Bunbury’s Ashley Doodkorte to complete dream voyage to Eurovision stage with Voyager

When the house lights drop and the music begins at Liverpool Arena, back here in the South West a group of dedicated fans will be gathered at 3am on Friday morning to watch a Bunbury musician shine Eurovision 2023.

To show support for their colleague Ashley Doodkorte — drummer in Australia’s Eurovision entry band Voyager — Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre staff are hosting a live broadcast of the second semi-final from 3am on Friday May 12.

With Voyager likely to be among the 10 acts to attract the most public votes, BREC executive director Fiona De Garis said the crew will be ready to do it all again and host a live broadcast of the grand final, taking place from 3am on Sunday May 14.

“It’s going to be so much fun and people can come in their pyjamas if they want to, bring their own chairs or air mattresses and cheer Voyager on,” she said.

“We kept thinking about it and we wondered if we do the screening when the delayed broadcast is on but everyone will know the answer by then and you’re not really supporting the artist so we felt we should commit to broadcasting it in real time.”

Ms De Garis said the BREC family would all be there cheering on Doodkorte, who, when not drumming in the synth-metal band, is the marketing coordinator at the entertainment centre.

“We are all in with Eurovision this year,” she said.

“Whether or not they make it through to the grand final, it’s just such an achievement to be there at all.”

Artists and bands from Australia and 36 other countries will perform their original songs and vie for votes from the general public, as well as panels of music industry experts from each of the participating countries.

After years of campaigning to represent Australia, Voyager will finally take to the Eurovision stage, where they will close out the second semi-final with their song Promise.

While performing just one song makes for a simpler gig, Doodkorte told the South Western Times the whole process was very much like an election campaign.

“Australia can’t vote for Australia so we have to give everyone else in Europe a reason to vote for us,” he said.

“We’re going around and trying to engage with as many people as we can online and in person just to show them what we can do and . . . hopefully give them a reason to give us their 12 points.

“You’re just jet-setting around going ‘hello we’re Voyager, look at how great we are’.”