Even the most fervent Europhile might struggle to comprehend how Australia gained a place in that camp send-up of European harmony, the Eurovision Song Contest. The show was first broadcast down under by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) in 1983 and soon attracted a dedicated following. Helen Kellie, a former BBC executive from Britain, was a key player in establishing the country’s participation.
After brief presentations by Australian acts in the 2013 and 2014 programmes, the country made its debut in 2015 with Tonight Again, written and performed by Guy Sebastian. It was to have been a one off to commemorate the 60th contest, but thanks to Kellie’s behind-the-scenes work, Australia is now a regular participant. Asked about her campaign to get the country on the show, Kellie described Eurovision as “compelling” television that “gets people talking”. Despite being on the other side of the world, Australia wanted a slice of the action.
At one point in the 2016 final the Australian contestant, Dami Im, singing Sound of Silence, appeared close to winning, meaning that the country would be expected to host the multimillion-dollar event in 2017. Kellie was clearly visible on screen frantically texting to make arrangements — but in the event Im came second to Jamala, the Ukrainian entry singing 1944.
Kellie was also responsible for SBS’s controversial Struggle Street, an Australian version of the Channel Four documentary Skint, which follows the lives of socially disadvantaged families and is sometimes known as “poverty porn”. It was highly contentious and in May 2015 protesters organised a blockade of rubbish trucks outside the broadcaster’s headquarters. She took her responsibility for the show seriously. Rather than cowering away, her response was to organise a press conference on the company’s doorstep, where she vigorously defended the content. It was a challenging time, with the media vociferously questioning her credibility, although Kellie had a good understanding, honed in Britain, that controversy rarely harms ratings.
Helen Kellie was born in Derbyshire in 1965, the daughter of James Kellie and his wife Angela (née Paten). She had a brother and two older half-brothers. Her father was a company director while her mother, who had worked as an occupational therapist, ran the family home. She attended Sheffield High School before reading chemistry at Merton College, Oxford.
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Her career started in brand management at Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer-goods giant. Working in London she met Ben Sarson through a mutual friend. At the time he worked with private finance initiatives, but as time went on they started a family, and Kellie’s career took precedence. The couple, who married in 2004, had two children: Edie, who is 14, and Fred, aged 13. Edie is a talented rower, while Fred was recently accepted into the Sydney Youth Orchestra as a clarinettist.
Moving to the BBC, Kellie was behind the broadcaster’s push to introduce a more integrated service through apps and social media. She spoke so rapidly — an “ideas machine” — that team members were warned that they should ask to record her presentations rather than try to take notes. She eventually became chief marketing officer for BBC Worldwide, and had a knack for bolstering the cross-platform appeal of brands such as Top Gear. As one colleague said: “She was bullish about the future . . . she was very adept with new technology and found it exciting.”
A notably flamboyant and colourful dresser, with a striking taste in footwear that included eye-catching brogues, Kellie started to make clothes for herself and her friends while at Oxford and continued to do so all her life. She was also handy with an electric drill.
In 2012 she succeeded in becoming marketing director at SBS in Australia, where the family threw themselves into their new life with optimism and a sense of adventure. She was thrilled with her new job, particularly her involvement with NITV, the channel produced by Aboriginal people, which became a passion after she visited the annual Garma Festival in Northern Territory. According to Tanya Orman, who heads NITV and camped with Kellie at the festival, “It was like the country spoke directly with her and she smiled and listened. When it came time for the traditional bungul dance at sunset, she danced barefoot with the ladies . . . Garma is known to get under your skin, but I’m not sure if Helen was really prepared for it and how it can change you.”
When she had lung cancer diagnosed just under a year ago it came out of the blue. She did not smoke and had been in good health. She continued to work even after the disease had spread.
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Helen Kellie, television executive, was born on December 11, 1965. She died of lung cancer on December 23, 2017, aged 52