This morning, Australia announced Isaiah as their Eurovision 2017 representative; his song was also revealed. He will be singing “Don’t Come Easy”. Yes, it’s another ballad for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, but it’s definitely one of the stronger ones.
Chosen by Australia’s broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Isaiah Firebrace will follow in the footsteps of Guy Sebastian and Dami Im, who represented Australia in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
The song was written by Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci, and Michael Angelo. The first two are of DNA Songs, who previously wrote Dami Im’s Eurovision song “Sound of Silence”. It is a highly emotional ballad, that sure pulls at the heart strings, let’s just hope Isaiah can nail it passionately on the night.
Watch The Music Video To “Don’t Come Easy” By Isaiah, Australia’s Eurovision Representative Here:
Australia debuted in 2015 with Guy Sebastian, who sang “Tonight Again”. He scored 196 points placing him fifth. Their debut in the contest was for the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The special invite was extended to the following year because of how well received the country was, and their clear love of Eurovision – they have been broadcasting it for over 30 years. So, in 2016, they sent Dami Im with “Sound of Silence”, which came second with 511 points. Can Isaiah beat that position and come out on top?
He’s not new to contestant show competitions, he took part in the eighth series of The X Factor Australia and went on to win the entire show. His debut single “It’s Gotta Be You”, charted at number 26 in Australia, but did even better in other countries, 15 in Sweden, and 21 in Denmark. Could his international fame add those all-important extra few points for his bid to win Eurovision 2017?
To win, Australia needs to beat the other 42 countries. Many have already been announced, who are: Cyprus’ Hovig, The Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s DiHaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, Greece’s Demy, Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze, Belarus’ Navi, The United Kingdom’s Lucie Jones, Finland’s Norma John, Switzerland’s Timebelle, Germany’s Levina, France’s Alma, Spain’s Manel Navarro, Italy’s Francesco Gabbani, Israel’s Imri Ziv, Czech Republic’s Martina Bárta, Croatia’s Jacques Houdek, Malta’s Claudia Faniello, Poland’s Kasia Mos, Hungary’s Joci Pápai, Slovenia’s Omar Naber, Denmark’s Anja Nissen, Moldova’s SunStroke Project, Ukraine’s O.Torvald, Latvia’s Triana Park, Serbia’s Tijana Bogicevic, Estonia’s Koit Toome & Laura, Romania’s Ilinca feat. Alex Florea, and Portugal’s Salvador Sobral.
If Australia were to win, they’d have to choose a Eurovision country to host the contest. This is due to the distance of Australia and therefore the costly amount of sending Eurovision over there.
Last year, Jamala won with “1944”, which means the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will be hosted in Ukraine. The International Exhibition Centre, in Kyiv, was chosen as the venue. The semi-finals will take place on 9 May and 11 May, with the Grand Final happening on 13 May 2017.