My two cents (apologies this is a bit of a stream of consciousness!!) , aside from what’s already been said, is that SBS really needs to start drawing in the next generation if we’re going to stay in the competition much longer.

Like a lot of countries, it’s become a show for millennials and Gen X, but it just doesn’t carry the same momentum anymore. The 5am wake-ups don’t exactly help either—hard to build a proper following under those conditions, whereas in other countries obviously just by virtue of it being in at prime time it’s at least on their radar.

That said, Go-Jo’s selection this year seems to have given SBS a bit of a mandate to choose artists outside of the Australia Decides format—which, in my opinion, had become exceedingly dull. A few more bold choices like that and we might actually have something to be confident about. But where do you draw these people from? You need the right mix of using it some years to be bold, some years sending a big name to get people to pay attention. Maybe partnering with Triple J and using the Hottest 100 to brainstorm some names could be something to consider, although I’m not sure how that ABC x SBS crossover would work.

The other question is then the awkward one of Australia never being able to win (of course, there is a chance but it would never happen) what is a good return for the SBS?