"Don't Break Me" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...

, released as a single on 31 January 2020. The song won the second installment of ''

Eurovision - Australia Decides The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

'', Australia's national selection for Eurovision on 8 February 2020, and was going to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The con ...

, to be held in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, before the contest was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Montaigne was due to compete in the first semi-final which was meant to be held on 12 May 2020.

Background

Montaigne said "'Don't Break Me' is a depiction of the enough is enough phase of a relationship breakdown, where one person feels like they are putting much more time, energy and resources into the relationship than the other person and becomes frustrated and resentful. I wrote it while reading 'Co-dependent No More' by

Melody Beattie Melody Beattie is an American author of self-help books on codependent relationships. Education and career Born Melody Vaillancourt in Minneapolis, Beattie graduated from high school with honors. She began drinking at age 12, was an alcoholic b ...

, which really informed the qualities of the character and the relationship dynamic."

''Eurovision – Australia Decides''

Montaigne performed the song wearing a clown costume including a blue wig, and flanked by backing dancers. The song was awarded the most jury points (54) and second highest public televote points (53) for a total of 107, winning Australia's second national selection competition for

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Charts

References

2020 singles 2020 songs Eurovision songs of 2020 Eurovision songs of Australia Montaigne (musician) songs Songs written by Anthony Egizii Songs written by David Musumeci Song recordings produced by DNA Songs {{2020s-pop-song-stub