Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993

ESC National Year
Year = 1993
Country = IRL
Preselection = National Final
Preselection date = 14 March 1993 | Entrant = Niamh Kavanagh
Song = In Your Eyes
SF result = N/A
Final result = 1st of 25 (187 points)

Linda Martin's win the previous year gave Ireland the right to host the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest. The song "In Your Eyes," written and composed by Jimmy Walsh and performed by Niamh Kavanagh, was chosen to represent Ireland after winning the national final selection. Held on 13 March at the Point Theatre in Dublin, the event was hosted by Pat Kenny. Eight songs competed, and the winner was selected by ten regional juries. [ [http://www.geocities.com/national_finals_90s_00s/Ireland1993.html IRISH NATIONAL FINAL 1993 ] ]

On the night of the contest, "In Your Eyes" was performed in the fourteenth position, following Sweden and preceding Luxembourg. Ireland took an early lead in the voting sequence, grabbing the first "douze points" of the evening. The United Kingdom was building momentum, however, and after receiving three top scores in a row from Belgium, Iceland and Austria, claimed the top of the scoreboard. The UK remained in first place during the next nine jury votes, but when London called in its votes to Millstreet and awarded twelve points to Ireland, "In Your Eyes" edged back into the lead with 125 points over United Kingdom's 121. The gap between the two widened and narrowed until only the Maltese jury remained, and the United Kingdom was eleven points behind Ireland. Viewers watched anxiously as the Maltese votes were announced, as anything between one and ten points awarded to either country would mean a victory for Ireland. The name of neither country came up, however, and Malta's ten points were awarded to Luxembourg. If Malta gave its twelve points to the United Kingdom, they would have snatched the victory from behind by only one point. After a moment of anxious silence, Malta's twelve points were awarded to Ireland, giving "In Your Eyes" a comfortable-looking 23-point lead and the victory. This was the fourteenth time the United Kingdom had placed second, and the third time they were runners-up to Ireland. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1993] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_winners]

This was Ireland's fifth Eurovision victory, and thus tied France and Luxembourg for the highest number of wins by a single country. Ireland would go on to claim the record outright the following year. "In Your Eyes" is also one of only sixteen Eurovision songs to have received points from every voting country. [ [http://escnation.com/ ESC Nation - www.escnation.com - The Home of ESC Fans ] ]

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