Dami Im has revealed her ambitions to crack the European market after narrowly missing out on winning the Eurovision song contest for Australia in Stockholm on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old Brisbane-based singer said she gave 150% at Eurovision and had no regrets after coming second. Her entry, Sound of Silence, earned the most jury votes but fell short on the public vote, which gave the contest to Ukraine’s Jamala and her song 1944.

Russia’s Sergey Lazarev, who had been favoured to win, came third.

Im told reporters after the show, which was seen by an estimated television audience of 200m, that her second placing may give her more opportunities to release music and tour in Europe, with her song already charting in some countries.

“I just loved performing tonight,” she said. “The crowd was incredible. I was just enjoying the moment rather than thinking about everything else.

“When I finished that last note, I was like: ‘Yep, no regrets whatever happens because I’ve given my 150%, that’s all I can do.’ ”

Interviewed to camera during the broadcast, Im was asked what her pre-performance ritual was: “I drank water,” she replied, tightly clutching an Australian flag.

When asked how she would celebrate if she won: “I’ll go and have a lemonade with my crew.”

Im impressed with a powerful performance in a packed Globe arena full of flag-waving fans, including a strong cohort of Australians. Her song won the most votes from professional music juries in the 42 competing countries but lost out on the count of votes from Eurovision fans phoning in.

It was a nail-biting finish with the jury counts voted first, making it look as if she might win the contest.

“It was so crazy what was happening,” she said. “To be honest I wasn’t all that nervous.

“We were like scratching the Lotto one at a time. I was enjoying it, it was so much fun.”

In the end Jamala took victory with 534 points over Im on 511 and Lazarev on 491.

“I feel very flattered that the professionals gave me the highest points, it feels really good,” Im said. “I think coming fourth in the public vote was still really good. I wasn’t expecting anything that high anyway so I was so happy.”

She said she wanted to be an artist who made a difference in the world and to use her performing platform to help children in poverty.

Im, who moved to Australia from South Korea at the age of nine, said she hoped her participation in Eurovision created a good image of Australia as a place that accepted immigrants like her.

Australia was invited back to Eurovision this year after being granted a wildcard entry in 2015 when Guy Sebastian came in fifth with his song Tonight Again.

Im’s Sound of Silence was created by songwriting team Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci of Sydney-based DNA Songs.