No stranger to the Eurovision stage, Isaiah Firebrace is back to win the right to represent Australia in Turin!
Isaiah holds one of Australia's best places in Eurovision history, tying for third place with our operatic queen Kate Miller-Heidke when he came in ninth place back in 2017.
But before he makes his way to the 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' stage in February, we take a look at Isaiah's entertainment career, and introduce him to the Contest's newer fans.
Who is Isaiah?
Born in Portland in Victoria, and hailing from Moama in New South Wales, Isaiah was born on 21 November, 1999. Isaiah joins SBS's strong history of including Aboriginal Australians in 'Australia Decides' - his father is a Yorta Yorta man, while his mother is a Gunditjmara woman.
Isaiah first came to fame in Australia by competing on the Australian version of 'The X Factor', winning the show's eighth season back in 2016, and then came to international attention when he was internally selected to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv in 2017.
The Voice Australia 2016
In 2016, Isaiah competed on the eighth season of 'The X Factor Australia' under the mentorship of Adam Lambert (who was the mentor for the 14-21's group).
Isaiah remained safe throughout the entire round of live shows, never falling under the possibility of being eliminated until the two-part finale. His solo performance of Beyonce's 'Halo' and duet performance of Avicii's 'Wake Me Up' with Eurovision powerhouse Jessica Mauboy kept him through to the final showdown.
In the final song, it was Isaiah's performance of original song 'It's Gotta Be You' - written by the famed Australian Eurovision songwriters Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci (known as DNA) - that led him to win over his final competitor Davey Woder.
'It's Gotta Be You' was an incredibly successful hit in Australia and across Europe, charting at #5 on the Australian Artist Singles chart, as well as peaking at #15 on Sweden's Sverigetopplistan, #21 on Denmark's Tracklisten, and #6 on New Zealand's RMNZ.
Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Fresh from an 'X Factor' win and selected to represent his nation at Eurovision, Isaiah was just 17 years old when he went to Kyiv, and was still finding his musical voice at the time.
"I'm so proud to be representing Australia as our entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Even though it has been a dream of mine, never did I think for one minute it would be a possibility. To be able to share this news with my family and friends is unbelievable. I can't wait to go to the Ukraine to perform 'Don't Come Easy'. I will make Australia proud. Thank you to SBS and my label Sony for believing in me and giving me the opportunity of a lifetime."
Following two massive and incredible performances from Guy Sebastian and Dami Im in the years prior where both artists placed Australia in the top five, there was a lot of pressure on Isaiah to perform well for Australia.
Despite some somewhat shaky vocals during his semi-final, Isaiah qualified in sixth place due to an amazing performance during the jury show the night beforehand.
His performance during the Grand Final was much smoother, and managed to grab him Australia's third top-ten result in as many years.
Recent appearances and new music
Since competing for Australia at Eurovision, Isaiah has gone on to release a number of singles, travelled to Los Angeles to record music, and even competed on Channel 10's celebrity singing competition 'The Masked Singer Australia'.
His style of music has changed as Isaiah has matured over the years. He has also proven that he has the capability to sing a vast array of different types of music when he competed in last year's season of 'The Masked Singer Australia'.
During his time on the show, he performed Katy Perry's 'Firework', Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used to Know', and Pink's 'Raise Your Glass'.
His more recent releases, including this year's 'Blame on Me' and last year's 'Know Me Better', are proof of Isaiah's growth over the last few years, and finding his voice in the entertainment industry.
'Blame on Me' was co-written by Isaiah Firebrace and the DNA team who also wrote his Eurovision 2017 song 'Don't Come Easy'. About his latest release Isaiah said:
"This song actually means a lot to me because I finally feel like I'm starting to know myself better and I am heading in the direction I want to with my music."
Eurovision - Australia Decides 2022
Isaiah is looking forward to a moment of redemption in his Eurovision story. Since his time at Eurovision, he has grown both as a person and as a musical artist.
"When I first represented Australia at Eurovision in 2017, I was 17, it was my first time in Europe and I feel like everything was a blurry dream that went by so quickly - I’ve grown so much as a singer, a performer and as a person since then and I’ve definitely got unfinished business!"
In his statement released this morning, Isaiah sneaked in a small but very important fact about his 'Australia Decides' entry - he won't be singing alone!
"I can't tell you anything more except that I'm singing a duet with someone incredible and that we co-wrote the song."
This would make the first duet performance for 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' and if it were to take the crown Australia's first Eurovision duet!
The announcement of who will be Isaiah's duet partner, and the release of their song together, will come at a later date.
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