Delta Goodrem on the road to becoming Australia’s Eurovision entry as she goes up against Boy George (EXCLUSIVE)

Australian singer, actress and all-round ray of sunshine, Delta Goodrem, is officially Australia’s Eurovision 2026 entry, aiming to shine as brightly as Olivia Newton-John on the world stage.

Ready to shake the globe with her Eurovision single ‘Eclipse’, she faces off against friend Boy George, who’s representing San Marino in the 2026 contest, in a glittering showdown of pop royalty.

With a career that began at just 15 with her debut single ‘I Don’t Care’, it’s safe to say Goodrem has gone from childhood star to superstar since she made her mark on the industry in 2001. She conquered the charts with her 2003 album Innocent Eyes, stole hearts as Nick Tucker in Neighbours, and brought her expertise to the coaching panel of The Voice Australia. This Sydney-born vocal powerhouse is a force to be reckoned with… though she’s far too polite to admit it.

A proud LGBTQ+ ally, Goodrem is no stranger to Pride stages around the world. Living just above the Mardi Gras celebrations, the 41-year-old vocal powerhouse fully embraces the colour and joy of the LGBTQ+ community through her music. From Sydney’s first Mighty Hoopla to the camp-of-it-all spectacle of Eurovision, Goodrem is as adored by the gays as much as Australians love shrimp on the barbecue.

Speaking exclusively to Attitude, Goodrem reflects on the moments that cemented her status as an Australian music legend: from collaborating with Kylie Minogue on her 2020 Christmas with Delta TV extravaganza, to coaching alongside Boy George on The Voice Australia, to winning the hearts of her queer fans across the globe who believed, and continue to believe in her ability to win!

Attitude: Would you describe yourself as a competitive person? Was there ever a moment when you thought, “I’ll do whatever it takes to win this”?

Delta: I know it sounds earnest, but I do truly believe that you are in your own race in life to be better than you were yesterday. I have that competitive spirit towards myself to make sure that I am the best that I can be. I am in that space – somebody who I would say has drive and that sort of competitive spirit with myself to make sure I’m better than I was at all times.

Eurovision is often a career highlight for artists. Do you see this as the peak of your achievements, or are there moments that are more sentimental to you?

Well, the truth is… it’s like what the song says – everything leads up to where you are in this moment. It’s a combination of many choices and decisions that brought me to making this new music, and it made sense now. In other years, when it crossed my path, the timing wasn’t right. But in this moment, it felt right on my heart, and I walked with that.

I also feel a strong sense that every moment in my life, or in my career, are all milestones. They’re all part of the greater picture, and they all matter, though for different reasons at different times. It means a lot to me. Every moment counts in its own way: a performance of ‘Wings’ in 2016, the intensity of The Voice, and everything in between. It all means something.

Who is your Eurovision inspiration or icon?

I mean, my Eurovision icons and inspirations are Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John. They’re the two women I wouldn’t be in music without. So they are my Eurovision icons, and I still can’t believe that both of them have been part of the Eurovision family. That’s pretty awesome.

May the spirit of Celine, Olivia! They’re both my North Stars.

You’re up against your friend Boy George – whose song do you think will give them the edge?

Well, I mean, Boy George is definitely competitive, I should know from many years with him on The Voice as Team George. But I absolutely adore Senhit as well, who he’s doing the song with. We met in Oslo. And yeah, I mean, I love George. We’ve already texted about it, and we’re excited to be at Eurovision together. It’s awesome – it’s incredible that we’re both going to be there together.

We’re always bantering, him and I, so I’m excited to see what banter he’s going to bring to Vienna, I’ll tell you that. And you know he will bring it.

Do you have any fears or nerves going into this year’s competition?

Maybe the jet lag. That’s definitely a factor. I have to fly back to Fiji, do some shows there, then have four days in Sydney before flying back to Eurovision. So that’s probably my main focus – just getting on the time zone really quickly.

Aside from singing, what other talents or skills is delta Goodrem good at?

what am I good at? Skiing! I was a skier all my life. And sports, I’d say I’m pretty good at sports. My brother’s a football coach now; he was a player, so sport has kind of always been in our family.

[But] It was always music. I mean, I loved sport, although most of the kids at school thought I’d be a basketballer or something, but my heart and soul was always… I’m having flashbacks from when I was a kid, my heart and soul was always the arts. Just always the arts. It was where my heart was.

Delta, there’s still time to become an Olympian!

I think that ship has sailed. I can barely get to the gym, so let’s not push me to getting too much training… You know what, I’ll tell you what. That amazing Olympian, the skier Eileen Feng Gu – she’s pretty incredible.

Aside from yourself, have you crossed paths with any of Australia’s pop icons, such as Kylie Minogue?

Of course I have. We got to sing together, we did a duet of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ on my first Christmas special in 2020. I spoke to Kylie and asked if she would please be part of my first-ever Christmas special, and she said yes. It was such a magical moment getting to sing, and such a beautiful lyric: “When You Wish Upon a Star”. We came together and duetted on that, and yeah… she’s beautiful.

Who would be your dream Aussie girl group line-up?

I’d always love to be in a girl group. I mean, Spice Girls… anything like that. I would have loved to be in a girl group.

I tried, I reckon maybe on the fourth attempt, I asked my girlfriends, who all can sing and dance, but it’s not necessarily their path or what they do. I always would try to get them to come to open dance classes, but none of them were having it. Still, it would just be a dream, because then I’d get to be with all my girls, do pop songs, and have fun. But yes, I would have loved that.

What artist inspires you the most?

I mean, Olivia [Newton-John] and Celine Dion were my… which is why it’s so amazing to have this moment to share my love for them. But I also grew up on the other side of music: Tori Amos, the piano artists that inspired me, Annie Lennox, Fleetwood Mac… all the big ones like Whitney [Houston] and Mariah [Carey]. I loved all the powerful, amazing singers. And then I also loved the detail of the storytellers and songwriters. So I think both types of artists were big influences for me.

Is there a fan-favourite Delta Goodrem track you would have liked to perform on the Eurovision stage?

I mean, ‘Believe Again’ would have been my Eurovision entry from a past album. And if not ‘Believe Again’, a deep cut that always gets asked for, ‘Electric Storm’ was on the second album. Or I would go a deep, deep, deep cut from, like, ‘Take Me Home’.

‘Wings’ would have been fun in Eurovision too. I’m happy, but we’re pumped for ‘Eclipse’. I’m so excited to bring it. I was also born on an eclipse, which I had no idea! Somebody else shared that with me online – they were like, “Did you know this?” And I was like, “my parents never told me”. That was pretty cool.

I’ve recently seen Drag Race star Hannah Conda perform your Eurovision song, what would your drag name be?

Well, my cat was called Jumpy Jack. Or like Diamond Bedroom, Delta Bedroom. I get to bring out my… inner Bewitched, when Serena and Samantha, her sister, Serena, that would be my drag name.

Did you take part in Mardi Gras celebrations this year, what was that like? How do you plan on celebrating Pride 2026?

I always do, because I live basically above the parade. So it’s a natural party – we just open and get to be part of it and put it on TV, and I watch the parade. This year, I can’t remember… I think with Eurovision, we had a deadline that weekend, but I was still on Eurovision and I did get to enjoy it and watch. One of my favourite performances was headlining it in 2012 – it was so fun.

We had the wings, a birdcage… that was really special. I just remember having a really awesome night. We’d done it, I loved the set, I enjoyed it immensely, and it all just came together.

But every year when we were filming [The Voice Australia], we filmed next door to where it was happening. I remember one year, Kelly Rowland, [Boy] George, and all of us went over after work. And because Cher was on, we were all waiting for her, we came in from the side. Just before the pandemic, we ended up going to watch Dua Lipa perform… or maybe Sam Smith. Either performing or going with my friends to watch the show is always late, obviously, but it’s awesome.

This year we did Mighty Hoopla in Australia, which was the first time Mighty Hoopla had been in Aus. That was huge. I felt so proud of Glyn Fussell and amazed at the Hoopla team because, after everything that had happened, to get everybody on Bondi Beach singing songs together, it was incredible. I just loved the set there as well. It was really awesome. Seeing it was like experiencing a new festival. Bringing a show to the beach during Mardi Gras month really kicked it off. I’ve always had a love for performing at Mighty Hoopla in London, but seeing it come to life in Sydney and performing on the big stage – it was really awesome.

What does the LGBTQ+ community mean to you? 

I mean, gosh, where would I start? I feel seen. I feel… very, very grateful that they have constantly been a part of my music and my heart, lifting me through all the different chapters of my career. And my friends! It’s a really special community, and I’m so grateful for it. I get flashes of all the different sort of moments with my music and a shared heart there.