In case you missed it, the final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Portugal overnight. While Israel’s Netta might have taken out top honours with the track ‘Toy’, it was Aussie commentator Joel Creasey who stole the hearts of many viewers, including acclaimed author J.K. Rowling.
During the final performance by the United Kingdom’s SuRie, a stage invader happened to try and claim the spotlight, running across the stage and grabbing the microphone, much to the dismay of everyone watching.
While police have taken the stage invader into custody, the performance managed to continue as otherwise planned with SuRie declining to perform her song ‘Storm’ again (written by Queensland’s Nicole Blair, no less), stating that there was “absolutely no reason to.”
Of course, Aussie commentator Joel Creasy managed to sum up the action by calling the culprit an “absolute cockhead” to the collective delight of everyone around the world.
https://twitter.com/tibutler/status/995393734849183744
However, it seems that no one took more delight in this incident than Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who seems to believe that Creasey’s commentary more than forgives Australia’s still-controversial appearance in Eurovision each year.
“Apparently the Australian commentator called SuRie’s stage invader ‘some absolute cockhead’ and I don’t want to hear another word about Australia being in Eurovision ever again,” wrote Rowling before Creasy appeared to take the credit.
Well I am dying a little. T’was me. I have been peppering my commentary with regular Potter references too. 😘❤
— Joel Creasey (@joelcreasey) May 12, 2018
I absolutely adore you. Very chuffed! Off to celebrate with far too many butterbeers! xx
— Joel Creasey (@joelcreasey) May 12, 2018
“Well I am dying a little. T’was me. I have been peppering my commentary with regular Potter references too,” explained Creasey on Twitter before Rowling bestowed upon him the (sadly fictitious) honour of ‘Order of Merlin, First Class’.
As radio host Ti Butler pointed out, Creasey also chose to refer to Denmark’s entrant Rasmussen as ‘Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs,” just furthering his tendency to drop Harry Potter references into his commentary. (Of course, Viktor Krum’s character is Bulgarian in the book series, but we can let that one slide for the sake of comedy.)
Others have also been quick to heap praise upon Creasey for his commentary, with many saying that his comments more than make up for the fact that Australia has been taking place in Eurovision despite the notable handicap of not being a European country.
Joel said what all Aussies were thinking. We may be the convicts you sent away, but God help anybody that hurts you.
— Iseecrazypeople (@AntiLiberalAus) May 12, 2018
He got that absolutely spot on! 12points to Australia 🇦🇺 from me 👍🏻
— Bex Kennedy (@becbec666) May 12, 2018
Australia can be an honorary European country any time they wish 🙂👍
— Simon Zerafa (@SimonZerafa) May 12, 2018
While Joel Creasy undeniably made Australia rather popular around the world thanks to his jovial comments, it sadly wasn’t enough for Australia to see a podium finish in this year’s final, with Jessica Mauboy’s performance of ‘We Got Love’ seeing us voted into the 20th position.
While there’s always next year, we just hope that Joel Creasy will be coming along for the ride.
Check out Jessica Mauboy’s Eurovision performance:
