a nonbinary artist, 
I like the Indigenous elements to this,

the digeridoo is sick, 
the intention is strong,

and the performance is strong.

I think it will be.

We've got some 
Indigenous language as well.

The language - I love that,
especially from Australia.

I don't believe we've had that 
from Australia before.

Correct me if I'm wrong, 
but I don't think we have.

I'm not sure.

So I love everything about that.

I just wonder if the message angle 
about it is a little- some of the lyrics,

yeah, they are a little bit trite.

Again, it might just be me being 
super cynical and being miserable,

but I do almost do a bit
of an eyeroll at some of this.

Just because I feel like 
it's so positive,

and it's so happy and feel-good.

And that's fantastic,

and a lot of people need 
and want this kind of music,

but for me, I would just like 
a bit of an edge somewhere.

And I feel like I'm almost getting that 
in the production.

Some of the the production I really like 
has elements that I'm like,

ooh, that's a nice little twist,

but ultimately, 
it's just a bit too feel-good.

It almost borders on cliché to me, 
and that's where I personally resist it.

It's- I think this is one 
of the bigger question marks of the season

in the sense that 
we really just don't know

how this is gonna play out on the stage.

The other thing is, yeah, 
in terms of what we're being given

with this studio cut--

We've got no idea.

It's nice, I mean, 
we thought it was lovely,

we will listen to it, 
but is it going to translate to the stage

in the way that we all kind of want it to 
and hope that it will?

It's a little bit of a question mark, 
'cause again,

the video's not really giving 
anything either.

I've seen a lot of comparisons 
to Belgium last year with Gustaph.

I actually really responded well to that

I feel like people described that 
as a surprise qualify.

I hated that song (laughs)

I was not surprised to see that qualify, 
I liked the song,

and it was staged really well
and performed really well,

but that to me was more of a dance track

I was- I had that kind of access to it, 
that it was a dance track.

This - you can dance to it.

It's more mellow.

But it's, yes, it's a bit more mid-tempo.

It's more mellow, I don't think 
it's gonna lean that dancey at all.

If this had a faster tempo to it, 
maybe that would draw me in a bit,

I don't know, again, 
I can only speak

on my own personal opinions 
and feelings with this.

It's just there's something about this

that doesn't quite resonate 
with me completely.

Yes, I think that it has 
every respectable quality to it

where it should qualify,

and might well qualify 
based on the performance alone,

which I'm guessing - a lot of this 
is obviously guesswork,

but is it actually going to... 
it's hard to say at this point.

Don't know. Just don't know.

Who is it up against?

Um- (strained mumbling)

So, I don't know.

It is kind of mid-tempo, 
it is kind of mellow.

It is going up against Finland's, 
which is obviously very like (low gasp)

(scream)

Um, it's going up against Slovenia 
and Portugal.

Ah, there's a quality to them that... ugh.

I don't think there's anything like, 
directly comparable to this.

It's in the second half 
of the first ceremony,

so it's like a nice slot, but...

Are people gonna pick up 
the phone for this?

I think it really is dependent 
on the live performance.

Are they going to?

It's so dependent on the live.

Which again, I've said all along, 
is probably gonna be sensational and--

I also think, though, 
that a good live performance

is not gonna be good enough, 
it has to be staged well.

Staging has become so integral 
to Eurovision, especially this year

where the standard is so high.

I think a lot of great acts 
and great performances

are going to be set apart 
by how they're staged.

Yeah, it's very very hard to know.