‘I could only watch Eurovision on VHS – now I might actually win it’-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Australia’s Eurovision entrant Go-Jo grew up watching VHS’ of the contest (Picture: Hollandse Hoogte/ Shutterstock)

Growing up on a property in rural Western Australia, the idea of ever being able to perform at Eurovision was a pipe dream for Marty Zambotto.

But last month the 29-year-old from the small town of Manjimup was announced as his country’s act for the 2025 contest – an honour the musician, who goes by the stage name Go-Jo, never thought would be possible.

Despite living on the other side of the world from where Eurovision plays out, Marty was introduced to it on old VHS tapes by his dad, who is French, as a child.

‘I was introduced to it at a very young age, around 4, when he played an old VHS of Abba performing Waterloo. And then over the years he’d always talk about it to me,’ he told Metro.

This introduction to Eurovision was even more surprising given the fact Marty grew up completely off-grid – with no running water or electricity.

However, it was an idyllic childhood that Marty said allowed him and his siblings to focus on creative pursuits.

Go-Jo -(the stage name of Marty Zambotto) was raised on an off-grid property in rural Western Australia (Picture: ABACA/ PA Images)

‘My mother and father are my absolute icons. I look up to them so much and the way that they brought us up was so beautiful and so rare as well. And it allowed me and my siblings to think very individually. And I think it’s also where I learned hard work, because being off grid, you know, we had to work harder, I suppose to make sure that we had the beautiful water from the rain and then we had to harvest the energy of the sun for power,’ he shared.

‘My dad is a genius, and he would just invent all these things and witnessing that was something that I think really comes out in my in my later life as well. I tell my mum as much as I can, how grateful I am for the way that they raised us.’

A decade ago, Australia was invited to compete in Eurovision, but Marty was still floored when he was approached and asked to represent his county.

‘I never thought about being a contestant. Even up until I was selected, my mind never flipped into being like, “Whoa, I could actually potentially be a contestant of this”. I always saw myself as a spectator, which was interesting now that I’m on it. It’s insane,’ he said.

Despite already achieving massive success in the music industry, Marty previously faced the decision whether to pursue that, or a career as an Australian Rules footballer. He previously played in a league in which professional players for the AFL are selected from.

‘I’ve always loved footy, and sport was always the career that I wanted to do, and I didn’t really think about music and pursuing it… I didn’t know that that was an option,’ he shared.

‘But when I found out that it was and all I needed was a computer to write songs and make them ready for radio and to release on Spotify, I became obsessed with it.

‘And then it came down to… I suppose in sport; you typically have to retire l just before you’re 40 and with music you can literally do it until you can’t speak anymore. So that was my deciding factor.’

It was a decision that paid off, with Go-Jo amassing over 1.4 million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

In 2023, he was the 9th most streamed Australian artist in the world while his previous hit single Mrs. Hollywood, hit over 60 million digital streams and one billion views across all platforms.

He has been travelling around Europe in the lead up to next month’s event (Picture: Go-Jo/ Instagram)

Next month Go-Jo will take to the stage in Basel to perform his song Milkshake Man, which has already been viewed on YouTube over 1 million times since its release last month.

While the song, which he co-wrote with the band Sheppard, has captured many people’s attention with its cheeky lyrics, he’s said its purpose is to ‘inspire people to embrace the loudest and proudest version of themselves’.

The playful track opens with a sample of Greensleeves, the soundtrack of ice-cream trucks around the world.

It also incorporates French, a move that may bring in some votes from fans in his father’s country of birth.

His song Milkshake Man has already attracted plenty of attention (Picture: EPA)

‘That would be great, but it was, it was mainly just to show that I have a French heritage,’ he explained.

‘I was introduced to the whole competition because of his French heritage and I wanted to add a little backstory of mine and so when I found out I’d been chosen, I instantly knew I want to incorporate French.’

Over the years there has been continuing questions from some about Australia’s participation in Eurovision, but Marty has a pretty good argument for the naysayers.

‘Well, I think I’m a great example of this. My dad is French, and he comes from a very rich European background, that’s exactly the same with my mum, she’s Dutch,’ he said.

‘If you come to Australia we have such a big European community and so many people’s parents and grandparents are from across Europe, and we’ve just been knocking on the door to do Eurovision for so long because everyone knows about it.’

Go-Jo had to choose between a career as a footballer or pursuing music (Picture: Go-Jo/ Instagram)

Although Australia came oh-so-close to winning Eurovision in 2016 (Dami Im placed second with her song Sound of Silence), Marty is excited about the potential to bring the title home.

‘I think that’s a massive driver for me to like but obviously just doing Australia proud is all I’ve ever asked for,’ he said.

Speaking about being selected, he added: ‘It’s the most honourable feeling, representing a country and especially doing it in the field that I love the most, which is music.

‘Eurovision is literally the Olympics of music. So, I mean, you know, representing a country in the Olympics of music, it doesn’t get any better for me. I’m very honoured.’

The Eurovision Song Contest takes place from Tuesday May 13 to Saturday May 17.

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