Australia's controversial Eurovision contestant revealed as Guy Sebastian

Guy Sebastian is heading to Eurovision.

He was the first ever Australian Idol winner and now he'll be the first ever Australian entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest.

After weeks of speculation and conjecture, Guy Sebastian has been named as the artist who will represent Australia at Eurovision on May 23 in Vienna.

"I'm pumped," Sebastian said soon after Thursday's annoucement at the Sydney Opera House.

"It beats the local RSL," he said about the upcoming event, which is viewed by more than 200 million people across the globe.

Sebastian, who rose to fame after winning the first season of reality show Australian Idol in 2003, now has the daunting task of choosing a song.

"I'm not quite sure what song yet ... it will be something off my last album (Madness) that I haven't released as a single," Sebastian said.

"I want it to be epic ... I just want it to represent us as a nation well. But also just be fun or be emotional."

The singer has been performing on a bigger stage recently during his arena tour and feels like a ballad is the way to go.

"I want to go huge with the screens," he added.

Kylie Minogue, Jessica Mauboy and even '90s punk band TISM (This is Serious Mum) were among the possible contenders, so it was no surprise the choice of Sebastian left some people disappointed.

Austrian drag performer Conchita Wurst won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

Sebastion says he has no plans to follow in Wurst's footsteps and won't don a dress for his performance.

"It's very open, there's no real boundaries and that's what I love," the singer said.

Twitter debates raged over whether Sebastian was the right choice.

Guy Sebastian? We're gonna party like it's 2003. #Eurovision #SBSEurovision

— Steve Williams (@swillmedia) March 5, 2015

Others were more positive.

Umm shut up everybody @GuySebastian is actually incredible.

— Josh Thomas (@JoshThomas87) March 4, 2015

Guy Sebastian will be representing Australia at Eurovision this year. I approve of this.

— Robyn Gallagher (@robyngallagher) March 4, 2015

The selection of the inaugural Australian Idol winner even prompted tweets from abroad.

Hey Australia! Welcome to our world of completely irrelevant and embarrassing act choices. #unitedkingdom #eurovision

— Amy Andrews (@AmyJAndrews) March 4, 2015

- AAP