Australia's Opera-Harp-On-Bending-Rod Staging

MAY 15 2019 · 12:20

Kate Miller-Heidke · "Zero Gravity (staging detail)" · Australia · 2019 Placement: 9 · Score: 284 · Language: English · Composers: Kate Miller-Heidke, Keir Nuttall · Venue: Expo Tel Aviv · Host: Tel Aviv, Israel · Type: performance innovation · Broadcast: streaming era Kate Miller-Heidke — Australian operatic pop performer — sings 'Zero Gravity' atop a six-meter flexible pole that sways and bends hydraulically across the Expo Tel Aviv stage. She is in full white operatic dress; her costars sway on matching poles behind. Her vocal technique is conservatory-level sustained soprano over an electronic beat. 284 points for 9th place. Duncan Laurence wins for the Netherlands. Context Miller-Heidke had been an established Australian opera-pop singer for over a decade. The sway-pole engineering was built by an Adelaide production design team. The staging is widely considered one of Eurovision's most technically ambitious physical-prop choreographies of the 2010s. Australia's SBS had committed significant production budget. Legacy The sway-pole staging became a reference point for Eurovision extreme physical-prop choreography. Miller-Heidke continued a successful Australian opera-pop career. Her 2019 card is often cited as the highest technical bar Australia has set at Eurovision, though the 9th-place finish was considered disappointing relative to staging investment.