It’s time to pack your bags Montaigne, you’re heading to Rotterdam for the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest!
The 24-year-old singer was crowned the winner of Eurovision – Australia Decides at the live final beating out stiff competition including icon Vanessa Amorosi, former Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan, and Australia’s Got Talent winner Jack Vidgen with the original song, Don’t Break Me.
Congrats Montaigne!
(Image: Supplied)Despite having the overwhelming feeling of excitement and an afterparty to head to, the 24-year-old admitted to TV WEEK that she was also keen to have some downtime.
“I’m also quite an introvert and I hope the night ends with me watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with my partner in the hotel room!”
This will also mark Montaigne’s first trip to the Netherlands but she admits she doesn’t know too much about it.
“I don’t know anything about the Netherlands at all, except they’re very good at football. Maybe I’ll go and watch a game if I have time,” she added.
Dressed in a ruff and with electric blue hair, Montaigne’s look was easily the most distinctive of the night and it all tied in with the song.
“The song felt blue and that felt like an immediate tonal decision that was right,” she admits.
“My whole thing is to go for an idea of theatricality and I think that’s what Eurovision is- it is pop music merged with musical theatre,” Montaigne added of her act.
“Instead of telling a full cinema-length story, you’re telling a story in a single song and I think you want to do that as creatively and vividly as possible when it comes to Eurovision.”
Montaigne admits that when she was 15 she was “more into Eurovision” before reaching her “‘I’m too cool for this’ phase between the ages of 19 and 23.
Montaigne gave a theatrical performance with her song Don’t Break Me.
(Image: Supplied)At the live final, filmed on Queensland’s Gold Coast, Montaigne received top points from the jury with a score of 54, plus an additional score of 60 from the votes of the Australian public.
Vanessa Amorosi’s original song Lessons of Love was the top pick to win according to the Sportsbet bookies at 2.62 closely followed by Montaigne’s Don’t Break Me at 2.95 and Casey Donovan’s Proud coming in third at 6.00.
As Australia’s sixth delegation in the contest, Montaigne will be following in the footsteps of Guy Sebastian, Dami Im, Isaiah Firebrace, Jessica Mauboy and last year’s Kate Miller-Heidke, who won the first ever Eurovision – Australia Decides last year and placed ninth in the grand final.
WATCH BELOW: Kate Miller-Heidke performs Zero Gravity. Post continues after video…
Discovered on Triple J Unearthed, Montaigne has been part of the Australian indie music scene since 2012. Since then, she’s released two studio albums, sung with the Hilltop Hoods and won the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist in 2016.
Second place’s Casey became a household name at just 16-years-old when she won Australian Idol in 2004 and has since starred in musical theatre productions including The Sapphires and Chicago as well as being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in 2017.
The other huge announcement was that Dami Im would be “throwing her hat in the ring” for a second shot at Eurovision victory. The 31-year-old placed second with her hit Sound of Silence in Stockholm, Sweden back in 2016 and is to this date boasts Australia’s highest Eurovision score.
We’ll see you in Rotterdam!
(Image: Instagram @actualmontaigne)
Former Eurovision star Dami Im also announced that she will be back in 2021 for a shot at representing Australia once again.
(Image: Supplied)600 submissions were was narrowed down to 10 sung by 10 remarkable finalists.
SBS said they wanted to play to a number of different audiences this year that showcased all sorts of Australian music flavours and with everything ranging from power ballads to an anthem sung in both English and Gamilaraay, they certainly delivered.
In order of appearance, this year’s 10 finalists and their songs were:
iOTA- Life
Jordan-Ravi- Pushing Stars
Jaguar Jonze- Rabbit Hole
Jack Vidgen- I Am King I Am Queen
Vanessa Amorosi- Lessons of Love)
Diana Rouvas- Can We Make Heaven
Mitch Tambo- Together
Casey Donovan- Proud
Montaigne- Don’t Break Me
Didirri- Raw Stuff
See Montaigne in action at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in May this year. We’re counting down the days!
Congratulations to all the finalists.
(Image: SBS)