Dami Im earns a spot in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest finals

Dami Im, the Australian representative to the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, is now among the competition’s finalists who will battle it out this weekend.

On Thursday, the international singing match held the second round of semi-final at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Dami faced 17 other hopefuls from other countries, but only 10 were able to qualify for the grand finals on Saturday.

The “X Factor Australia” Season 5 winner performed the powerful ballad “Sound of Silence,” which was met with loud cheers and even a standing ovation from the audience. The 27-year-old Australian-Korean singer dazzled everyone with her glittery pearl gown amid an equally sparkly background.

Apart from Dami, the Eurovision Song Contest web site reported that other contestants who are through to the finals include: Latvia (Justs, “Heartbeat”); Georgia (Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz, “Midnight Gold”); Bulgaria (Poli Genova, “If Love Was A Crime”); Ukraine (Jamala, “1944”); Serbia (Sanja Vučić ZAA, “Goodbye”); Poland (Michał Szpak, “Colour Of Your Life”); Israel (Hovi Star, “Made Of Stars”); Lithuania (Donny Montell, “I’ve Been Waiting For This Night”) and Belgium (Laura Tesoro, “What’s The Pressure”).

Their inclusion in the grand finals was determined by a combination of scores from national expert juries and televoting. Prior to the first semi-final, the expert juries already determined their votes by watching a live feed of the performances. Televoting, on the other hand, took place during the live show.

Dami and the nine other successful hopefuls join winners of the semi-final round one: Azerbaijan, Russia, The Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Armenia, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta. The finals will also feature the Big Five, who are representatives from Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and UK.

[Read: "2016 Eurovision Song Contest: First 10 finalists named; Australian Dami Im prepares for semi-final 2"]

Prior to her performance, Im admitted that she was anxious especially considering the sheer number of people watching her – an estimated of 10,000 live audience and about 180 million TV watchers. “When I am on that stage, when I was rehearsing, that thought of hundreds of millions just kept popping up,” she told Fairfax Media according to a report by Sydney Morning Herald. “That made me shake a little bit, so I'm trying to fight that off. I think it's important to just try and perform for that one person.”

Last year, Guy Sebastian – the first "Australian Idol" winner – made history when he became the first-ever Australian contestant in Eurovision. After performing “Tonight Again” Sebastian landed on the fifth spot in the grand finals.

The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest grand final airs live this Sunday May 15 at 5am and 7.30 p.m. on SBS.

Source: YouTube/Eurovision Song Contest