Dami Im reveals major hope for Eurovision 2023: 'Final shot'

Six years after setting the world on fire with her performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, Dami Im is ready to do it all over again.

The singer-songwriter, who achieved Australia’s highest placement in the competition when she came second, confirms to Yahoo Lifestyle that she wants to compete again next year when it takes place in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

“I would love the chance to do it again one last time, and I'm hoping that that could be this next year coming up,” she says.

“I really do want to have a final shot at it because the first time was just an incredible experience and a pivotal moment in my career, and personally as well.”

In her new memoir Dreamer, Dami opened up about how her 2016 Eurovision experience was a pivotal moment in both her career and personal life. The event and the people she worked with helped her realise that she could challenge the decisions her management and her record label Sony had been making for her and instead forge her own path.

“Now I'm at such a different place musically and as a person, so I would love to enter as a new version of myself and just see what I can do with my amazing new team of people and with more control,” she tells us.

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Dami adds that if she had the chance to represent Australia for a second time, she would want to focus on getting “the best performance, best song and best staging” she could.

“I’ll always have that competitiveness in me, which means I want something that gets a reaction out of people and not something that will become a toilet break,” she laughs.

“Whether that makes it to the very top or not, I can't control that, but I want to give it the biggest push so that it's exciting and stands out.”

SBS’ major decision

Dami’s comments come shortly after SBS announced that Eurovision: Australia Decides won’t be returning in 2023 and an internal selection process will instead take place.

A spokesperson from the broadcaster told TV Tonight, “We are thrilled to confirm that Australia will once again compete in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest next year, with hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey at the helm. However, after three years of celebrating and working with local music artists through our Eurovision selection show, Eurovision: Australia Decides, we’ve made the difficult decision not to go ahead with the program in 2023.”

Australia’s three most recent representatives Kate Miller-Heidke, Montaigne and Sheldon Riley were each selected to compete in Eurovision through Australia Decides, while Guy Sebastian, Dami, Isaiah Firebrace and Jessica Mauboy were chosen internally.

Dami announced in 2020 that she would compete in Australia Decides the following year and wrote the song ‘Paper Dragon’ with the intention of it being her entry.

However, because the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled in 2020 for the first time in its over sixty-year history, reigning Australia Decides champion Montaigne became Australia's representative for 2021.

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