Anja Nissen has had a hard year, but she never gave up on her dream of singing at the Eurovision Song Contest. “Friends said that I dream too big, but now I am here,” says the winner of The Voice of Australia to ESC Daily about representing Denmark in Kiev.
“Last year, the energy of the night was like I was going to win,” Anja Nissen looks back at the deception of 2016 during Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam. “So many people told me I had it in the bag. I prepared myself for it and then it did not happen. This year it was the other way around. I need to pinch myself that this is really happening.”
A star in Australia, unknown in Denmark
Anja Nissen won The Voice of Australia and is a known and respected artist in the music industry. In Denmark however, the nation her parents were born, she is an unknown. It was something Anja had to adjust to. “I am used to performing in front of audiences that know me. But even though the people in Denmark did not know me, I still did well and got so much support. I am part of two amazing countries.”
Eurovision is growing and growing in Australia and there is still a lot of potential, besides the results that are already great. “People know about it, but not everybody understands that they can actually be involved and vote. I grew up with Eurovision, even though it aired pretty late.”
