The Aussie band bringing Promise for Eurovision glory

The answer is no, the country definitely has not.

Voyager is a synth-metal quintet from Perth and the first band selected to represent Australia at the competition, which takes place in Liverpool in May.

For the performance, Estrin will eschew the traditional rocker's "axe" - the electric guitar - instead wielding a keytar, a guitar-styled synthesiser the lawyer-by-day-rockstar-by-night describes as "misunderstood".

"It's not a guitar, it's not a keyboard, it's like the platypus - no one really understands what it is," he told AAP.

The lead vocalist is hoping Voyager's participation in Eurovision will work as a kind of keytar awareness-raising exercise.

"This is the moment where the keytar shines and shows the world that it really is worthy of attention," he said.

Estrin's musings on the instrument being ready for its moment could equally apply to his band.

Voyager has been having a crack at Eurovision ever since Australia began participating in the contest in 2015, but it never made it to the finals.

The closest Australia has ever come to glory at the competition was in 2016, when Dami Im's Sound of Silence took second place.

The 2023 event is being hosted by the UK on behalf of Ukraine, whose Kalush Orchestra claimed victory last year.

Australia's semi-final competition is Albania, Armenia, Cyprus, Romania, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Iceland, Georgia, Greece, Poland and Estonia, with the top 10 countries going on to the grand final.

So what are Voyager's chances of actually winning? If you go by the bookmakers, not good.

"But if you go with like, my confidence, then yes, we will win," bass guitarist Alex Canion told AAP.

For the band - made up of Estrin, Canion, drummer Ashley Doodkorte and guitarists Simone Dow and Scott Kay - giving it a red hot go is the Australian way.

"In my heart of hearts, I've won already just by doing it, just by making Australia proud," Canion said.

Voyager is an unusual musical export: its idiosyncratic brand of metal comes with positive vibes, a pairing almost as contradictory as an Australian band participating in a European song contest.

"People have described what we do as uplifting melancholic, which I think really hits the nail on the head," Estrin said.

The band is used to touring on a shoestring; last October Voyager managed 21 European concerts in 25 days.

That involved a lot of lugging amps and gear about, according to Estrin, who hopes the band can push its budget just a little in pursuit of the ultimate music title.

While Voyager has been giving Eurovision a try for the better part of a decade, Estrin has been dreaming of taking to the competition stage for much longer than that.

Growing up in Germany, he had Eurovision 80s hits on high rotation and finally attended the music extravaganza in Tel Aviv in 2019.

"It was just phenomenal and it cemented the fact that this really is the greatest show on earth," he said.

Estrin said he made it into a crowd scene in Will Ferrell's film Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga, parts of which were filmed in Tel Aviv.

But just like the film's Icelandic entrants Fire Saga, Voyager's reality hasn't always lived up to its members' rock god dreams.

Canion has a newborn baby, whose first concert will be seeing dad onstage at Eurovision, and he admits that looking after his son, keeping his wife happy and chasing rock glory at once has been a challenge.

"It's very different to what we were sold as kids, I was expecting it to be like a Kiss video clip or something," he said.

At any rate, if haircuts are part of the judging criteria, Voyager will have a definite advantage.

Estrin is known for his self-described "luscious locks", which feature long, brown waves on one side of his head and shaved white stubble on the other.

While fans obsess over Estrin's hair, guitarist Kay and bassist Canion are both bald.

"We're just shining away like light bulbs in the background and no one cares," Canion jokes.

The artwork for Promise is a laser-powered red keytar travelling through space to a distant galaxy and, based on the band's confidence and enthusiasm, it's easy to believe that the band's Eurovision voyage is destined for the stars - even if they don't win.

"As long as we come back with a feeling that we've given our best, we've put smiles on people's faces and entertained to the absolute maximum, we'll be happy," Estrin said.

The 67th Eurovision Song Contest will be held from May 9-13 and broadcast on SBS.

Australian Associated Press