Eurovision 2025: I travelled 22 hours to cheer on Aussie Go-Jo in Switzerland’s Basel – here’s why I’m glad I went despite him being booted from the competition | Exclusive

Hearing the news Aussie homegrown talent Go-Jo had narrowly missed out on a spot in this year’s Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest – while sitting in the live audience – was gut-wrenching, to say the least.

And no, it wasn’t because I travelled so far, and so long (22 hours, give or take), to cheer on my Aussie counterpart in person. I would do it all again in a heartbeat!

The 29-year-old musician, who hails from the Western Australian town of Manjimup, was the opening act of the Semi Final 2 Live Show in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday evening.

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He put on a lively display and warmed the crowd up with his catchy song Milkshake Man, even doing a front kick in front of an oversized prop blender on stage (fun!).

Some Eurovision megafans might tell you it’s no mean feat going first in a semi final, with so many acts to follow for viewers to remember and vote for at the end.

But I could feel the disappointment in the air as he failed to make the cut to join countries including Malta, Finland and Austria in the highly-anticipated Grand Final.

Yet something I’m so proud of as an Aussie is the sense of camaraderie we have.

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And, perhaps, a sense of rooting for the underdog – I’m talking about those claiming Australia shouldn’t be part of Eurovision in the first place, and why we prove them wrong year after year.

Despite being thousands of miles away from home, and incredibly jet-lagged, I loved seeing the glimpses of green and gold in the crowd of thousands – and the odd blue, white and red ‘Australia’ scarf here and there.

The contest itself is on a scale I never have seen before. It’s like the Olympics of the music world, so as to speak. Bright lights, smiling faces, laughs and cheers – it’s something you can’t really feel through a TV screen.

It’s a melting pot and celebration of diversity, talent and culture all in one, and an incredible night of fun. Yes, even if you favoured a particular country, you still continued cheering on the rest.

I vividly remember waking up bleary-eyed in the early hours of the morning to watch Eurovision growing up.

But nothing can top being in the crowd and watching the performances live. It really is something else.

Even some people who might not have an interest in Eurovision would be pulled in by the energetic – and sometimes dramatic – performances.

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The atmosphere, thanks to the cheering crowd, is like nothing else I’ve ever felt before; people from all parts of the world respectfully coming together to unite through music.

Before the show started, I bumped into Irish-Australian couple John and Jill Brady from Melbourne’s Brighton, who proudly wore their hearts on their sleeves with Australia hats and a green and gold jersey – and even a kangaroo mascot!

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Jill flew to Eurovision just seven weeks after having back surgery to cheer on her favourite act, Go-Jo.

“Yum, yum, he’s a winner!” Jill tells 9honey.

“We’ve been watching Eurovision on SBS for years and this it happens that we have family in Lausanne [another city in Switzerland] and it was a great opportunity to visit them and attend Eurovision 2025!” John adds.

“Go-Jo and Milkshake Man is the strongest song in semi-Final 2.”

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I definitely feel for Go-Jo, who no doubt spent weeks and if not months preparing for this moment to perform in front of millions, but was proud to cheer him on nonetheless.

So I guess I have a parting message to Go-Jo: just having the guts to get out in front of the crowd and represent your country on the world stage is an achievement in itself. And we’re all bloody proud of you, mate.

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

Chloe travelled to the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, with Booking.com.

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