Tonight Australia added its name to that list, along with Serbia, Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia and The Netherlands. "It felt nerve-wracking but at the same time that crowd ... it's undeniable, there is so much love and what this represents is that," Mauboy said after the show. "The people in the crowd, the people watching at home, feeling this electricity ... it's meant to make you feel something." "It's always completely changing at every stage of the rehearsal, you're getting better at it, you're moving and changing things," she added. "Bringing the song to life you never know, you write something, you feel it there but singing it on the stage tonight was beyond my expectations.

"I felt my heart was about to jump out of my body," Mauboy said. "It's a feeling and you can't deny the love within the room, the people's love for this show," she said. "It's a culture, a tradition, so many people coming together in different languages and the bond is music." Despite a first rehearsal which received a mixed reaction from fans online, Mauboy's week-long run on the ground in Lisbon has seen her go from strength to strength, refining her performance with each successive step onto the stage. One of the peculiarities of Eurovision is the regimented rehearsal and dress rehearsal schedule, which means she will have, by now, performed the song on stage here at least six times, four of those with the full broadcast-quality production in swing behind her. Jessica Mauboy at the 63rd annual Eurovision Song Contest. Credit:Andres Putting

Mauboy must now perform it four more times: at a TV-ready dress rehearsal of the grand final, a professional jury show, a TV-ready afternoon show and finally the live grand final itself. When Australia was first invited to Eurovision as a competing country, we were given a wildcard straight into the grand final; since then, however, we have had to compete in the competition semi-finals along with most of the other competing countries. This year, luckily, Australia was spared the strongest of our competition - countries such as Israel, Cyprus, France and Estonia - thanks to a placement in the second semi-final. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Behind the scenes, too, there has been a persistent expectation Australia was going to make a smooth landing into the grand final.

But now the competition heats up dramatically and we must compete directly against some of this year's strongest performers. They include Cyprus's Eleni Fouriera, Israel's Netta, Estonia's Elina Nechayeva, France's Madame Monsieur, Denmark's Rasmussen, Sweden's Benjamin Ingrosso and Norway's Alexander Rybak. Despite the prevailing affection backstage, the intensity of the Eurovision competition itself is brutal. Already sent home, their Eurovision dreams broken, are Azerbaijan, Iceland, Belgium, Belarus, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, Armenia, Switzerland, Romania, San Marino, Russia, The Netherlands, Georgia, Poland, Malta, Latvia and Montenegro. Jessica Mauboy in Lisbon this week. Credit:João de Carvalho