We could do with a good showing in 2018, but as Johnny Logan might say ‘What’s another year?’
Singer-songwriter Ryan O’Shaughnessy will attempt to bring Ireland’s fairly dismal run of form in the Eurovision Song Contest to an end when he performs his song, ‘Together’ at this year’s contest in Lisbon in May.
Still the most successful country in Eurovision history with seven wins, Ireland’s record in the competition has been pretty undignified in recent years; Ryan Dolan was the last Irish entrant to make the final in 2013, when he received a grand total of five points.
On Wednesday, RTÉ announced that ‘Together’, a ballad penned by O’Shaughnessy together with Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes, will be Ireland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest and will be performed by O’Shaughnessy at the first Eurovision Semi Final in Lisbon on Tuesday, 8 May.
In August of last year, RTÉ held a Eurovision Song Contest Forum and invited key industry professionals, songwriters and performers to come to RTÉ to gain a deeper insight into the present day contest from international Eurovision experts and key RTÉ decision makers.
Clip via RyanOShaughnessyVEVO
The forum created debate and fostered new ideas as to the way RTÉ might approach the song contest this year. Over 300 songs were submitted to RTÉ for consideration before the November deadline and ‘Together’ was chosen after being selected by a panel of music industry professionals who listened to and judged the shortlisted final entries.
‘Together’ was purposefully written for the Eurovision Song Contest by writers working in The Nucleus, a new Irish songwriting team and hub, founded by Hamlet Sweeney, that brings the international model of collaborative songwriting to Ireland.
Commenting on the announcement, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, who you may recognise from his former role as Mark Halpin in RTÉ’s Fair City and from a previous appearance on Britain’s Got Talent said: “As one of three songwriters on ‘Together’, I’m delighted it has been chosen to represent Ireland in Eurovision 2018, and on top of that, to be asked to perform for my country is an absolute honour. I plan on doing Ireland proud by bringing a song and performance to Eurovision that we haven’t seen since the days of ‘Rock and Roll Kids’.
“Last year’s winning song from Salvador Sobral was a beautiful, melodic piece, and I think it may have carved the way for the Eurovision to revert back to being a song contest where true songs can flourish. I can’t wait to get onto that stage and perform an honest piece for millions of people.”
We don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but we think we’re definitely going to win, but we have heard that before…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2OEd4pLMOI
Clip via RTÉ Player International
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
