LONDON (AP) — With links to Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John, Delta Goodrem is one of the best-connected contestants at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
She’s also one of the most successful participants, as the award-winning Australian singer-songwriter has sold over nine million albums and topped charts in eight countries.
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Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Goodrem is representing her home country in the world’s largest live music event, which takes place this year in Vienna. Even though it’s way outside of Europe, Australia has been invited to compete since 2015.
In the 1990s Goodrem, who was a former star of Australian soap “Neighbours,” wrote a track called “Eyes on Me” for Dion, who won Eurovision representing Switzerland in 1988.
She was also mentored by the late Newton-John, another global superstar who took part in the song contest on behalf of the United Kingdom in 1974, although not as successfully.
“Growing up, Olivia Newton-John and Celine Dion were two of my greatest loves in music," she said. “I don’t think I would be the musician I am today without my influence from the two of them. And they have both been a part of that stage from different countries.”
Goodrem also has a link to the entry representing the tiny country of San Marino. Boy George, who appears on SENHIT's entry “Superstar,” used to be a judge and rival alongside Goodrem on Australia's hit TV talent show “The Voice.”
“I’ve got my eyes on him. I’m watching him,” Goodrem joked. “I was so excited and couldn’t stop laughing ... it’s so playful that Boy George was like, ‘I’m coming to Eurovision!’”
The Associated Press spoke to Goodrem in London about competing with her power ballad “Eclipse” in the Eurovision Song Contest.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
GOODREM: It’s been a bit omnipresent where you sort of heard it in the air. And I guess obviously Australia’s been in for 11 years. So we became a lot more actively like Team Australia. But growing up, you always were, you know, enamored with this incredible iconic stage and it’d always find its way to us.
GOODREM: I feel that as well and I’ve always been very patriotic and very true to the love I have for Australia and it feels like they’re all celebrating, we’re all sort of there together on this journey.
GOODREM: Oh you know, I’m definitely here to give it my absolute all, yes.
GOODREM: So (last year) I was doing my couple of shows here (in London) and I had sort of got to experience the energy of Eurovision on the ground and I just thought it was palpable, it was incredible and I was watching all the programs and it was really exciting and somebody had asked me, ‘would you do Eurovision?’ And I said, ‘I’m always open’ … You never know where your path’s leading, just if it feels right.
GOODREM: I really am a true believer that throughout my career, coming to my show, I’m about unifying — music for me is a moment where we’re all singing the same song. And I believe in that, and I have my whole life, that it’s very healing, music has a real power.
So I sort of focus on the power of music being a unifying space and a place that can wrap around people’s lives and their soundtrack and that’s where it sits for me.
GOODREM: The more music the better. I think that’s so exciting. That means I get to immerse myself in the music in September for Eurovision Asia.
GOODREM: Yes, you’re thinking I should bring Australian sand, you know, that’s very patriotic. I start a little beach on stage, look up at the moon for “Eclipse.” I definitely am really excited to bring it to life.
GOODREM: Sure. Yeah, yeah!
GOODREM: Look, I don’t know those logistics yet but I’m open to the conversation … If you would like to vote for me then I’m happy to talk about if we could like have it here or if, you know, I’m happy to do a deal.
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Negotiators from Iran and the United States prepared Friday for high-level talks planned to start a day later in Islamabad, seeking to steady a ceasefire teetering over Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire and Tehran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance was set to take off from Washington, with Iran still remaining mum over its team as it tried to pressure Washington to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks would “remain suspended” otherwise.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it faced a drone attack Thursday night that it blamed on Iran and its militia allies in the region. Though Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied launching any assault, it has in the past carried out attacks across the Mideast it did not claim.
In addition to talks in Iran, Israel-Lebanon negotiations are also expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington — a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts — according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.
This came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he has authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbors.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. Israel’s announcement of negotiations with Lebanon comes amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began Feb. 28.
The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
The Lebanese government had not responded as of Friday morning, and it was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon. The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the U.S. have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.
Late Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote of the trickle of ships Iran has allowed to pass through the crucial waterway.
Underlining Iran’s continued control of the strait, a Botswana-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker attempted to travel out of the Persian Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard, but suddenly turned around and headed back early Friday, ship-tracking data showed.
Saudi Arabia said recent attacks have damaged a key pipeline in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Press Agency, quoting an anonymous official, said its crucial East-West pipeline, which carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz, was damaged in the recent attacks.
Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses.”
Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet Vance in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.
Trump said Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.
Early Friday morning, Israel’s military said it struck approximately 10 launchers in Lebanon that had fired rockets toward northern Israel on Thursday.
Four tankers and three bulk carriers crossed through the strait Thursday, bringing the total number of ships passing through since the ceasefire to at least 12, according to the data firm Kpler.
Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war — a message that may be intended to pressure the U.S.
The chart, released by the ISNA news agency and Tasnim, showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the route ships take through the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas once passed.
The head of the United Arab Emirates’ major oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, said some 230 ships loaded with oil were waiting to get through the strait and must be allowed "to navigate this corridor without condition.”
The strait’s de facto closure has caused oil prices to skyrocket — affecting the cost of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $96 Friday, up about 35% since the war began.
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, Zeke Miller, Matthew Lee and Will Weissert in Washington, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Kareem Chehayeb and Hussein Malla in Beirut contributed to this report.
A poster is pasted on a motorbike windshield with graphic depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as government supporters gather to mark the 40th day since the killing of his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People residing in an underground shelter pack up their belongings as they prepare to leave after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners carry the coffin of Mohammad Zein al-Abedin Shehab, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, during his funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced families extend their hands while waiting for donated food beside the tents they use as shelters after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
