Michaja Antonina Nicolaï (; born 7 March 1996), known professionally as Mia Nicolai, is a Dutch singer, songwriter and actress. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 alongside Dion Cooper with the song "Burning Daylight".
Early life Michaja Nicolaï was born on 7 March 1996 in Amsterdam as the second daughter of lawyer Peter Nicolaï and Russian-born musician and composer Marynka Nicolaï-Krylova. She started taking drama and ballet classes at the age of three, which, according to herself, sparked an interest in music. She later started taking piano and violin lessons.
Career 2018–2022: First singles In 2018, Mia Nicolai released her first single, a cover of American composer Glenn Miller's "At Last". In 2020, she released "Set Me Free" and "Mutual Needs", of which the latter was featured on DJ Zane Lowe's radio show. In 2021, she released two singles, "People Pleaser" and "Dream Go".
2023: Eurovision Song Contest On 1 November 2022, the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that Nicolai would represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, alongside Dion Cooper. Nicolai had met Cooper in 2020 when fellow Dutch Eurovision entrant and winner of the 2019 edition, Duncan Laurence, along with Laurence's partner Jordan Garfield, paired the two up. Nicolai and Cooper performed in the first semi-final, but failed to qualify for the final.
Personal life and artistry Nicolai has lived in London, Melbourne and New York City, before settling in Los Angeles in 2022. She has cited English singer David Bowie as one of her main artistic influences.
Discography Studio albums Title Details Sharing Space Among the Stars Released: 7 November 2025 Label: Superglue Formats: Digital download, streaming
Singles As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Album or EP NLD(100) NLD(40) "At Last" 2018 — — rowspan="8" "Set Me Free" 2020 — — "Mutual Needs" — — "People Pleaser" 2021 — — "Dream Go" — — "Loop" 2022 — — "Burning Daylight"(with Dion Cooper) 2023 42 21 "Stuck" — — "Chasing Lullabies" 2025 — — Sharing Space Among the Stars "Spend the Night" — — "Drowning" 2026 — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
As featured artist Title Year Album or EP "Time Without Ya" 2020
Other collaborations Title Year Album or EP "Issue" 2025 Friends, Vol. 2
Songwriting discography Eurovision Song Contest entries YearCountrySongArtistSemi-finalFinalCo-written withPlacePointsPlacePoints2023"Burning Daylight"Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper137 colspan="2" Duncan de Moor, Jordan Garfield, Dion Cuiper, Loek van der Grinten
National selection entries YearCountrySongArtistResultCo-written withPlacePoints2023"When Love's Real"Corina Ivanov77Mike Connaris
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2016 Adios Amigos Prostitute — Babatunde Steffi Short film 2018 Lunchroom girl — 2021 Tara Tereshchenko Episode: "Rex"
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