Sydney singer Montaigne will represent Australia at the Eurovision song contest to be held in the Netherlands in May.
The artist beat nine other acts in the televised show held on the Gold Coast and organised by broadcaster SBS on Saturday night, scoring the most votes from a combined jury and public tally with her song Don’t Break Me.
“I’m very happy and joyful and full of beans,” the singer told SBS.
“I was quite nervous because I was nervous about being nervous because that might affect my singing,” she said.
“So I don’t know if I sung the song perfectly but I think I did a pretty good job.”
In the second event to include votes from the Australian public, Montaigne topped the jury vote with 54 points, adding 53 from the public vote to win with a total of 107.
Australia has decided! We have a WINNER! @actualmontaigne will fly the flag for Australia at #Eurovision 2020. See you in Rotterdam! #AusDecides pic.twitter.com/O8lzUepOkl
— SBS Eurovision (@SBSEurovision) February 8, 2020
Former Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan gave a powerhouse performance of her ballad Proud, which earned her top place with the public, but lacked the industry points to put her in the No 1 spot. Pop icon Vanessa Amorosi placed third.
Other singers vying for the chance to represent Australia in the 65th year of the contest included Australia’s Got Talent winner Jack Vidgen, who wrote his own song; Gamilaraay singer Mitch Tambo; singer-songwriter and actor-performer iOta; and Jaguar Jonze, whose song Rabbit Hole tells of dealing with her life coping with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
Montaigne is an Aria-award artist who began her career after submitting songs to triple J’s Unearthed project while she was still in high school. The 24-year-old singer’s debut album Glorious Heights peaked at No 4 on the Aria chart.
There was a lot of support for Montaigne’s song on social media, but her staging and costume, which the singer said was inspired by a Pokémon character, sharply divided viewers.
Montaigne has taught me that I can succeed even when I look like a sad clown 🤡
— Jonathan Sala (@tamasys) February 8, 2020
The 10 contestants performed at an event on the Gold Coast broadcast by SBS and hosted by Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst that also included appearances by former Eurovision winner Måns, and former Australian contestants Kate Miller-Heidke and Dami Im.
In a surprise announcement towards the end of the broadcast, Im told the audience she would be “throwing her hat in the ring” for 2021. She is Australia’s highest placed Eurovision contestant to date, having finished second in 2016.
