So I got it wrong. Again. As announced by Conchita tonight, it will be Dami Im, not Delta Goodrem, representing Australia in Stockholm.
Who is Dami Im, you ask? Good question. I had no idea who she was until the rumours started surfacing yesterday* that she'd been anointed (after Delta confirmed via Twitter that she wasn't in the mix).
Dami won Australia's underwhelming version of The X-Factor back in 2013, and has had some modest success since then. She has a fiercely loyal online following, including some really passionate Twitter fans, and has made a bit of a splash on the Asian music scene (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea).
There's no doubting that she's got a good voice, and she has a cool K-Pop vibe. But is that good enough to win Eurovision?
Sadly, I don't think so.
The reason Guy Sebastian was so successful last year - much more than having a fun song and good stage show - was the sheer force of his star power and his name recognition in Europe. He'd also been honing his performance skills for years since winning Idol in 2003, and several of his fellow competitors in Vienna were in awe of his voice and stage presence.
Dami doesn't have the same level of fame as Guy, and also hasn't had the same amount of time to develop as a live performer. Plus, unlike Guy, she's got to impress at the Semi-Final in order to go through to the Grand Final, and that's a much tougher performance task.
For Dami to even get a taste of success in Stockholm, it's all going to come down to the song. We don't know what she's singing yet (that will be revealed next week), but whatever it is, it's going to have to be pretty impressive.
Initially last year Guy was planning to sing a ballad off his album, before he
She's also got to have a really good stage show when she hits the Globen Arena. Particularly in the Semi-Finals, you've got to have memorable staging if you want to stick in voters' minds. We'll have to wait and see once the song is announced, and hope that Dami can pull off some diva-costumed, strikingly-choreographed, wind-machine-powered fabulousness.
* As a side note, can I just say how unimpressed I was with the Sydney Morning Herald's reporting of this story? Not only was it not enough that they spoiled SBS's announcement, they did so with an article that was so sneering and smug that they completely disrespected all Eurovision fans as well. Plus the article was shared all over social media and became the go-to source for fans from around the world. This kind of 'Eurovision is a joke' mocking attitude from the media is what has really damaged the contest in the UK, and it is a real shame that it is starting to come through here now too. Though most Australian media have had some fun and taken Eurovision in the spirit it's intended, the SMH have just been all-round bad sports. End of rant.
