Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

ESC National Year
Year = 2007
Country = IRL
Preselection = National Final
100% Televoting/SMS
Preselection date = 16 February 2007
Entrant = Dervish
Song = "They Can't Stop The Spring"
SF result =
Final result = 24th, 5 points

Ireland participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 after Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the Irish braodcaster, internally selected the Irish traditional group Dervish to represent them at the 2007 contest, held in Helsinki, Finland. Although RTÉ internally selected the artist to represent Ireland at the contest, the song that Dervish sung was selected by the Irish public during The Late Late Show on 16 February 2007. The song selected was "They Can't Stop The Spring", which went on to be sung in Helsinki. Automatically qualifying to the final after coming 10th in 2006, Dervish only managed to receive 5 points, all from Albania, placing last of 24 countries. This was the first time Ireland had come last in the contest, a country that had won 7 times in total, more than any other country in the contest.

National final

The artist

RTÉ decided to continue to internally select the singer that would represent them at the contest after coming 10th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with Brian Kennedy and "Every Song Is A Cry For Love". Many names were rumoured to be in contention to represent Ireland in Helsinki, with the front-runner being three-time winner for Ireland, Johnny Logan, after he said in an interview on Tubridy Tonight that he would represent Ireland in the contest once again if "everything was right, and that everyone was in agreement", including the song he would sing. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6481|title=Johnny Logan 'would' represent Ireland again|last=Murray|first=Gavin|date=2006-10-07|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] However, a deal between RTÉ and Logan was not agreed upon and Logan was not selected to represent Ireland at the contest. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6620|title=No Johnny Logan at Eurovision 2007|last=Viniker|first=Barry|date=2006-10-27|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Apart from Logan, many other artists were popular with the book-makers, including You're A Star winner Lucia Evans, host of the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 Ronan Keating, as well as winner of the 1992 contest Linda Martin. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6520|title=Bookie's choice: Logan for Ireland|last=West-Soley|first=Richard|date=2006-10-14|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] However RTÉ annouced in November 2006 that they had selected Irish traditional group Dervish to sing for Ireland at the contest. Dervish consists of Cathy Jordan (vocals and bodhrán), Brian McDonagh (mandola), Tom Morrow (fiddle), Michael Homes (bouzouki), Shane Mitchell (accordion) and Liam Kelly (flute and whistle).

The songs

Songwriters were told that they had until 8 January 2007 to submit their songs to RTÉ. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6745|title=Dervish for Ireland 2007!|last=Egan|first=John|date=2006-11-14|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] The songs submitted needed to be suitable to both Dervish and the contest, with all eligible songs being passed through a judging panel to reduce the number of songs to the four songs that will perform at the national final. The judging panel included Shay Healy, the songwriter of "What's Another Year", the winning song for Ireland in 1980. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6798|title=Ireland: Public competition for songs|last=Floras|first=Stella|date=2006-11-22|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] More than 200 songs were submitted to the judging panel at RTÉ, with only 4 of them selected to compete at the national final. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7196|title=200+ songs for Ireland|last=Viniker|first=Barry|date=2006-11-14|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

The first song was "The Thought of You", written by Matti Kallio and is a traditional Irish piecevague, a slow ballad that involves the group playing around Jordan singing at a microphone stand.cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7569|title=Ireland: Song titles known|last=van Gorp|first=Edwin|date=2007-02-07|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] "The Late Late Show" (2007-02-16). "Radio Telefís Éireann". Retrieved on 2008-10-02.] The second song was "Walk With Me", written by Stigg Lindell. A more lively piece than the first song, the song is still a ballad but wil more movement by the group and Jordan at the microphone stand. The thrid song was "Until We Meet Again", written by Malachi Cush, Pam Sheyne, Martin Sutton and Don Mescall. The favourite to win the contest, the song contains more pop elements than the first two, but still retains an Irish traditional feel. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7684|title=Tonight: Irish national final|last=Murray|first=Gavin|date=2007-02-16|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] The final song was "They Can't Stop The Spring" written by John Waters and Tommy Moran. The song began slowly with a long whistle intoduction, before speeding up towards the chorus. The song also featured Jordan playing the bodhrán.

The final

The national final was held on 16 February 2007 on the popular chat-show The Late Late Show, hosted by Pat Kenny (who also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1988). The interval act included Dana singing "All Kinds of Everything" (the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1970), Eimear Quinn singing "The Voice" (winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996) and the Brotherhood of Man singing "Save Your Kisses for Me" (winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976). [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7697|title=Live: Irish national final (transcript)|last=Klier|first=Marcus|date=2007-02-16|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] Also singing was Dmitry Koldun, the Belarusian entry to the 2007 contest, with his song "Work Your Magic". [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7684|title=Tonight: Irish national final|last=Murray|first=Gavin|date=2007-02-16|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Result of National Final

The winner of the contest was "They Can't Stop the Spring", beating the favourite "Until We Meet Again" to second place. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7698|title=Ireland has decided: "They Can't Stop The Spring" in Helsinki!|last=Klier|first=Marcus|date=2007-06-17|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-10-02] Dervish went on to sing the song in Helsinki.

At Eurovision

After coming 10th in the 2006 contest Ireland automatically qualified to the final of the 2007 contest in Helsinki. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6203|title=Results of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest|last=Bakker|first=Sietse|date=2006-05-20|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-10-02]

Before the contest in Helsinki, "They Can't Stop the Spring" received a change in it's performance, with the instrumental break in the song being increased in length. The odds of Ireland's win at the contest varied between bookmakers, ranging from 25-1 up to 51-1. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8385|title=New mix for Ireland|last=West-Soley|first=Richard|date=2007-04-28|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] However the songwriter of the song John Waters believed that Dervish could win the contest. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8476|title=Ireland: Waters talks Eurovision with Dunphy|last=Murray|first=Gavin|date=2008-05-04|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Prior to the contest three-time winner Johnny Logan criticised the contest when interviewed in Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet. He critised the contest's lack of orchestra, the televoting system as well as the allowance of free language in the contest, calling the contest a "kareoke contest". [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8574|title=Johnny Logan critises the Eurovision Song Contest|last=Jensen|first=Charlotte|date=2008-05-07|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Final

Dervish performed "They Can't Stop the Spring" fourth on the night of the final, held on 12 May 2007. Jordan was dressed in a red and white dress, while the men were dressed in plain black shirts, with jeans. The song was performed quicker than in the national final, but did not lose its Irish traditional quality. The performance by Dervish involved lots of movement, as well as some dancing by the group. The group was backed by a background showing large flowers in bloom. The song, however, was not well-received by the European audience and Dervish only managed to collect 5 points, all from Albania, placing last for the first time in Ireland's history at the contest.

After Eurovision

Despite coming last at Eurovision, Dervish annouced that they would still continue to play their music, saying that they "play music for music's sake" and that "it's about heart and soul, it's not about votes". [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8723|title=Ireland: Heads up for Dervish|last=Floras|first=Stella|date=2007-05-16|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] It was also annouced that, despite Ireland's last place, RTÉ received an increase of viewers over the 2006 viewership. RTÉ received 780,000 viewers of the final, marginally higher than in 2006. Despite this reactions in Ireland were unsettled, with talks of "vote hijacking" after Ireland gave 12 points to Lithuania, getting little elsewhere. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8741|title=Irish viewing figures still strong|last=West-Soley|first=Richard|date=2007-05-18|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28]

A TV special was aired on RTÉ on Dervish, however this faced criticism from Irish local media on RTÉ's choice of Dervish as well as the production of the forthcoming show after Dervish's last place in the contest, with claims that their performance on the night of the contest was "disastrous". Demands were also made that RTÉ change their selection method for Eurovision. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8805|title=RTE faces criticism from local media|last=Floras|first=Stella|date=2007-06-11|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-10-02]

Rumours spread that RTÉ would withdraw from the 2008 contest, however RTÉ announced changes to the selection of the Irish entry for the 2008 contest, abandoning The Late Late Show format and reverting to the "National Song Contest" format used in Ireland prior to 2001. [cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8703|title=Ireland to follow Monaco out?|last=Viniker|first=Barry|date=2007-05-14|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-28] [cite web|url=http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=1068|title=RTÉ to return to the National Song Contest|last=McEvoy|first=Denis |date=2007-10-03|publisher="Oikotimes"|accessdate=2008-09-24] cite web|url=http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/9544|title=Ireland calls for Eurovision 2008 entries|last=Krasilnikova|first=Anna |date=2007-04-11|publisher="ESCToday"|accessdate=2008-09-24]

See also

* Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
* Eurovision Song Contest 2007

References


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