Demi Lovato and Sam Smith Debut 'Musical Theater'-Inspired Duet 'I'm Ready' — Complete with Drag Queens!

Sam Smith and Demi Lovato are teaming up to release their newest track, “I’m Ready.”

Throughout the upbeat, pop bop duet — which dropped Thursday — the famous friends address having the bravery to be vulnerable and accepting of love.

On the soaring chorus, Smith — with a harmonizing assist from Lovato — sings, “I gotta take that risk tonight / I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready / For someone to love me / I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready / For someone to love me, for someone to love me.” By the two-minute mark, a gospel choir joins in to emphasize the message of love further.

The music video takes on an Olympic theme, beginning with Smith on a wrestling mat, throwing down their opponent — who turns into a burst of glitter instead of falling to the ground.

For the second verse, Lovato appears on a diving board to sing: ‘No, I’ve been lookin’ hard for a lover disguised as a sinner / No, not a cheater, a redeemer.”

Throughout the video, Smith and Lovato are joined by several drag performers — RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Valentina and Gigi Goode among them.

The video concludes with Smith and Lovato standing in all-white, medals around their necks, belting out the chorus triumphantly from a podium as gymnasts tumble around them.

Smith, 27, couldn’t be happier to join forces with the songstress, also 27, on their latest work.

“I feel like everyone knows Demi because she’s so open,” they told Harper’s Bazaar. “I am enamored by her strength and willingness to tell her story, and also her openness about still not being perfect and still learning in front of everyone.”

Grammy-winner Smith says they gave this tune their all when it came to vocals and intensity. “I’m nervous about the song because the song for me is a song that’s reaching. You know what I say when a song’s reaching, when it’s like you’re reaching for the stars in the melody, you’re reaching for the stars in all of it,” Smith told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “It almost sounds a bit musical theater at times. It feels cheesy at times. And I’m trying to own that because that is a genuine feeling that comes out sometimes in the studio and it’s fun. It’s really fun to go to that place.”

“With us, with me and Demi singing, I know that we’re so inspired by those things, those musical theater [influences],” Smith added. “What people [would call] cheesy [are] places that I go to, that I enjoy going to sometimes. It’s about feeling no shame.”

Speaking more on the duet, they said, “I think this song really, for me, is about feeling no shame in some of the things that I make because I’m releasing music in a climate where music’s really cool a lot of the time. It’s really, really cool. And basically one of my inspirations is musical theater and these types of songs that reach. I think it’s me saying that I’m going to reach and it’s okay to play around and have these moments without feeling ashamed for being really pop.”

During the at-home radio show special, Smith also teased the new music video in which groovy dance moves are seen throughout, “When you see the video, you’re going to scream. I’m dancing.”

“I’m Ready” comes after a strong 2019 for Smith; they released three hit singles last year. Smith’s solo jams “How Do You Sleep” and “To Die For” plus the collaboration with Normani on “Dancing with a Stranger” were instant fan favorites. In 2017, Smith’s sophomore album The Thrill Of It All debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Lovato’s 2020 is also off to an amazing start. She debuted her impassioned ballad “Anyone” during her emotional Grammys performance in January. She then opened Super Bowl LIV by singing the National Anthem the following month. In March, Lovato dropped her latest self-empowering single, “I Love Me.”