Dami Im returns to her jazz roots for intimate Birds Basement shows

Eurovision has helped Dami Im reconnect with a style of music and performance she loves, and next month she will share that rediscovered sound with Melbourne audiences at Birds Basement.

The pianist and singer, who has performed at the Sydney Opera House, K-pop festivals around the world, and Stockholm’s Globe Arena to an audience of 200 million during Eurovision in 2016, will play two much more intimate shows at the Singers Lane club in June as part of a tour for her new EP Stormy Weather.

The 37-year-old says she is “stoked” about the dates.

Having played the Brisbane Jazz Club “quite a few times”, Dami says small jazz venues, with their attentive audiences and sense of connection between musicians and fans, are the “most fun” kind of shows to perform.

“So I’m really stoked to be playing the Birds for the first time,” she told CBD News.

She expects the gigs will be “jazz-ish, intimate, fun” and, hopefully, “really special and memorable”.

From behind the keyboard and backed by her “beautiful guitarist” Stephen Ward, Dami will perform a mix of largely original tracks from Stormy Weather, along with fan favourites from her catalogue and “some beautiful, well-known covers”.

Dami is also still riding the wave of Eurovision, having recently taken on presenting duties as Australia’s 2026 Eurovision spokesperson, announcing the local votes live on air to the event’s international hosts.

“I was there at 3am getting ready, with the big gown,” she said. “I was watching very closely.”

While Delta Goodrem’s fourth placing was disappointing, Dami believes there is no reason Australia cannot win Eurovision one day.

“But it depends on the public,” she said.

“I think Delta did incredibly well, it was a great performance and the staging looked just perfect. But unfortunately, you just never know with the results at Eurovision.”

The event also brought back memories as Dami marked 10 years since her own Eurovision appearance, where she finished runner-up with Sound of Silence.

She has since released a new version of the song with Indigenous duo Electric Fields, featuring a verse in Zaachariaha Fielding’s Yankunytjatjara language.

“Watching the whole thing brought back so many memories, you know, just how crazy and intense and life-changing Eurovision was for me,” she said.

Musically, it really opened so many doors for me. And personally, it gave me a newfound strength to take charge of my career and my life.

That independence has also allowed Dami to return more fully to jazz, the genre in which she first trained. Before her television and pop success, she studied jazz voice at the Queensland Conservatorium but says that part of her musical identity was long sidelined.

Now, recording with ABC Music and writing her own jazz-influenced songs, she says she feels closer to the music she truly connects with.

“I’m at a point now in my career where I’m able to play music that I really connect with, and I’m leaning towards this genre of pop jazz, or jazz pop, whichever way you call it,” she said.

One of her recent singles, Bubble, won the jazz category at the Queensland Music Awards in April, while another, Sight of You, leans into a bossa nova sound.

Since childhood, Dami says her favourite place has always been behind a keyboard. That is exactly where audiences will find her at Birds Basement on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27.

Also coming up at the venue are New York’s Julius Rodriguez and his “electrifying trio” on June 19, Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier on June 11, and jazz-funk house band The Harmonix Experience on June 17. •