Artists don’t enter Eurovision to become one-hit wonders. They want to kickstart, or in some cases sustain, fabulous careers. This year’s six nominees for Most Likely to Succeed Commercially — France’s Amir, Sweden’s Frans, Russia’s Sergey Lazarev, Australia’s Dami Im, Lithuania’s Donny Montell and The Netherlands’ Douwe Bob — all demonstrate long-term money-making potential.
But in the end our readers thought that one act is ready to make dat money more than the rest. After counting 4,434 votes, we can now reveal that Dami Im has won the 2016 Vision Music Award for Most Likely to Succeed Commercially.
The timing of the award couldn’t be better.
On Monday the “Sound of Silence” singer announced that she had sold out her first national tour of Australia, prompting her to add encore dates in cities including Adelaide, Canberra and Melbourne.
“I didn’t expect my first national tour in Australia to sell out so fast and get such a positive response,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m thrilled to announce that NEW dates have been added in 2017! Tag your people that might have missed out.”
Ahead of Eurovision she had the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — gagging for more, with one juror writing:
She keeps calling, calling, calling and I can’t help but answer. With “Sound of Silence” Dami rides the “dirty pop” wave, serving mystery, grit and soul with a heavy electro beat. She recounts her feelings of emptiness following a breakup, but fills the void with sultry vocals and some seriously raw emotion. Dami — a powerhouse vocalist — has the right material. With the proper staging and a bit of luck, she may soon have the Eurovision winner’s trophy too.
At Eurovision Dami rode the hype with aplomb, and left us speechless after her first rehearsal, which saw her wearing a stunning white dress while sitting on a plinth resembling a skyscraper.
In the grand final she won the jury vote in a landslide and came fourth in the televote, finishing second overall. So, so close!
Dami is a deserving winner, not just musically, but also in terms of what she is likely to do with all her cash. Over the summer she traveled to Uganda to visit one of the eight underprivileged children she sponsors around the world. Her pocket book is golden, but so is her heart.
MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED COMMERCIALLY: 2016
1. Australia — Dami Im 1,269 votes, 28.62%
2. Russia — Sergey Lazarev 1,105 votes, 24.92%
3. France — Amir 927 votes, 20.91%
4. Sweden — Frans 678 votes, 15.29%
5. The Netherlands — Douwe Bob 254 votes, 5.73%
6. Lithuania — Donny Montell 201 votes, 4.53%
Total Votes: 4,434
Dami held off stiff competition in this category from Russia’s Sergey Lazarev, who finished just 164 votes behind her. Sergey, already a hugely successful artist in Russia, is no doubt a worthy runner-up.
Sweden’s Frans — whose song “If I Were Sorry” is perhaps the most commercially successful of this year’s competition — came fourth. Our readers seem to think that Dami’s back catalogue and successful tour have her in position to better keep her Eurovision momentum going in the long-run.
Dami is in good company. Past winners include Norway’s Margaret Berger, The Netherlands’ Common Linnets, and Belgium’s Loïc Nottet.
VISION MUSIC AWARDS 2016: THE NOMINEES
This award is just one of a dozen awards we have launched as part of the Vision Music Awards 2016 (VMAs). Our 13 categories—from best dressed to most most wronged at ESC—identify the contestants who left the biggest impression on Eurovision fans, regardless of whether they won the contest or not. You can watch the nominations video below. You can also read more about the awards here.
Dami is an extraordinary artist who is performing non-stop to crowded venues .. With her dedication and skill I can only see this continuing.
She is amazing! <3<3<3
@Vladimir P Asians will have their own version 🙂 this year already, if I’m not mistaken?
If Australia is allowed to take part in Eurovision, Asian countries should be too
Love her! I think she will be in the music scene for a really long time! She just needs a hit song to break into other markets. Moreover, if Australia keeps sending good quality and radio-friendly songs, I wouldn’t mind they have permanent seats in Eurovision. Some bigots just have to rant for years for their participation in the following years but EBU won’t give a damn.
William Lee Adams Interview Dami. You want(Interview) Dami k-pop song.
and This is all the songs. https://www.facebook.com/damiandmusic/videos/935470059860982/
She has all the potential, she just needs the right material. Sound of Silence is simply too uneventful and repetitive – she just used it to showcase her vocal talent, and it worked. I’m longing to hear new material from her!
If it’s based on what can happen. Frans has the biggest support from a Label. Very telling.
Apart from that, Frans or even Amir and Poli write their songs. Sergey and Dami don’t xD.
Frans has been on tour in Sweden, or has performed in Germany or Lithuania for example.
And the most important.. he and Amir performed at NJR.. propably the most important radio in Europe.. airing in many countries.
I’m no Dami Im fan, but she probs deserved this one (along with Sergey), based on previous hits and future speculation. Anyway, this particular award is definitely hit or miss: The Common Linnets have done great, but Margaret Bereger got dumped by her label and I don’t think Loic has released any music since ESC.
This category is clearly define as the ARTIST who will be commercially successful. It’s not about the one Eurovision song. Poli has…one song. Frans has…one song. Dami I’m has a sold out your and Gladiator and Superlove and Sound of Silence ALL OF WHICH SLAYED AUSTRALIA
Yeah, but this “award” is based on supposed future success – not what she’s already achieved.
Sound of silence a hit in Sweden? It only spent 4 weeks at top 100 Sverigetoplistten (Official single chart)
La la love spent about 20 weeks.. that was a hit for example.
Dami is a wonderfully strong and charismatic singer with an extremely endearing personality. Probably a deserved winner of this poll, not that the results are based on any merit (nor could they be)…
It’s incredibly sad that some eurovision fans still judge Dami by the fact that she represented a non-European country and not her amazing talent.
If Australia continues to bring some serious quality into this competition then, according to me, they’re more than welcome to compete every year.
Dami was actually the first eurovision act that has completely blown me away with how good she is.
I thought Dami was going worldwide! 😮
Her song is not a radio hit. It’s definitely not a summer hit.
Where is “IF LOVE WAS A CRIME”??
Congrats to Dami! She SLAYED all my expectations and really brought some Aussie realness to the contest this past year. Her song was one of the few that made my viewing party stop chatting, and actually listen to the whole song, uninterrupted. Now shes on our party playlists with Gladiator and Super Love! Hope to see more from her in the near future; I need my Dami fix!
we all know who SHOULDVE won and who WILL commercially succeed……-looks at framed signed lifesize photo of josh dubovie and smiles-
I hear Dami’s song on RIX FM Sweden a lot. Also there is a lot of money to be made in Australia. Doesn’t matter if she isn’t playing in Germany or Poland or wherever you are
She’s not even a One hit wonder ????????????????????
At least, “J’ai cherché” and “If I were sorry” are being played and both have much better sales. Facts 😉
i hate her song omg