Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Dervish at Helsinki (2007)

Dustin the Turkey at Belgrade (2008)

Ireland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest (Irish: Comórtas Amhrán Eorafíse) at the 1965 Contest in Naples, participating in every subsequent Contest but two: the 1983 Contest in Munich and the 2002 Contest in Tallinn. Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) is Ireland's representative broadcaster at the Contest, and broadcasts the Contest annually; the semi-final is broadcast on RTÉ Two and the final on RTÉ One.^[1] All but one of the country's entries have been in English; the exception is "Ceol An Ghrá", Ireland's entry in 1972, which was in the Irish language.

Ireland won the Contest for the first time in 1970 with Dana performing "All Kinds of Everything". In total, the country has won the Contest seven times, more than any other country. On seven occasions the Contest has been staged in Ireland, all but one of these in the capital Dublin. However in 1993, following Linda Martin's win, the Contest was held in Millstreet, a town of 1,500 people in west County Cork.^[2]

At the Contest in 2007, Ireland's representatives were traditional Irish music group Dervish performing "They Can't Stop The Spring". The group, having automatically qualified for the final, finished last with five points, all from Albania. In 2008, firm favourite Dustin the Turkey failed to qualify for the final with his song "Irelande Douze Pointe", losing out in the semi-final on May 20.

[edit] Participation

Ireland has competed in the Contest almost continuously since the country's debut in 1965; only in 1983 and 2002 was Ireland absent. In 1983 a strike at RTÉ meant that the broadcaster lacked the resources to send a participant—instead, RTÉ broadcast the Contest with commentary from the BBC. In 2002 Ireland were relegated from the Contest for one year; despite this RTÉ broadcast the Contest and sent a commentator.

Ireland has sent 41 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest; of these seven have won and eighteen have finished in the top five. Ireland has been relegated once: in 2001 Gary O'Shaughnessy finished twenty-first with "Without your Love". In addition, two Irish entries have featured in the semi-final of the Contest: in 2005, Donna & Joe finished fourteenth in the pre-qualifier, failing to qualify for the final. In 2006, Brian Kennedy finished ninth in the semifinal, ensuring an Irish presence in the Athens final. Kennedy finished tenth in the final. Ireland will feature in the semi-final again in 2008. Five singers have represented Ireland more than once at the Contest: Johnny Logan (1980, 1987), Linda Martin (1984, 1992), Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg (as "The Swarbriggs" in 1975 and part of "The Swarbriggs Plus Two" in 1977), and Maxi (as a soloist in 1973 and as part of Sheeba in 1981). Six people have written and composed more than one Irish entry: Brendan Graham (1976, 1985, 1994, 1996), Johnny Logan (1984, 1987, 1992), Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg (1975, 1977), Liam Reilly (1990, 1991) and Joe Burkett (composer 1972, lyricist 1981).^[3]

Almost all of Ireland's Eurovision entries prior to 1998 were conducted by Noel Kelehan. The exceptions were 1965 (Gianni Ferrio), 1970 (Dolf van der Linden), from 1972 to 1975 (Colman Pearce), 1979 (Proinnsias O'Duinn), 1994 (no conductor, although Kelehan conducted other entries) and 1997 (Frank McNamara).

[edit] Contestants

[edit] The Draw

As of 2008, Ireland has participated in 43 Eurovision Song Contest events: 40 grand finals and three semi-finals. Of these, the frequented 17th position is statistically Ireland's best draw. Of the eight Irish entries performed 17th in the running order, three have won (1980, 1992, 1996), two have placed second (1967, 1990), and one has placed fourth (1966). One of Ireland's lowest-scoring entries, however, has also drawn 17th position (1999). In 43 participations, Ireland has never drawn 6th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 24th, 25th or 26th position. Those positions are omitted from the chart below.

*In the chart above, bold type indicates a win, and the "s" and "f" designations denote semi-final and grand final performances for 2004 and subsequent events.

[edit] Voting

Ireland benefits occasionally from "neighbourly" voting from the United Kingdom, although not so in 2007, nor in 2008 when the UK could not vote in the semi-final involving Ireland. Before the introduction of televoting Irish juries tended to award the United Kingdom more or less the same number of points as other countries did. Since the advent of televoting both countries have given above average points to each other.

Statistically, Ireland is the eighth-best country at predicting a winner (behind Montenegro, the now defunct Serbia-Montenegro, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland and Hungary in that order), giving an average of 8.56 points to the winning country every year over its 25 appearances since the current voting methods were implemented. Only once (Turkey in 2003) did Ireland fail to give any votes to the winning country. ^[4]

Since the current scoring system was adopted in 1975, Ireland has both given points to and received points from 39 countries.

Ireland has received the most points from:

Rank	Country	Points
1	United Kingdom	187
2	Sweden	183
3	Norway	151
4	Switzerland	150
5	Israel	142

Ireland has given the most points to:

Rank	Country	Points
1	United Kingdom	144
2	France	139
3	Sweden	113
4	Germany	108
5	Norway	100

[edit] Hostings

Ireland is the only country to have hosted multiple Contests in succession; three in a row between 1993 and 1995. Six of the seven Contests held in Ireland have been held in Dublin; three at the Point Depot, two at the RDS and one at the Gaiety Theatre. In addition, the 1993 Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork. During the 1994 contest, the dancing group Riverdance made their debut as an interval act.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• RTÉ