The Perth band with its upbeat anthem Promise entered this year’s Eurovision, and is a hit at home and internationally.
“No country has had a bigger reaction than Australia – well done Voyager,” one person tweeted after Voyager’s performance.
“This is what I call a real contest song! Without Voyager this second semi-final would have been so … boring! Thank you, Voyager! You already won, for me!” a Romanian fan commented on a YouTube clip of the band’s performance.
A long evolution
Voyager’s quintet comprises lead singer and keyboards Daniel Estrin, bass guitarist Alex Canion, drummer Ashley Doodkorte and guitarists Simone Dow and Scott Kay.
The band originally came together as a group of University of Western Australia first-year students with a passion for metal, and since then the band has seen nine members come and go.
Voyager signed with several international record labels and eight albums later the band has an international fan base and a well-honed sound.
Estrin told the ABC they were an “overnight success story that’s taken 20 years”.
“I assess it as training. And I feel sorry for the people who are doing their first or second or third show at Eurovision because it’s really, really hard and it’s very intimidating. And we’ve had a lot of practice over the years,” he said.
“It’s like you’ve been practicing for years, you’ve honed your art to a fine finesse and you’re comfortable. You’re comfortable on the shitty stages. On the big stages as well.”
Drummer Ash Doodkorte agreed their decades of experience has left them more at ease on stage, noting that “nothing could possibly happen to us on stage [at Eurovision] that hasn’t happened to us 10 times worse and 20 times before”.
While their music is categorised as ‘synth-metal’, Estrin told The Guardian he prefers to describe it as “epic, progressive, power pop metal”.
He said although the sound doesn’t typically make the charts in Australia, it’s a different story for the band’s signature “melodic metal” in Europe.
The band state on their website that they embrace pop and a positive, uplifting vibe not typically associated with the metal genre.
The band members’ passions don’t solely revolve around music: Estrin is an immigration lawyer; Canion is a voice-over artist and graphic designer, and Dow is a strong advocate for migraine awareness having long-suffered from the condition that, at times, leaves her bedridden.
‘Greatest show on Earth’
Competing in Eurovision has been a long-time coming for Voyager, they have tried to represent Australia every year since the country joined the competition in 2015.
“As a long-time Eurovision fan, this is the pinnacle – Voyager gets to play the greatest show on Earth!” Estrin told SBS News after the band was finally selected.
Their entry, Promise, was written by Estrin, who told NPR the lyrics are a reassurance that everything is going to be alright in a world that is getting more chaotic.
While the music video showcased Western Australia’s landscapes, the Eurovision stage performance steps away from nature.
Voyager haven’t gone full-Eurovision kitsch, but their polished act still embraces some of the competition’s classic characteristics.
There’s a strong light show (mainly in darker hues of red and blue), the band members are decked-out in sequins while performing in-sync choreography, and an elaborate stage prop takes centre stage – although the Toyota AW11 MR2 (Estrin owns the same car) with a licence plate reading ‘Promise’ is relatively tame by Eurovision standards.
Tweet from @aussievisionnet
Most of all, it’s clear the band is having fun on stage – and taking the audience right along with them.
Australia’s last chance?
Eurovision – as the name implies – was meant to be a competition among European countries, and has almost entirely involved countries from the European Union since it began in 1956.
But the competition has long been popular in Australia with its strong multicultural and migrant communities, and SBS has covered the event every year since 1983.
This helped one of Australia’s biggest acts, Jessica Mauboy, land a guest performance at Eurovision in 2014, and resulted in Australia officially being invited to compete in 2015.
Since then, Australia has made it into the top 10 four times, with Dami Im coming the closest to victory with her second-place finish in 2016.
But the deal allowing Australia to compete expires this year, meaning Voyager may be the country’s last chance at nabbing the Eurovision crown.
While there has been no official comment from SBS or the European Broadcasting Union about Australia’s involvement past this year, Australia’s Eurovision creative director Paul Clarke confirmed the issue is under discussion.
Even if they don’t take out first place, Voyager insists they’re happy to have the experience of competing.
“We’re a progressive metal band from Perth, Western Australia, playing Eurovision in Liverpool. I mean, how could we ever consider ourselves losers in this,” Canion said.
The Eurovision Grand Final will air on SBS and SBS On Demand on Sunday, May 14, at 5am AEST.
