A quirky pop singer who offers free broccoli at his shows will represent Australia at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with a song all about milkshakes.
Broadcaster SBS has picked Sydney artist Go-Jo – aka Marty Zambotto – to fly the flag in Basel, Switzerland in May with his song “Milkshake Man”.
He co-wrote the song with members of fellow Australian pop band Sheppard – who themselves had been rumoured to be in the mix as Australia’s representative this year. The song’s focus is to encourage people to embrace their individuality, unapologetically and wholeheartedly.
Go-Jo has been described as a “social media powerhouse” by SBS with more than 1.4 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. In 2023, he was the ninth most streamed Australian artist in the world. He’s best known for “Mrs Hollywood”, which has had 60 million digital streams and one billion views across all platforms.
“The Milkshake Man’s purpose is to inspire people to embrace the loudest and proudest version of themselves, and I can’t think of a better place to share that message than the Eurovision stage!” Go-Jo said in a statement via SBS.
The selection of Go-Jo and his novelty-themed track marks a new direction for SBS and Australia at Eurovision. For the past two years, the broadcaster has opted for runners-up from past editions of its now-defunct national selection contest Australia Decides, which was last held in 2022.
“From the first moment we saw Go-Jo on stage, we realised he had a unique connection with audiences, and we know he’ll get a lot of love from the Eurovision community,” Australia’s Eurovision Creative Director Paul Clarke said.
“This year, we are celebrating Australia’s 10th Eurovision entrant, and this one will go off with a bang (or should we say slurp!) ‘Milkshake Man’ is a fresh sound and style for us in Eurovision, and we’re thrilled with this track from Go-Jo and the legendary Sheppard songwriting team.”
Go-Jo will be tasked with reviving Australia’s fortunes at Eurovision after Electric Fields bombed out in the semi-finals at last year’s contest in Sweden. It was only the second time Australia hadn’t qualified for the grand final. He will compete in the second semi-final which is to be held on Thursday, May 15th (early Friday morning AEST).
SBS will again be broadcasting the competition exclusively to Australian audiences with live and repeat screenings in early-morning and prime-time timeslots on SBS and SBS On Demand. It will be fronted by a new hosting team after Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst stepped down late last year.
Switzerland is hosting this year’s contest after its artist Nemo won last year’s contest with their song “The Code”. Eurovision 2025 will be held from Tuesday May 13th-Saturday May 17th.
