Australian broadcaster SBS has aired Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017, as the contest gets its first airing outside of Europe.
Australia has become the thirteenth country to air the inaugural edition of Eurovision Choir of the Year, which was held in Riga, Latvia this July. The competition was broadcast on SBS on September 16 but did not feature any domestic commentary from Australia. Alongside Australia the contest was also broadcast in the non-participating countries of:
- Albania – RTSH 1
- France – ARTE Concert
- Serbia – RTS 2
- Ukraine – Radio Ukraine
SBS has previously broadcast a number of Eurovision events despite not directly participating in the competition. In 2009 as part of build up coverage to the Eurovision Song Contest, SBS aired the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008. While SBS also broadcast the Junior Eurovision Song Contest annually between 2003 and 2014 on a significant delay before debuting in the contest in 2015 as a participating country. Of note is that Eurovision Choir of the Year is the first cultural Eurovision contest that SBS has broadcast.
Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 was won by Carmen Manet from Slovenia. The choir performed two pieces during their six minutes on stage and beat off competition from eight other choirs from across Europe. Wales finished second in the final, while the host nation of Latvia finished third. The contest was broadcast live in ten countries across Europe and across the world online.
Source: SBS