The Winner of X-Factor Australia 2013 is .... DAMI IM !!!!!!

My heartest felt congratulations to Dami Im on winning X-Factor 2013 tonight !

No one deserves it more than you, Dami. You are just the most humble,  hardworking, beautiful, honest, open, etc contestant to grace these sort of talent reality TV show. I have never seen anyone connect with the audience - young and old - like you have.

Boy, will I miss looking forward to the next Dami Im performance on Sunday nights ... :(

Apologies to those who have come to this blog expecting a guide to moving to Melbourne and finding a mini Dami Im site instead ! But as with most of Australia, I have been swept up and recruited into the Dami Army ! LOL !

I guess its back to "regular programming" though Dami is a shining inspiration to anyone moving to Australia. Born in South Korea, Dami moved to Australia at the age of 9. A talented pianist, she took up singing to help make friends at school since she didn't speak much English. Obviously, she has since followed her dream and achieved it. Personally, I feel it is wonderful how Australia has embraced her and voted the first Asian-Australian to win a talent show of this kind. I hope this debunks the myth once and for all that Australians are racist !

All the best for the future Dami and I will be supporting you all the way ! Starting with buying your winner's single "Alive" on iTunes. :)

But as one last salute to the Dami Im X-Factor journey, I would like to take everyone to the moment when it all started - her audtion - when the Australia discovered the beautiful talent that is Dami Im. It truly shows how far she has come than since then.

Dami Im RULES on an AMAZING X Factor Grand Final night !

What an amazing set of performances by Dami Im in the X-Factor 2013 Grand Final ! I hope she is announced winner tomorrow night. She truly deserves it because of her consistently top class performance and also as a humble beautiful person.

Performance #1 - Singing her audition song again - Hero by Mariah Carey - which I actually prefer over the original. To me, Dami's version is more heartfelt, vulnerable and emotionally connects with the soul. 

Performance #2 - Dami Im's winner's single - Alive. A world class pop song that is destined to be a huge radio hit. Like Redfoo, I'll probably listen to it first thing every morning for a long while.

Last but not least ... 

Performance #3 - Saving the best for last ... this is a MASSIVE performance of the Jennifer Hudson hit from the movie Dreamgirls. Wow ... just Wow. IMHO, the BEST performance on ANY Australian talent show. Ever. 

Go the DAMI ARMY !!!!

Dami Im WRECKS her way into the X-FACTOR 2013 GRAND FINAL !

Congratulations to DAMI IM on reaching the Grand Final of X-Factor Australia 2013 !!!!

Her journey has captivated the whole of Australia (and many people around the world too). It all culminates in this Sundays Grand Final followed by Monday's result show and crowning of the winner.

For me, Dami has been the most consistent performer throughout this whole series. She is clearly far and away the vocalist in the competition. But will that be enough to win her the competition ? She faces a stiff challenge from Taylor Henderson (2nd best performer in the show after Dami IMHO) and 14 year old Jai Waetford (who will no doubt win many female and sympathy votes).

I'll leave you with Dami's stunning rendition of "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus which many say are better than the original. You be the judge. :)

Things to do and see in Melbourne .. Updated !

New or on vacation to Melbourne ? Bored of the regular tourist haunts and want to check out something different ?

I just updated my off-the-beaten-track guide to Melbourne's best alternative attractions / things to do and see. 

Check it out here ! ... http://www.squidoo.com/10-things-to-do-in-melbourne-australia

Dami Im displays awesomeness with CLARITY !

Another "out of this world" performance from Dami Im on X-Factor Australia tonight !

Bouncing back from last week's controversial "meh" comments from Redfoo, this superstar Korean Australian immigrant gave a wonderful performance of Zedd's dance hit "Clarity". This song is deceptively difficult to sing and Dami is probably the only one of the finalists that could have pulled this song off.


Having said that, the performances tonight from the rest of the final 6 was also of a very high quality. I am self-confessed addict of reality TV talent shows (e.g. X-Factor, Idol, The Voice, etc) and tonight's episode of X-Factor is probably the best ever episode of this type of show filled end-to-end with great performances.

So Dami getting through tomorrow is definitely no shoo-in. Everyone please vote and get behind Dami ! Go the Dami Army !!

Here's the official X-Factor video. I'm not sure if it can be viewed by people outside Australia but if you can't please post a comment and let me know. Thanks !

P.S. The YouTube Search function has blocked the non-official videos of Dami's performance but you can still get to it if you know where to look. So here's a link to the full segment including Intro and Judge's comments. Thanks Jimzo !

The Quest For News

Just moved to Melbourne and feeling a little bit homesick? Craving for news from your home town?

Well you just might be in luck!

The State Library of Victoria provides library members with FREE access to a wide range of current and past Australian and international newspapers. You can access this service either from the many PCs at libraries or – wait for this – all from very comfort of your own home!

My personal favourite is the fantastic PressDisplay news service that has content from 2200 newspapers from 97 countries – including advertisements! A little bit of warning here though – you can find yourself spending countless hours trawling through news from all over the world.

Enjoy!