2023 was no different to most Eurovision cycles here in Ireland; we said we\u2019d learned from not qualifying last year, we picked a boring, generic song on a lacklustre Late Late Show special and our so-called \u2018experts\u2019 – who are completely out of touch with what the contest has become – claimed it was an incredible song that was sure to qualify for the final. Then, when our performance sticks out like a sore thumb compared to countries who invest real time and money into their act, and we fail to qualify, people take to social media to say the whole competition is rigged, and that all of Europe is out to get Ireland.<\/p>\n
We hear it every year; \u201cit\u2019s all political anyway,\u201d \u201cthe Eastern European countries all just vote for each other,\u201d \u201cthey never even give Ireland a chance,\u201d and the dreaded \u201cit\u2019s all because they\u2019re still mad we sent Dustin the Turkey,\u201d as if anyone in Europe remembers a random Irish entry from 2008.<\/p>\n
The fact of the matter is: what we send year after year simply isn\u2019t good enough! Ireland has only qualified for the finals once in the last ten years, in 2018 when Ryan O\u2019Shaughnessy performed the brilliant \u2018Together\u2019, complete with simple but effective staging that really struck a chord with voters. With the exception of 2015\u2019s \u2018Playing with Numbers\u2019 and 2022\u2019s \u2018That\u2019s Rich\u2019, none of our failed entries deserved to qualify.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve regularly sent some of the dullest and most forgettable songs of the competition. We fell to all-time lows with 2016\u2019s \u2018Sunlight\u2019, 2017\u2019s \u2018Dying to Try\u2019 and 2019\u2019s \u201822\u2019. Even when we sent songs that weren\u2019t painful to listen to, they reeked of mediocrity and rightfully failed to reach the final, like 2021\u2019s \u2018Maps\u2019, and this years swing and a miss from Wild Youth, \u2018We Are One\u2019.<\/p>\n
With Sweden\u2019s Loreen tying two of Ireland\u2019s proudly held records this year (most wins of all time with 7 and the only artist to win the contest twice after Johnny Logan) it\u2019s time for us to cop ourselves on and get serious about competing.<\/p>\n
For such a small country we produce an incredible amount of top-quality music that impresses audiences at home and across the world. We\u2019re not short on artistic talent by any means, we just choose to ignore what makes us special and try to fit a generic Eurovision mould that the rest of Europe moved on from 15 years ago.<\/p>\n
While Ireland\u2019s drab entry lost out in the last set of Eurovision’s semi-finals, all of the countries who sent a song in their native language went through to the final. Ireland, despite having growing pride in the Irish language, has only sent one song as gaeilge since we joined the Eurovision nearly 60 years ago. It\u2019s mind boggling. We have a unique language and culture that can\u2019t be replicated by any other country and yet we choose to ignore it.<\/p>\n
Despite winning the competition a staggering (and previously record holding) seven times, our most memorable moment in the history of the competition came in 1994 when Riverdance debuted. Our actual entry won that year and yet our half-time entertainment is what people still talk about because it was so unique.<\/p>\n
We need to totally transform how we select a song for Eurovision. Get rid of the horrendous Eurosong special and move the national selection to a space where artists can actually stage it – give viewers a taste of how it would look if it were to qualify. Spend more time producing a finished product instead of rushed demos that lack the polish that other countries have with their entries. Other countries send some of their biggest home-grown artists yet many Irish acts are embarrassed to take on the poison chalice.<\/p>\n
If RT\u00c9 don\u2019t take the contest seriously, how are our plethora of talented artists meant to do so?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time we stopped whining about how Europe hates us and how we\u2019ll never qualify again and transform our cultural attitudes to the whole competition. Eurovision should be an opportunity budding Irish acts are desperate to do. It should be a platform for us to show off a language an culture that we fought to keep alive for centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n