Ambassador Helmut Boeck jokes that people get Austria and Australia mixed up so often that Eurovision fans might get very confused during this year's broadcast.
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To celebrate the two countries' love of diggi-loos, la-la-las and sequins, the Austrian embassy and the National Film and Sound Archive are throwing a huge Eurovision party at the archive in Acton on May 24.
It's free and dressing up is more than encouraged, although there's no official ruling on how many costume changes you're allowed.
Guy Sebastian will represent Australia for the first time in this year's Eurovision song contest held in Vienna - and Australian fans will be able to vote, though the time difference means they'll have to rise like a phoenix to do so at 5am on Sunday, May 24.
Dr Boeck, the Austrian ambassador, was part of Sebastian's official send-off.
"I was kind of joking around with him and said, 'You know, Guy, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a fair amount of comments about the great Austrian performance by Guy Sebastian,'" he said.
Conchita Wurst took home Eurovision glory for Austria last year with the power ballad Rise Like a Phoenix.
The Australian love of Eurovision parties complete with country-by-country menus, trashy costumes and drinking games took Dr Boeck by surprise.
"When I came to Australia a couple of years ago it took me a while to realise how big the fan base was for Eurovision in Australia, I was actually very surprised about that," he said.
"We thought in particular because the embassy is based in Canberra and we've got a longstanding sort of cooperation with the NFSA here, we would throw a big party for Canberrans."
Archive head Michael Loebenstein is also Austrian and said the idea of a party was completely natural.
He said the bloc voting and nationalism of Eurovision made parties much more, well, partisan, at home.
"You don't get that in Australia - people are Eurovision fans, it's much more about the performance aspects of it, it's much more about the glam and the hamming it up," he said. "So going to Eurovision parties here and Eurovision parties in Europe are completely different. I was amazed when I first came here."
The song contest's hold is such that every year Canberra gets a Eurovision parody show. Last week it was veteran performers John Shortis and Moya Simpson's production Good Evening Europe.
But with Sebastian's entry, this year's Eurovision will lead to either euphoria or only teardrops for Australian fans.
The Austrian embassy's Eurovision Final Canberra Party will be held at the National Film and Sound Archive on Sunday, May 24, from 5pm. Entry is free but tickets are limited. See nfsa.gov.au to register.
Canberra Life has 20 double passes to the party, complete with Eurovision souvenir paddles, to give away. Head to the Canberra Life Facebook page and hit "like" for a chance to win.
