It’s a rarity that I actually get a chance to write about my own home country, Ireland when it comes to this blog, so it’s a delight to be able to write about us here and talk about the songs in our national final this year, as we attempt to reach our second final since 2013 – though let’s be real here, Brooke should have qualified. Hey stupid, THAT’S RICH!
After the return of the Eurovision national final “Eurosong” last year, held on the staple of Irish television that is the weekly Late Late Show hosted by Ryan Tubridy, we repeated the process again this year with another six-song Late Late national final. The big change in this is the fact that the studio panel (a source of many memes last year) will no longer be present, though there will still be juries and televotes in this national final.
Song-wise, I’ll give you a run down of each song this year and what the supporters/opposers of each song are saying, respectively. I’ll do this in the alphabetical order of the artist names, seeing as (at the time of publishing) the running order is not fully available, which means we start with…
ADGY – TOO GOOD FOR YOUR LOVE
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of legendary Eurovision contestant Mickey Joe Harte, Donegal man Andrew Carr has put forward “Too Good For Your Love” as his Eurosong entry, and it’s definitely something new for Ireland. The song, which was said to have started off as a piano ballad, sounds much like something off Spinning Records with a pounding EDM beat and trumpets. In an entirely positive sense, it’s the sort of song you would usually see other countries submit to Eurovision and with a song as modern as this, it’s a promising step for Eurosong. (It’s also been brought to my attention that ADGY may be adding Irish to the song, which would be the first time in around 25 years that Ireland’s national final contains Irish, and would be a huge step.)
Supporters are saying: it’s something new, modern and could be competitive even in what looks like it could be a tough semi for Ireland.
On the flip side: there’s always some doubt about EDM entries being performed live since the collapse of Poland’s 2018 entry, “Light Me Up”.
CONNOLLY – MIDNIGHT SUMMER NIGHT
Arguably the big fan favourite with Eurovision fans at the moment, Leitir Mealláin’s Connolly has brought something not typically Eurovision-y to Eurovision with her song “Midnight Summer Night”, a dream-pop number with introspective lyrics. Connolly, who currently studies music production, shows her production prowess with this song, and as soon as it was released a flurry of hype began to build among the Eurovision fans, with a number of favourable comparisons being drawn between the instrumental style and the music of artists such as London Grammar. With a revamp in the offing, huge things are happening.
Supporters are saying: this could be a magical moment on-stage á la Birds, and a stand-out among the usual Europop.
On the flip side: magical moments (Finland 2017, anyone?) are tough to appeal to televoters, and the juries are out of the semis now.
K MUNI & ND – DOWN IN THE RAIN
Putting Longford on the map, K Muni and ND are two rappers from Academy Music who have entered Eurosong with their song “Down In The Rain”, which is about getting back on track when things go wrong. The song, from their album “Welcome to Longford”, would be a rarity in a rap entry in the contest, though a potentially topical one given Kalush Orchestra’s folk-rap winner last year in “Stefania”. Down In The Rain has a very catchy beat and combines rapped verses by both K Muni and ND with a sung chorus, and the duo have rumoured a revamp potentially featuring a female vocalist (Brooke Scullion, maybe?), so keep your eyes peeled.
Supporters are saying: by sending a song that sounds more like what people listen to these days, Ireland could carve out its own niche in the contest instead of fighting with the other pop entries.
On the flip side: a lot of eyebrows have been raised by an awkward line about women in the second verse. Ouch!
LEILA JANE – WILD
This year, not one but TWO of the artists in Eurosong hail from Donegal! Indie-pop artist Leila Jane has brought us a slice of boppy optimistic pop in “Wild”, a collaboration with some Estonian songwriters and Eurovision NF regular participant Aaron Sibley, who found Leila on a YouTube video and were won over by her distinctive voice. Featuring lyrics that reference Sylvia Plath’s famed “The Bell Jar” and talk about finding comfort in the wild where you can “breathe in winter” until your lungs “fill with snow”, it’s backed by a danceable indie-pop beat. I eagerly await to see how this one will be staged.
Supporters are saying: this is the most traditionally Eurovision-sounding song in the NF and has shades of Ireland’s 2021 entry “Maps”, so it would fit our running theme well.
On the flip side: Maps didn’t qualify.
WILD YOUTH – WE ARE ONE
The rumour mill was in full tilt this year with the suggestions that band Wild Youth might be interested in entering Eurovision for Ireland this year, as a well known name at home which could bring attention to the contest. After some serious hints from band member Conor O’Donoghue on Twitter, the cat was finally let out of the bag, and Wild Youth were announced as an entrant with the song “We Are One”, written by Melodifestivalen regular Jorgen Elofsson. The song, with shades of One Direction, is about how we are all human and how we are all people, and has Swedish handprints all over it.
Supporters are saying: extolling the benefits of a well-established entrant and experienced stage performers, which is CRUCIAL in Eurovision.
On the flip side: some people feel the “we are all one” theme been done to death at this stage.
(There would usually be a sixth entry here, but frankly I’m refusing to platform it. I abhor the thought of somebody with genuinely reprehensible views on allowing two men to marry, who publicly supports a race-baiting bigot who separated parents from their children at the border, and who has been accused of racial attacks on others, representing us in Europe – especially in a contest that promotes love and equality. It’s bad enough that we have to witness the constant shitting on the contest from someone who is trying to be our Eurovision entry, and treating it as a joke. We should never seek to platform those who hold hateful views and if this person comes even close to being our entrant in Eurovision, I will continue to refuse to acknowledge it. Love shall always triumph.)
As a whole, I feel the song quality has risen this year, and I would find myself listening to the songs even in my own spare time, which is a BIG thing for any national final. There’s no super obvious winner here, but I’m actually rooting for multiple of these! Roll on Friday.
Oisín's ESC Blog 
Leave a comment