“A banger.”
RTÉ has announced that Ireland will be represented at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest by Leslie Roy with a song called ‘Story Of My Life’ at the competition in Rotterdam in May.
Established singers and songwriters were invited to submit songs for entry for this year’s competition by the national broadcaster and after the entries were whittled down to a shortlist, it was Roy’s number that was chosen to try and land what would be an eighth Eurovision victory for Ireland.
Roy hails from Balbriggan in Dublin but splits her time between Ireland and New York and she wrote ‘Story of My Life’ in conjunction with some of her favourite Nashville-based co-writers such as Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt and Tom Shapiro.
The song was aired for the first time on 2FM on Thursday morning before going live on the Eurovision YouTube channel. Roy will also be performing the song live on the Late Late Show on Friday night.
The wait is finally over! So proud and excited to be Ireland’s Eurovision entry! Everyone has a story to tell! What’s your story?! Let’s do this Ireland @michaelkealy1 @thisispopbaby @RTE2fm @Eurovision
— lesley roy (@lesleyroyreal) March 5, 2020
As long-time Eurovision viewers will know, it’s not just the song that catches the attention of viewers and judges these days, with choreography and stage direction assuming more significant importance in recent years.
To that end, for the first time in Irish Eurovision history, RTÉ has enlisted the help of acclaimed theatre and events production company THISISPOPBABY to work on staging and the creative direction this year.
Michael Kealy, Head of the Ireland Delegation for Eurovision 2020, is certainly optimistic about the prospects for this year’s entry, saying: “We are extremely excited about Lesley Roy and this year’s Irish entry, Story Of My Life. The song is fresh and uplifting, it’s a banger, and we are very much looking forward to working with Lesley and THISISPOPBABY in preparation for our performance on the biggest music stage in the world in Rotterdam in May.”
A lifelong Eurovision fan herself, Roy said that representing Ireland at the Eurovision will allow her to fulfil a lifetime ambition.
“Growing up in Ireland, obviously the Eurovision holds a special place in my heart, as it does for many people,” she said.
“It was a very big event in my house every year, we watched and voted on each act and I became a massive fan at a very young age. I’m very lucky that I am from the era of Niamh Kavanagh, Paul Harrington, Eimear Quinn, Riverdance years.
“I feel like the back to back years watching it live from the Point Depot with Gerry Ryan hosting and the explosion of Riverdance left a very deep impression on me as a kid. I definitely made a mental note that this is something I would love to do for Ireland when I grew up. I think I have a very high standard of what a Eurovision song should be because of those memories and that definitely informed the type of song I would send.”
Provided the event goes ahead – there has been no official communication on the potential impact of the coronavirus on the event as yet – Roy will perform the song at the first semi-final in Rotterdam on 12 May and, should she qualify, at the grand final on Saturday, 16 May.
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