The X Factor’s Dami: I Can Take On The World

After being out Taylor Henderson and Jai Waetford, the newly-crowned X Factor winner has scored number one on the iTunes chart with her single, “Alive.” With Dannii Minogue in her corner, the quirky Brisbane music teacher with a wardrobe to match her powerhouse vocals is just getting started.

How are you feeling? Has your win sunk in yet?
No! I feel like it still hasn’t sunk in and every five minutes I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, I won!’ It’s just this amazing feeling and it’s still hard to believe that this whole thing happened to me.

Why did you fall to your knees when you were crowned the winner…
It was such an emotional journey and when they announced I’d won, I was like, ‘Wow, all those weeks of hard work have come down to this and I made it. Just thinking that I’d won X Factor, it was too overwhelming.

What does it mean to be the winner?
I feel that I’ve been given this opportunity to help people and bless other people through the talent God’s given me and I have a big responsibility on behalf of the top 12 and all the Australians who voted for me. I just want to make them proud and be a good role model for young kids as well.

What did Dannii Minogue say to you onstage?
She screamed—a lot! She was so happy. She was just as excited as I was and so proud. She had tears in her eyes.

How has the show changed you?
I’ve become more confident and trusting a bit more in myself. I’m not the normal, regular, really cool kid or [wasn’t] the popular, beautiful, really pretty girl at school. But Australia still really loved me and embraced me for who I am, so I don’t have to try to be somebody that I’m not.

What does it mean to you to be able to inspire people?
That’s the reason I want to sing—to inspire people and also heal people. I feel like that’s my calling as a singer.

Do you think Dannii was more hands on with you than the other mentors were with their contestants?
Yeah, I feel like she put more effort and heart into getting to know me as well. She is like a sister, I guess, because she’s been looking out for me and we’ve bonded so well. I went over to her house and we ate Korean instant noodles together—it was really amazing!

Have you talked about working with Dannii?
Not in detail. I guess we’ll keep our friendship going and who knows, we might be able to do something together. I’d love to record a duet with her!

You’ve become known for your out-there ensembles. Do you consider yourself a fashion icon?
Dannii said I’m like a fashion icon [laughs]. It’s all the hard work the creative team behind the scenes and I’ve loved every moment of it. I’ve always had quite quirky K-pop style, but not like this. I like quirky things— something that’s a little bit different and cute and I’d love to just keep exploring that.

What kind of album do you hope to make? Will you write your own music?
I’ve written lots of original songs before so I’d love to be able to release those. And me and Dannii really love Whitney Houston’s debut album and her second album. It’d be really good if I could do something like that—something a bit different to what you hear on the radio these days.

What’s next on your agenda?
Well, I get to go home tomorrow for a few days then I’ve got to come back to do a recording for my first album, which is going to be all the songs from the show, then we go on tour with the top five.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hopefully I’m still making music. My dream is to write songs that are really special for people—those songs where when you hear it, you recall a special memory. I guess that’s my goal in music.

What’s your measure of success? Would it be selling out global arenas?
I don’t have high expectations. Even with The X Factor, I didn’t expect to get through to any stage. No matter how big or how small I become, I’m just going to keep enjoying myself and keep doing what I’m doing.

Which contestants are you closest too?
I’m really close to Kelebek. And I fell in love with Jai more and more. At the grand final he kept kissing me on my hand, saying, ‘I love you Dami!’ He’s just adorable.

How has daily life already changed?
I just have lots of people recognizing me on the street! So even when I go to the food court it takes a lot longer to get to where I need to get too because I need to take pictures on the way there and on the way back!

What did your husband Noah say straight after you won?
He is just really proud of me, as he’s always been. He woke up with the biggest smile ever. He was actually the one who made me try out.

You’ve said you’d like to have a family in the future. How will this fit in with your music career?
I’m only 25, so I can afford to focus on my music for a while and then when the right time comes, we can start planning.

How do you think your life will change from today onwards?
It’s really hard to imagine I’m a celebrity. Just thinking that I’m the winner of X Factor is just so overwhelming and just a huge, life-changing thing for me! I’ll still be the same person that I was when I first auditioned. I was a bit shy, daggy, uncool. But now I’ve got confidence. I feel like I can take on the world.