Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Ireland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | RTÉ |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 43 |
| First appearance | 1965 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 |
| External links | |
| RTÉ website | |
Ireland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest (Irish: Comórtas Amhránaíochta na hEoraifíse) 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 sung in Irish.
On seven occasions the Contest has been staged in Ireland, all but one of these in the capital Dublin. The exception to this was in 1993 – following Linda Martin's win in 1992, the Contest was held in Millstreet, a town with a population of 1,500 people in west County Cork.[2]
Ireland won the Contest for the first time in 1970 with Dana performing "All Kinds of Everything".
In total, Ireland has won the Contest seven times, more than any other country, including an unprecedented three consecutive victories in the 1990s (the most consecutive wins accumulated by a country) – that decade also saw one more victory and two second place finishes (1990 and 1997)to ensure the best overall performance by any country in the Contest for any decade.
Ireland has an average of 72 points per contest, sharing the highest average score with the United Kingdom.
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 the country's national broadcaster 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 (the rules in use at the time meant that a country who wanted to take part had to show the previous year's Contest). Reformed RTÉ presenter Marty Whelan is the national commentator these days.[3]
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, four 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 also featured in the first semi-final in 2008 and in the second semi-final in 2009, however the representatives failed to qualify for the final in both.
Ireland's recent finishes in the Contest have been dismal at best. 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, Dustin the Turkey failed to qualify for the final with his song "Irelande Douze Pointe", losing out in the semi-final on May 20. The same fate befell Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy in the 2009 semi-final on May 14.[4]
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).[5]
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).
Ireland has also indulged in the process of writing songs for other countries; Ronan Keating (who also presented the 1997 contest) wrote the 2009 entry for Denmark.[6]
Contestants
Voting history (1975–2009)
Ireland benefits from "neighbourly" voting from the United Kingdom, although not so since 2007 (although the United Kingdom were unable to vote in Ireland's Semi-final since 2008). 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; usually 8 points.
In recent years Ireland has also voted for countries where a large diaspora live in Ireland, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In 2008 Ireland gave 8 points to the UK, 10 to Poland and 12 to Latvia.
Statistically, Ireland is the fourteenth-best country at predicting a winner , giving an average of 8.41 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.[9]
Ireland has given the most points to...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United Kingdom
|
162 |
| 2 |  France
|
117 |
| 3 |  Norway
|
114 |
| 4 |  Sweden
|
113 |
| 5 |  Germany
|
109 |
Ireland has received the most points from...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom
|
187 |
| 2 | Sweden
|
183 |
| 3 | Norway
|
151 |
| 4 |  Switzerland
|
150 |
| 5 |  Austria
|
142 |
NOTE: The totals in the above tables include only points awarded in Eurovision finals, and not the semi-finals since 2004.
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.
References
- ^ RTÉ:Eurovision. RTÉ.ie. Retrieved on 5 September 2007.
- ^ Millstreet. Cork-Guide.ie. Retrieved on 5 September 2007.
- ^ "Marty and the 'cool' Irish". Irish Independent. 2006-05-23. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Ireland dumped out of Eurovision". BBC. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
- ^ Diggiloo Thrush - Ireland
- ^ #2 BBC
- ^ a b Schacht, Andreas (2010-02-10). "Ireland: Niamh Kavanagh back in national final". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Grillhofer, Florian (2010-03-05). "Ireland sends Niamh Kavangh to Eurovision". ESCToday. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Statistics compiled and available here (scroll approximately halfway down the page).
External links
- Points to and from Ireland eurovisioncovers.co.uk