2016 Reviews – Australia – Dami Im – Sound of Silence
After a strong debut last year with one of Australia’s top artists, Guy Sebastian, Australia is back in the contest for the 2nd time, this time, we have to fight it out in the semi-finals like majority of the other countries. SBS has internally selected former X Factor winner, Dami Im and the song she is taking to Eurovision is called Sound of Silence.
The song opens quietly and mysteriously, and then in the pre-chorus and chorus, we see the true talent of Dami Im. On X factor, she was known for how she belted out the big notes, and I think this song allows her to show her talent. The song is tense, and has a good mix of highs and lows. The bridge and the final chorus is the moment for her to really slay on stage to create a very memorable ending.
The song itself impresses on the first listen, however for me personally, it loses its charm when listened to many times. This point is almost irrelevant however, because most of the viewers at home will have never heard the Eurovision songs for this year, so as long as this impacts audiences on the first listen, that’s all that matters.
Her first live performance of the song was good, apart from singing the wrong line after the first chorus – however she recovered well, which shows how far she has come from X factor – where nerves often got the better of her in the early stages of the competition. I’m not sure she has had as much experience with an audience as large as the Eurovision audience, however she has done plenty of live performances to be able to feel comfortable. Hopefully on the night she embraces the energy to give the best performance of her life, and hopefully bring Australia similar, or better results as last year.
It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Dami touring Europe before the concert like Guy Sebastian did, but at the same time this might have been a good thing. Dami is no doubt an amazing singer, but one thing I think she struggles with is the media side of it, and faced with that many interviews might have ended up being quite intimidating for a shy artist. She has been working the Australian television circuit though, performing often on morning tv shows, and has since announced quite a large tour across Australia.
This song is a definite qualifier from semi-final 2, and might even be the top qualifier. This is also very likely to at least crack top 10 in the final, however I can’t yet see it winning, but we will have more idea when we see the concept for the stage performance in the rehearsal.
I’m going to give it an 8/10 because I do think it is a strong Eurovision entry, although I’m finding that I’m enjoying other songs a lot more at the moment. However, as an Australian, I am going to support my country, and I wouldn’t complain if we won!
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