Isaiah Firebrace was a surprising but clever choice as Australia’s contestant for the 2017 Eurovision song contest.
His brand of soulful pop stood out in a year of dated ballads and his unshakeable teen confidence propelled him to a top 10 finish.
Australia’s third Eurovision competitor, who has 12 brothers and sisters, was raised from a young age by his father Wayne Firebrace in the small NSW country town of Moama where he nurtured his love of music.
Wayne said his son started singing at their church when he was three.
‘‘Even at the age of three he had them crying in church,’’ Wayne said.
Although the neighbours did not always appreciate his natural talent.
‘‘They used to bang on the door to tell him to ‘turn it down’ when Isaiah was singing – and now they love him.’’
It has been a little over a year since a then 17-year-old singer claimed victory on the eighth season of The X Factor Australia.
Since that time he has performed for an audience of millions at Eurovision in Kiev, Ukraine, released platinum-certified singles and rubbed shoulders with Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and celebrated his 18th birthday.
‘‘There’s a lot of things that I never thought would happen, it’s crazy to think about it," he said.
Some teens might find living up to those expectations overwhelming, but not Firebrace.
’’I don’t feel pressured; I’m more just excited," he said.
"There are going to be hurdles at some point I’ll have to face, because that’s inevitable in this industry.”
Firebrace is incredibly grateful that Australians have stuck by him post X-Factor and Eurovision.
“Things have been going really well,” he said. “In the last few months, I've been gathering a few songs for a possible album release. I don't know when, but hopefully sometime soon.”
Either way, the teenager said the ultimate goal is to provide his fans - who live as far away as Sweden - more original songs.
His first studio album, Isaiah, featured covers of popular singles by the likes of Pharrell Williams, Adele and Beyonce.
“It's weird because I never saw myself as a songwriter,” Firebrace said. “But when I started, only this year, I got really confident with it. Sometimes I come up with the lyrics first, sometimes the melody first. There's so many ways a song can come to life.”
Chunks of his forthcoming album are ready, he said, describing the tracks as “more upbeat, more fun”.
Firebrace will be at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre for one night only next month.
He will perform his own work Its Gotta Be You, Don’t Come Easy and Streets of Gold plus tracks from the Best of X Factor album and a bunch of charting songs with his five-piece band.
The show, Isaiah: Voice of a New Generation, is on at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre on February 10 at 8pm.
- Bookings essential: suthentcent.com.au