It should come as no surprise to long-time readers that I am a massive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. It's literally in my writer's bio. Alongside writing for this K-pop site, I also write for the Australian Eurovision fan site Aussievision.
K-pop and Eurovision are the two biggest loves of my life. Every time these two worlds collide it becomes the happiest day for me.
And next weekend, these two worlds collide once again.
Next weekend, Australia will hold a massive two-day televised music competition that will culminate in a live final show on Saturday evening broadcast on national TV.
"Eurovision - Australia Decides" is an annual televised contest of competing original songs. More than 300,000 people across the country tune in each year. And this year, eleven original songs are competing to win the grand prize of representing Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest - the biggest song contest in the world!
There are a few connections to the world of K-pop in this year's "Eurovision - Australia Decides". Some of the singers are K-pop fans, a few of the writers have written songs for some of the biggest K-pop groups in history, the competing girl group has been referred to in the past as "Australia's version of a K-pop group", and one of the songwriters was a shortlisted finalist to join Blackswan.
So, let's take a bit of a deeper look at the show, and see why K-pop fans should consider tuning in this year.
G-Nat!on
G-Nat!on is a girl group based in the Australian city of Adelaide who shot to fame last year on "The Voice". The group has - in the past - been referred to as "Australia's version of a K-pop girl group". The group has six members (Taylah, Mateja, Emma, Rylee, Alessia, and Isla), all in their teens, who met at school.
They all sing, they all dance, they have members who can even rap! And their entry at this year's competition, "Bite Me" sounds just like a K-pop song, with an electronic backing track, hype lyrics about feminism, and rap lines that work well with the rest of the song.
There's a reason their song sounds so much like a K-pop song as well - songwriter Leea Nanos.
Leea Nanos (LeeA)
Though she didn't win the contest three years ago, LeeA went on to have a successful YouTube channel where she would release her own original music and covers of both Eurovision and K-pop songs.
When South Korean entertainment company DR Music announced a global audition process to add a new member to their girl group Blackswan, LeeA's fans encouraged her to audition. From thousands of auditions from singers all over the world, LeeA was one of four shortlisted candidates.
Although she ultimately didn't make it, she continues to release her own music, such as the K-pop inspired "Domino", and writing songs for others.
Louis Schoorl
A significantly less memorable name than any others on this list, Louis Schoorl is an Australian songwriter. He has co-written the song "Little Fires" for Eurovision - Australia Decides, which will be performed by Jaguar Jonze, and is currently one of the frontrunners to win the competition outright.
But in the world of K-pop, Louis Schoorl was one of the contributors for "My Oh My" by one of K-pop's biggest ever girl groups, Girls' Generation.
KEIINO's Tom Hugo
KEIINO is a Norwegian band who performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, where they won the public vote. The group has continued to be so massively successful and loved in Australia that they recently announced that they would be coming back down under for a second tour of the country, and that one of their stops along the tour would include performing as an interval act at Eurovision - Australia Decides.
KEIINO member Tom Hugo has written a couple of K-pop songs now, including TVXQ's "Very Merry Xmas" and SHINee's B-side "Sunny Day Hero".
So, want to check it out?
Of course you do! With so many connections to the world of K-pop, this year is the perfect chance to check out the show for the first time and see if it piques your interest.
For K-pop fans living in Australia, Eurovision - Australia Decides will be broadcast on SBS and SBS On Demand live across the nation from the Gold Coast at 8:30 p.m. AEDT on Saturday, 26 February.
For K-pop fans from around the rest of the world, the show can usually be seen online from the official SBS FaceBook page.
Will you be watching "Eurovision - Australia Decides 2022" next weekend? Do you have a favourite from the eleven competing entries? Let us know by commenting on our socials @KpopWise.