it was an international event that had gained a fairly significant national audience, especially for those countries actually competing."She said the popularity of the contest was the key to participation."That's a huge part of what attracts many countries to keep on participating in Eurovision, even when things may be going badly for them in their country, showcasing themselves on a global stage has been really, really important."Eurovision received a massive boost in the late 90s and early 2000s, after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)."All these new countries, it was important for them to show themselves as these newly independent states — to be able to show their culture, their language, as distinct from that homogenised idea of the USSR," she said.Almost six decades after the contest began, Australia requested to join and was accepted, with SBS as the host broadcaster."Our region is really important because they had been looking to expand the song contest into the Asia Pacific for some time .. A year later, Australia was issued a wildcard invitation to compete in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest — an offer Carniel believes came from the "strong partnership" between SBS and EBU.Performers have already arrived in Vienna, Austria and are rehearsing in preparation for the contest, which begins on 12 May.The competition will take place at Wiener Stadthalle, with Austria having hosting rights after being crowned Eurovision winner in 2025.The first of two semi-finals will be broadcast in Australia at 5am AEST on Wednesday 13 May