On Saturday 9th February the very first Australian national final will be held on the Gold Coast – Eurovision Australia Decides.

Ten artists will be competing to be the act who will represent Australia in Tel Aviv in May. Amongst them will the 16 year singer-songwriter Leea Nanos from Melbourne with her song ‘Set Me Free’. Leea is the only unsigned act participating in the contest and we are hoping for exciting things for her after this amazing exposure.

We had a chat with Leea about how she entered the selection, how her previous experience will help her on Saturday and her memories of watching Eurovision!

Hello Leea, congratulations on making the shortlist for Australia Decides! Can you tell us how you ended up being involved in the selection process?

I got involved with Eurovision Australia Decides because I saw a Facebook ad online and submitted my song. It’s so funny to me that one ad is helping me reach my dream and I’m so grateful. I got the phone call a couple weeks later and now I’m involved with this incredible opportunity.

I understand you write music as well as sing, do you prefer to write for yourself or the challenge of fitting your lyrics to suit other artists?

I love to write in general, if it’s for myself, co write or another artist. I think writing songs for yourself you can connect more to the lyric and they become more authentic as they are written from a personal perspective.

At 16 it’ll be an amazing opportunity to reach hundreds of millions of people so early in your career. What previous experiences could you draw on to help you prepare for such a massive audience?

It’s crazy to be part of such a massive event, past events that have helped me would be at huge crowds at the Hisen Arena, X Factor Blind Auditions, Crown Casino, State Theatre, ABC ME, Channel 7TWO, and the Regent Theatre. I have performed to crowds from 20 people to 10,000 people. When performing at these big venues, my confidence grew and I love singing to big audiences, I just can’t wait to be on the big Eurovision stage for Eurovision Australia Decides.

There are some really well known names in the first ever Australia Decides line up. Is there anyone you’re particularly excited to be on the same stage with?

I’m super excited to share the stage with all these artists who I have looked up to ever since I was little. The line up for the show is incredible and I am so lucky to be performing with Australian royalty. To say that I was on the same stage as Sheppard or Kate is unbelievable to me. I also love Alfie and Aydan and watched both of the their journeys on The Voice!

What are your plans for after the competition, do you have any new music or projects that we can look forward to?

After the competition I am looking forward to releasing new music – I can’t wait to share what I have been working on and share more of my music with the world.

If you won Australia Decides you’d be representing the country as an international ambassador. What would it mean to you to do be able to do this for your country? And have you ever watched Eurovision before?

It would mean the world. It sounds cheesy but I think I would need someone to pinch me every 5 seconds. To represent the country I love so much and sing my own song across the globe would be a dream come true. To even have this opportunity is insane. I would be so humbled to know I am representing the country I love with all my heart. I have watched Eurovision ever since I was little and my grandparents before ABBA, we are huge fans. I love singing “Sounds of Silence”, “Rise Like A Phoenix” and “Beautiful Mess”. Eurovision is full of love, passion and music I love every part of it.

Thank you Leea, good luck in Eurovision – Australia Decides!

Would you like to see Leea and ‘Set Me Free’ go to Eurovision for Australia? Don’t forget to vote in our Eurovision – Australia Decides poll below!