Love? (song)

"Love?"
Eurovision Song Contest 2005 entry
Country	Ireland
Artist(s)	Donna and Joe
Language	English
Composer(s)	Karl Broderick
Lyricist(s)	Karl Broderick
Finals performance
Semi-final result	14th
Semi-final points	53
Appearance chronology
◄ "If My World Stopped Turning" (2004)
"Every Song Is a Cry for Love" (2006) ►

"Love?" was the Ireland's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, performed in English by Donna and Joe.

History

It was the first Irish entry to be performed in a Eurovision semi-final. The song is an up-tempo duet with the brother-and-sister duo singing about the problems that love can cause. They explain, for example, that "Love can make you happy/Love can make you cry/Love can be the best/Until it's passed you by". The song was criticised by many fans for being a break from the traditional Irish ballad,^[1] as well as having a relatively repetitive structure.

The song was only ever performed in the semi-final. Ireland had not finished in the top ten at the previous Eurovision Song Contest, thus they were required to enter that year's semi-final. In the semi-final, it was the twenty-second performance (following Bulgaria's Kaffe with "Lorraine" and preceding Slovenia's Omar Naber with "Stop"). At the close of voting, Ireland's entry had received 53 points, placing 14th in a field of 25. Thus Ireland missed out on the final and were again required to qualify through the semi-final at their next Contest appearance.

Brian Kennedy with "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" succeeded this as Ireland's entry at the 2006 Contest in Athens.

Legacy

Despite its infamy, the song has lived on in the ears, if not the hearts, of Irish people. For several years now Today FM disc jockey Ray Foley has used clips from the song in a segment of his radio show called "The Entertainment Update". In this, Ray, his co-host JP and the show's producer inform listeners of entertainment news across the world. After closing their segment with (usually) a bad pun, and fake laughter from the three "anchors", the four-note dramatic flourish from "Love?" is heard.

References

v t e Eurovision Song Contest 2005   Countries Final (by final results) Greece (winner) Malta Romania Israel Latvia Moldova Serbia and Montenegro Switzerland Norway Denmark Croatia Hungary Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina Russia Albania Macedonia Cyprus Sweden Ukraine Spain United Kingdom France Germany Semi-final only (did not qualify for the final) Poland Slovenia Belarus Netherlands Ireland Iceland Portugal Finland Bulgaria Estonia Austria Belgium Andorra Monaco Lithuania Withdrawn Lebanon   Artists Final (in order of appearance) NOX Javine Chiara Luminiţa Anghel and Sistem Wig Wam Gülseren Zdob şi Zdub Ledina Çelo Constantinos Christoforou Son de Sol Shiri Maimon No Name Jakob Sveistrup Martin Stenmarck Martin Vučić GreenJolly Gracia Baur Boris Novković & Lado Members Helena Paparizou Natalia Podolskaya Feminnem Vanilla Ninja Walters and Kazha Ortal Semi-final only (did not qualify for the final) Global.Kryner Laura and The Lovers 2B Lise Darly Angelica Agurbash Glennis Grace Selma Nuno Resende Suntribe Geir Rönning Marian van de Wal Kaffe Donna and Joe Omar Naber Ivan and Delfin Withdrawn Aline Lahoud   Songs Final (by results) "My Number One" "Angel" "Let Me Try" "HaSheket SheNish'ar" "The War Is Not Over" "Boonika bate doba" "Zauvijek moja" "Cool Vibes" "In My Dreams" "Talking to You" "Vukovi umiru sami" "Forogj, világ!" "Rimi Rimi Ley" "Call Me" "Nobody Hurt No One" "Tomorrow I Go" "Make My Day" "Ela Ela (Come Baby)" "Las Vegas" "Razom nas bahato" "Brujería" "Touch My Fire" "Chacun pense à soi" "Run & Hide" Semi-final only (did not qualify for the final) "Amar" "Czarna dziewczyna" "If I Had Your Love" "La mirada interior" "Le grand soir" "Let's Get Loud" "Little by Little" "Lorraine" "Love Me Tonight" "Love?" "My Impossible Dream" "Stop" "Tout de moi" "Why?" "Y así" Withdrawn "Boys and Girls" "Quand tout s'enfuit" (Note: "Withdrawn" refers to entries that withdrew after applying to enter)