On this page you can keep up to date on Irish news stories with a Eurovision interest. You can find older Irish News stories here. 

December 9th 2008

At the risk of tempting faith, "All Kinds Of Everything" now believes that we are a only a matter of days from knowing who will represent Ireland in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, to be staged in Moscow in May. It appears the RTÉ has had a complete change of mind on its selection process, from the plans it was making in the autumn and has reverted to an internal selection for the performer. 

The Irish national broadcaster is believed to have ditched plans for a large scale multi-artist national final in favour of a "Late Late Show" special, using one of Ireland's best known performers, to be staged in late February. Once again it is believed that the public will choose which song will carry the Irish colours at Eurovision, although there may not be a open call for songs as there was in 2006 and 2007, when a similar format was used to choose the songs performed by Brian Kennedy in Athens and Dervish in Helsinki. 

When and if the news is confirmed, it is likely to disappoint several Irish songwriters who had planned to submit songs to RTÉ and also many Irish Eurovision fans who chose a mult-artist final as their favourite selection process in a recent poll hosted by "All Kinds Of Everything". Almost two thirds of those who responded to the poll favoured a multi-artist national final, while less than one in ten, chose the now likely one act selection.

However while the selection process may disappoint some, the choice of performer is likely to generate a huge amount of interest in the Irish entry in Moscow, as the name that is currently being rumoured as the choice of RTÉ is a well established singer and songwriter with high recognition around Europe and is certainly not unknown to Eurovision fans. When the news is made public, we expect Ireland to be one of the countries that will be getting a lot of attention between now and May. 

While we await official news of next year's Irish entrant, the last singer to bring back the Eurovision trophy to Ireland is back in the public eye. Dubliner Eimear Quinn (left), won the competition in Oslo in 1996 with "The Voice" written by Brendan Graham and she was last seen by most Eurovision fans when she called in the Irish votes in Athens in 2006. Eimear has just released an album of seasonal music called "O Holy Night" and as well as the title track, she performs other Christmas favourites in English, Irish Gaelic and Latin, including the all time favourite "Silent Night". Eimear is also in the middle of a tour of Ireland, where she can be heard performing songs from her new  album and you can find out more information on the album and the tour on Eimear's website.   

Eimear Quinn isn't the only former Eurovision winner who'll be entertaining Irish audiencies in the next few weeks. Perhaps more surprisingly Finnish group Lordi (left), the Eurovision winners in 2006 will make their Irish stage debut on Sunday, February 15th at the Button Factory in Dublin. Lordi are currently promoting their latest horror metal album, "Deadache", which is about to be released. Don't be surprised to see Lordi get plenty of interest during their Irish visit, as the date is likely to take place in the run-up to this year's Irish Eurovision selection. Tickets for the Dublin show can be purchased through the Button Factory website, while you can hear tracks from the new Lordi album on their MySpace site and find out more about one of Eurovision's most talked about winning acts, on the band's official website.

Looking only slightly less terrifying than Lordi, two other former Eurovision acts will once again be teaming up for one of next year's biggest nostalgia concerts. Sir Cliff Richard (left) competed for the U.K. in London in 1968 and in Luxembourg in 1973 while his former backing band The Shadows, flew the British colours in Stockholm in 1975. Cliff and The Shadows are once again hitting the road together in the autumn of 2009 and they are kicking off their tour in Dublin's  O2 Arena (formerly The Point Depot) on September 21st. The tour will mark fifty years since Cliff first recorded and performed with The Shadows and twenty years since they last performed together in concert.  Cliff and The Shadows dominated the British popular music scene in the late 50s and early 60s. Between them they achieved 19 No 1 hits, including "Living Doll", "Congratulations", "Bachelor Boy", "Wonderful Land" and "Apache". Their work also covered films and they appeared together in the movies "Summer Holiday" and "The Young Ones", from which came million-selling hit singles and albums.

While Sir Terry Wogan may have now passed on the BBC commentator's microphone to Graham Norton (see story below), it looks like the hugely popular Limerickman has no intenion of retiring and may have a surprise Christmas hit single on his hands. Seventy year old Terry has teamed up with the Welsh singer Aled Jones to record a version of the traditional festive songs "Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace On Earth" in a duet which echoes the 1977 hit of Bing Crosby and David Bowie.

The single has gone on release in the U.K. and in Ireland this week and money raised from the sales of the single will go to "Children In Need", the BBC's annual charity appeal for young people, which is hosted by Terry Wogan. You can watch the video for the single by vclicking the image on the left. It's exactly 30 years since Terry had his only major chart success with his version of "The Floral Dance". 

December 5th 2008

"I am delighted that Graham Norton will now be bringing his wit to bear on this iconic music event"  Sir Terry Wogan (5th December)

This morning the B.B.C. finally confirmed the worst kept secret of the year, when they announced that Sir Terry Wogan was stepping down as its television commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest and would pass on the microphone to fellow Irishman Graham Norton. "All Kinds Of Everything" reported this story back in May in the wake of the Belgrade event, but it has taken over six months for the nes to become official.

Limerickman Sir Terry Wogan (left) has been the longest standing Eurovision commentator and has a unique place in the history of the contest. Having made his name on RTÉ Radio in the 1960s, Terry moved to the B.B.C. in 1967 to present a late night show on the new Radio One pop channel, before moving to his own afternoon show, two years later. In 1971 Terry worked on his first Eurovision Song Contest, providing the BBC's radio commentary for the event staged in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. Terry first provided television commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 and again in 1978, before taking on the commentary role completely from 1980. In 1998 Terry earned a unique place in the  contest's history when he co-presented the show with Ulrika Johnson as well as doubling up as the BBC's commentator for the show.

A long time Eurovision fan, Terry has never taken the role of a neutral observor of the contest, and has always and sometimes controversially expressed his opinons on the songs, the performers, the presenters and the voting. It's clear that in recent years, like many older Eurovision fans, the expansion of the contest and the role of the voting blocks has somewhat diminished Terry's enjoyment of the show and his disappointment with the U.K.'s last place result in Belgrade may have been the tipping point in his decision to move on.

Many believed that the decision of the B.B.C. to involve Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber as the songwriter of the 2009 U.K. entry and the return of juries to the Eurovision Song Contest might have persuaded Terry Wogan to change his mind and go to Moscow, but there is little surprise that from next year, fellow Irishman Graham Norton will take over as the B.B.C.'s television commentator.    

Graham Norton (born Graham William Walker in 1963) first came to fame as a comedian and actor. In 1988 the openly gay Cokman moved to the U.K.'s Channel 4 to host his own chat show "So Graham Norton". His flamboyantly camp presentation style, combined with his fondness for the mildly outragous innuendo soon made him one of Channel 4's biggest stars. After trying to make his name in the U.S.A. in 2004, Graham returned to the U.K. a year later, signing a very lucrative contract with the B.B.C.

In the following years, it appeared that Graham and the BBC found it difficult to find a format to suit him, before he was given several high profile Saturday night talent shows, invoving Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and a late late night chat show once again raised his public profile.

Graham is no stranger to all things Eurovision, having presented the Eurovision Dance Contest, which was hosted by the B.B.C. in London in 2007 and in Glasgow in 2008. In October the British broadcaster announced its plans for the selection of the U.K.'s 2009 Eurovision entry, featuring a show called "Your Country Needs You" which Graham will host and which will once again link him up with Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber. That show will begin in early January. Following today's announcement Graham has said "As a long time fan of the Eurovision this is an amazing job and a huge honour. Sir Terry is nothing less than legend and is an impossible act to follow but somebody must and I just couldn't say no." 

While the B.B.C. continues to make the Eurovision headlines, closer to home, R.T.E. is now one of a handful of broadcasters that is yet to announce its plans for 2009. Eurovision fans and songwriters that were in contact with R.T.É. were told to expect an announcement by the end of November, but as we move into the seconf week of December, there is still no confirmed news, regading the 2009 Irish Eurovision selection. For the last couple of years RTÉ has staged its Eurovision selection in February, with a deadline for submitting songs in late January, if a similar timetable is to be followed in 2009, a formal announcement might only be days away, in order to give potential songwriters a chance to work on their entries. However as of now, all we know is that the song will be selected in late February on a special edition of "The Late Late Show". 

In recent weeks "The Late Late Show" has been seen a parade of former Irish Eurovision entrants. On November 21st, Colm Wilkinson, Ireland's representative in Paris in 1978, who was touring Ireland was a guest on the Friday night chat show and he performed "Bring Him Home" from the musical "Les Miserables". As usual, Colm was in great voice and you can watch the performance on the RTÉ website. 

A week later, the famous "Late Late Toy Show", the annual children's event where the year's best toys are demonstrated and the best young performers get a chance to perform, saw the return of Dustin The Turkey, making a rare television appearance since his Eurovision appearance in Belgrade in May. For those into ironic merchandise, Dustin's Eurovision t-shirts can still be purchased here.

This evening (December 5th), the newspaper columnist and sometimes songwriter John Waters (left), the co-writer of "They Can't Stop The Spring", the Irish Eurovision entry that famously finished last in Helsinki in 2007 got a chance to present his new song. "Baby, Can I Buy You A Drink" was performed by Sinead O'Connor, with whom Waters enjoyed a relationship in the 1990s. The song with afro-ethnic elements was inspired by the writer's visit to Africa where he saw at first hand, the suffering that that continent's children have to endure. The song appears on the charity album "Wells For Zoe" and you can hear "Baby Can I Buy You A drink" on the website which promotes that album.  The performance of the song can be seen on RTE's Late Late Show website.

On December 19th, there will be a special edition of "The Late Late Show"  concentrating on Boyzone, the interval act in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Dublin. 

November 21st 2008

Those awaiting RTÉ to make a formal announcement on its Eurovision Song Contest plans for 2009 will have to wait another week. It appears that the Irish national broadcaster still hasn't finalised the arrangements for next year's selection and that budgetary constraints may limit the size and scope of the show which will choose Ireland's entry for Moscow. With advertising revenue in decline, it appears that the selection will now be staged in RTÉ's studios in Donnybrook, rather than the far more expensive option of a live broadcast from outside Dublin, as happened with the 2008 selection, staged in Limerick. The provisional date for the selection show is Friday February 20th and as as happened in 2006 and 2007, the Irish Eurovision selection may be incorporated into "The Late Late Show", Ireland's most watched television show. Unlike the 2006 and 2007 selections it unlikely that the public will only be given one artist or group to choose from, as those who have already been in discussion with RTÉ have been told that it will allow singers from outside Ireland to represent the country, as long as they have permission to work in Ireland. 

There could be good news for Irish fans heading to Moscow for the Eurovision Song Contest next May. As of now, anyone travelling on an Irish or U.K. passport needs a visa to enter Russia. These cost between 60 and 200 Euros, depending on when you apply and the type of visa you require and can be obtained from the Russian embassy. However it has been confirmed that Russia and the EU are working to eliminate the need for visas for EU citizens visiting Russia and the EBU is working to have such an arrangement in place in time for next year's Eurovision Song Contest. 

On a recent visit to Helsinki, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia will be ready to implement a visa-free travel regime with the EU as soon as the union is ready, going on to say that he regrets that it is not possible for Moscow to introduce visa freedom bilaterally with single EU members. An announcement is expected to be made early in 2009. 

November 13th 2008

As Irish songwriters and performers await confirmation of RTÉ's plans for 2009, it seems they will not have much longer to wait, before the national broadcaster announces the method of selection of the Irish entry for Moscow.  The "All Kinds Of Everything" inbox has been has received several rumours and even more questions from those interested in the Irish selection, but as of now, we have no confirmed news, although the story that at least some of the songs in the Irish selection will be chosen by the public, using a special website hosting potential Eurovision entries, is also getting press coverage. Right now, the only advice we'd give potential entrants is to get their songs recorded and ready to go, because the timelines from the RTÉ announcement to the deadline may once again be a challenge.

One Irish singer who knows all about Eurovision, is making a return to the country, after a succcessful international career, mainly in the world of musical theatre. Colm Wilkinson (left) represented Ireland in 1978, with his own song "Born To Song", which finished 5th. Even before the Eurovision Song Contest, Colm had made a name for himself in the Irish music scene, playing with a band called The Action, before starring in the 1972 Dublin production of "Jesus Christ Superstar". His performance in the role of Judas iscariot brought Colm to the attention of Andrew-Lloyd Webber, who cast him in the role of the narrator Che in the original recording of the "Evita" album in 1976. As such, Colm was the first singer to record the well known songs "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" and "Oh What A Circus".  Colm first tried to get to Eurovision in 1977, but finished third in the Irish final with "There Was A Dream". His eponymous album was an Irish chart topper and returning  to the national song contest in 1978, Colm gained a runaway win in the securing the ticket to Paris.

During the 1980s Colm become one of the biggest international stars on the music stage, starring in London's West End and Broadway, most famously in the role of Jean Valjean in the hit musical "Les Miserables". Working again with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Colm developed the lead role in the musical "The Phantom Of The Opera", later starring in several successful productions of the show. Colm has also found time to record several albums and in recent years he has been based in Canada.

Colm returns to Ireland later this month, to play a series of shows in Dublin (the National Concert Hall on November 26th and December 2nd), Cork (Opera House on November 30th) and Limerick (University Concert Hall on November 23rd). You can find out how to book tickets for this rare chance to see one of Ireland's greatest singers on Colm's website. Don't be surprised to see Colm making some guest appearances on the chat show circuit while he is back in the county.

Another Irish former Eurovision entrant is going to be a regular face on Irish television in 2009. Dana Rosemary Scallon (left) brought Ireland its first Eurovision win back in 1970. Since then, she has gone on to have a successful recording career, before moving to America, where she became a major star on evangelical television and returned to Ireland, standing for the presidency and winning an election to become a member of the European Parliament. 

Dana was one of the panel of experts who commented at last year's Irish Eurovision selection, and was one of the strongest opponents of Dustin the Turkey representing Ireland in Belgrade. Dana echoed the feelings of many Irish Eurovision fans and correctly forecasted the disapppointing result which befell Ireland in May. 

Dana will return to her role as a judge in a new Irish television talent show which starts in early January. "The All Ireland Talent Show" which will be presented by presented by Gráinne Seoige, promises to be Ireland's biggest ever country-wide talent contest. The show will be broadcast every Sunday night at 6.30pm on RTÉ One, from January 4th. Dana will be one of five celebrity judges who will pick and mentor the best five acts from their regions, to go forward to the live stage of the competition where they compete for a prize of €50,000. You can find more information on the RTÉ website.

Those who either missed the wonderful six part television series "A Little Bit Showband" or want a permanent copy of the programme, which featured former Irish Eurovision entrants Sean Dunphy  and Tina Reynolds (left) now have a chance to buy the DVD, which is in the shops since last Friday (November 7th). There is also a double CD collection of songs from series, which features both Eurovision entries as well as other hits by Sean and Tina, as well as the other stars of the series, Brendan Bowyer, Sonny Knowles, Brendan O’Brien and Paddy Cole. 

The programme on the career of Sean Dunphy gave people a rare opportunity to see the promotional video of his Eurovision entry "If I Could Choose", one of the first such videos in Irish pop music. The show which featured Tina told the story of one of the bravest and most resiliant Irish singers, who survived two major road accidents as well as the break-up of her marriage, which came within months of her Eurovision performance in Brighton in 1974.

Given the success of the series and the depth of Irish showband talent, another series must be a possibility and given the history of The Swarbriggs (Eurovision 1975 and 1977) and The Times showband which they front, Red Hurley, Dickie Rock and Linda Martin (who first came to fame with Chips) we may not have seen the last Irish Eurovision stars on the show. 

October 25th 2008

RTÉ has officially confirmed participation in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. While there is no official news of the selection process, the Irish national broadcaster has been looking at alternative ways of choosing the Irish entry, and as we reported during the summer, they may well use a model used by Spanish broadcaster TVÉ in 2008, to select their entry for Belgrade.

In "¡Salvemos Eurovisión!" (Let's Save Eurovision), Spanish television allowed an open submission of entries, using the MySpace website. Over 500 acts uploaded their potential Eurovision entries and the public were asked to vote for their favourites. Five entries chosen by a jury appointed by TVE joined the top five in the public vote and these ten songs participated in Spanish national final. 

While the eventual winner, the novelty song "Baila el Chiki Chiki" (Dance the Cheeky Cheeky) performed Rodolfo Chikilicuatre (left) did poorly at Eurovision and was widely ridiculed, the selection was still seen as a success on several levels. Firstly, it brought attention to a lot of acts who would normally not have had much public exposure. Secondly it created a lot of domestic attention for the Spanish selection and for the Eurovision Song Contest, which had its highest TV ratings in Spain for over five years. Thirdly the winning song became a massive local hit, topping the Spanish charts and becoming one the biggest selling Spanish Eurovision entries of all time.

If rumours circulating in the Irish media are true, RTÉ will adapt and possibly expand the Spanish selection process to select some songs for the Irish selection which may well now include two semi-finals and a national final. It is likely that A jury will combine with a televote to help select the Irish entry for Moscow. The jury could be used as a counterweight to the public vote to avoid a big name act being all but guaranteed victory as happened with Dustin the Turkey. As of yet there is no official confirmation from RTÉ, but a press release is expected by the midddle of November.

While we wait for RTÉ to announce its future Eurovision plans, the next couple of weeks allow us to look back at the careers of two of Ireland's early Eurovision trailblazers. The television series "A Little Bit Showband" has been running for a month, featuring the careers of Brendan Bowyer, Sonny Knowles, Brendan O’Brien and  Paddy Cole, all big names in the Irish music scene since the 1960s. While these four shows have touched on the Eurovision Song Contest, as many of their associates in the Irish showbands, which dominated the Irish music scene in the 1960s and 70s were involved in the contest, the last two shows in the series will focus on Sean Dunphy and Tina Reynolds, Ireland's Eurovision entrants in 1967 and 1974. These shows will be transmitted on RTÉ 1 at 7pm on Tuesday 28th October and the same time and channel on November 4th.

Born and bred in Dublin Sean Dunphy (left) battled with a speech impediment as a child. Sean went on to become one of the Ireland's first television stars. He became an even bigger household name when he represented the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Singing "If I Could Choose", Sean finished second in the 1967 contest, staged in Vienna, being beaten only by the United Kingdom's Sandie Shaw and "Puppet On A String". This success was swiftly followed by numerous chart topping hits throughout the late 1960s and early 70s with the very popular showband The Hoedowners. Sean Dunphy's smooth voice doesn't carry even a hint of the speech impediment he suffered from when he was growing up and he never dreamt that he would eventually become the first Irish singer to record in Nashville, the home of the American country music scene.

Tina Reynolds' (left) good looks and incredible voice made her a star in the showband era. Sadly the glitz and glamour of showbiz couldn't protect her from tragedy and pain in her personal life. Tina was born Philomena Quinn in Greystones, county Wicklow and spent her first years of life in hospital where she was treated for tuberculosis. At the age of nine she was at last allowed go home to her family but sadly her mother never fully recovered from the illness and when visiting England for a family wedding her mother became very ill and passed away. Philomena was only a teenager when this happened but decided to stay in the UK where her sister now lived. Her bad luck was soon to change and within a year she won a singing competition at the popular holiday resort Butlins and news of her success reached Ireland. 

She adopted the stage name, Tina, and started her career with The Mexicans Showband. Tina's life changed when drummer Desi Reynolds joined the Mexicans. They would eventually marry and she became Tina Reynolds. After four years traveling with the Mexicans and learning the business, Tina and Desi left to join Jim Farley's big band, The Tophatters in 1968. In an era when most of the lead singers were men, Tina was one of the few women to shine.

In 1969, Tina joined The Real McCoy, one of the first pop bands to break through on the Irish ballroom circuit. Their uptempo, danceable pop music, made the band a favorite with punters. Tina had her first hit record in 1971 when they recorded, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. The record hit number one in the Irish charts and helped make Tina a household name. The band followed up with two more charts singles in 1972 and 1973. However in July, 1973, Tina's career was set back when she was injured in a road accident on the way home from a gig, along with several other members of the Real McCoy. Her injuries were so severe, it took almost a year for her to fully recover and she did not return to the Real McCoy. In 1974, Tina got what was arguably her greatest break when she was selected to sing Ireland's 1974 Eurovision entries. The winner was "Cross Your Heart," written by Chips front man, Paul Lyttle, and is still considered to be one of Ireland's best non winning entries.

October 14th 2008

"Whatever gave us the right to think that we could send something that we thought funny and expect the rest of Europe to enjoy the joke?"  Three time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, talking about Ireland's 2008 entry "Irelande Douze Points". 

Ireland's Mr.Eurovision was back in Dublin this weekend and was one of the guests on the "Tubridy Tonight" on RTE on Saturday night (October 11th). Naturally enough, the show's presenter Ryan Tubridy took the opportunity to ask the most successful singer/songwriter in the competition's history about the current state of the Eurovision Song Contest and especially Johnny's thoughts on Ireland's 2008 entry performed by Dustin The Turkey. Never one to hold back, Johnny was scathing in his comments on sending a puppet act to a song contest and while Johnny admitted being a fan of Dustin, he said that the puppet should not have been allowed to enter the Irish Eurovision selection and that it was totally out of place on the Eurovision stage. Johnny went on to say that it was particuarly embarrassing for him, someone who had been associated with Ireland's Eurovision entries of the past, when Ireland had a tradition of entering a good song.

Johnny went on to talk about his career and how he is still doing well in Scandinavia and Germany and when asked if he would be interested in entering the Eurovision Song Contest again, the three time winner didn't rule out the idea although he say that he though he may be too old to perform in the contest. This obviously opens up the possibility of Logan returning to the contest as a songwriter. Since his song "Why Me?", sung by Linda Martin won the contest in 1992, Johnny has had a couple of unsuccesful attempts at entering the contest for the Netherlands as a songwriter. One way or another we may not have seen the last of Johnny LOgan at Eurovision. 

Johnny also got the chance to perform a track "Dancing With My Father" from his new album "An Irishman in America (see story below) and you can see the interview and the performance on the RTÉ website.  

A year and a half after closing its doors for renovations, the only venue to stage the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions is about to re-open under a new name. The Point Depot, which hosted the contests in 1994, 1995 and 1997 is no more and from December when the venue re-opens, the venue will be called "The O2" (left). 

While some of the familiar external facades remain in place, internally the arena has been totally transformed in a project costing 80 millions euros. It is now the largest purpose built music venue in Europe with a capacity for an audience of 14,000. It is the part of a redevelopment of the area now called "The Point Village" on the Nothside Quays of the river Liffey.

From December, some of the World's biggest music acts will be performing in The O2, including Coldplay, Keane, Tina Turner, AC/DC and re-formed Irish group Boyzone who will be returning to the site where they were the Eurovision interval act in 1997. As of now, the first show in the new arena will be current chart-toppers Kings Of Leon on December 19th, although rumours of a surprise gig a few days earlier featuring a mystery group (widely thought to be U2) are circulating around Dublin.

There can be little doubt that if Ireland gets to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the near future, the O2 would be virtually certain to stage the event. Next year, the arena will be served by a direct Luas (tram) from the city centre, and with RTE's headquarters situated nearby, it would make the ideal Eurovision venue in these days of larger audiences and bigger technical demands. You bcan read more about the O2 on its website and also about The Point Village project.

When we were catching up with former Irish Eurovision entrants last weeks, we omitted a man who has been an Irish showbusiness legend for over forty years and who is still entertaining the public today. Dubliner Dickie Rock (left) sang "Come Back To Stay" in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg, finishing 4th. 

Dubliner Dickie who first came to fame as the lead singer with the Miami Showband has had 25 Irish hits from 1963 to 1983, surpassed only by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, David Bowie, Madonna and the Rolling Stones. During his time with the Miami Showband, Dickie attracted the kind of mass hysteria normally reserved for the Beatles and more recently boybands such as Westlife.

Dickie recently played a sell out gig in Dublin's Olympia theatre and on October 26th, he will be playing at the INEC in Kiillarney. Dickie has has a MySpace page where you can keep up to date with his activities.  

Finally for this update, we'd like to clarify a story which we carried last week, that Scottish songwriter was trying to take the crtedit for writing to take the credit for writing "All Kinds Of Everything". It now turns up that Bill did not try to take credit as a songwriter, but rather as an arranger of Ireland's first Eurovision winner. This is something which Irish Eurovision fans  were already well aware.

October 8th 2008

"Now that we're back to the bad old days of unemployment, inflation, recession, depression, pessimism, budget deficits, hard choices and tough decisions, does this mean we can start winning the Eurovision Song Contest again?" Anthony Malone in Letters to the Editor, The Irish Times (8th Ocober)

Many suspected it, when we chose to send Dustin the Turkey to Belgrade but this week's RTE Guide confirms that Ireland's love affair with the Eurovision Song Contest is well and truly over. The national broadcaster's weekly journal lists "Ireland's Top 100 TV Programmes" as voted by the public and the Eurovision Song Contest languishes in 93rd place. There's no question that a string of poor results has contributed to a growing disenchantment with a competition, which was once a source of national pride to the country.

This year's Irish viewing figures were the relativly lowest in the contest's history and at a time of economic recession, some might suggest that perhaps RTÉ should consider repeating the decision of 1983, when Ireland chose not to send an entry to the contest, on financial grounds. RTÉ has yet to confirm its participation in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, although it is believed that a decision by the EBU to bring back juries to help choose the winner of the contest, may help to reverse Ireland's run of poor results, which has only included one Top 10 finish in eight years.

For those interested in the poll, here are the Top 10 TV programmes as voted by RTE Guide readers;

1. 1. Father Ted (left)

2. 2. Fawlty Towers

3. 3. Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

4. 4. Friends

5. 5. CSI : Crime Scene Investigation

6. 6. Reeling In The Years (the top Irish made show)

7. 7. The Sunday Game (a a popular Gaelic sports programme)

8. 8. Match Of The Day

9. 9. The Late Late Show (the long running Irish chat show)

10. 10. Only Fools And Horses

The decision to bring back juries to the Eurovision Song Contest made the news in Ireland, when it was announced in the middle of September and it is believed that RTÉ (along with the BBC) were among those campaigning for this change. Eurovision juries were soley responsible for selecting the winner until 1996, the last year that Ireland won the contest, and public televoting was phased after 1997 when five countries used a public phone phone to allocate their points. Ireland first used a public televote for the 1998 contest and has used one since, although the phone system wasn't able to cope in both 1999 and 2003, when the votes of a reserve jury were used instead.

However in recent years the public televoting has been widely discredited, as Western European countries with large immigrant populations have seen their votes distorted. In recent years, the Irish televote was been won by Lithuania in 2006 and 2007 and in 2008, when Lithuania failed to qualify for the final, Latvia won top points from Ireland, with Poland second. It is no coincidence that all three counties have large immigrant populations in Ireland. Similar problems exist in Eastern Europe with ethnic Serbians in other former Yugoslav republics and ethnic Russians in the other former Soviet republics also having a major power to influence the votes. When added to the habitual neighbouly voting between the Nodic countries and Greece and and Cyprus, it has made the voting, which was previously one of the most exciting elements of the contest, very predictable.

Up to this year, these voting patterns are thought to have a limited impact on the final result, when the winning song was also the choice of the back-up juries, however it is believed that had those juries selected the winner in Belgrade in May, we would be going to Kyiv in 2009, rather than to Moscow, as Ukraine's entry" Shady Lady" would have won the contest. It is also known that the U.K. entry which finished last in May, would have done considerably better had the jury votes been used.

While jury votes were often ridiculed, not least by BBC commentator Sir Terry Wogan (left), the re-introduction of juries in 2009, may have the unexpected consequence of making the popular Limerickman change his mind about retiring from the contest. Terry announced in May, that his almost forty year connection with the comptetition would come to an end after the Belgrade contest and many believed that fellow Irishman Graham Norton would be taking on the BBC's commentator role in Moscow. However in an interview published in the Irish press last weekend, Terry has stated that the decision to bring back juries would be likely to make the contest a fairer competition and that he had not finalised his decision to stand aside.

While he may have to wait a little longer to get to Eurovision's big event, Corkman Graham Norton, is already a familar face in European homes thanks to his hosting of the Eurovision Dance Contest. On September 6th, Graham once again co-hosted the competition with Claudia Winkelman. The Eurovision Dance Contest is the brainchild of the BBC, who hosted the first edition in 2007 in London, which was won by Finland and this year once again played hosts to couples from 14 European countries, this time in Glasgow.

This year's event was won by the Polish duo Marcin Mroczek and Edyta Herbus, while the Irish dancers Dearbhla Lennon and actor Gavin O'Fearraigh (left) failed to impress the international jury and televoters, finishingdown in 11th place.

The BBC's two year contact to host the event has now ended and there is a question over the long term future of the contest. Germany, Spain and Switzerland, who all competed in the first competition, did not send entrants to Glasgow and the EBU now has to find a broadcaster willing to host the event in 2010, as unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the right to host the following year's contest does not automatically pass to the winners.

The EBU also host a third contest, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, a competition for underage performers which this year will take place in Cyprus in November. RTÉ has never shown interest in taking part in the competition which started in 2003 and which in recent years has been dominated by Eastern Europe countries, with Western countries like France, Spain, U.K., Denmark and Sweden all withdrawing from the event. 

The summer months have been a busy time for many former Irish Eurovision entrants. In 1976 Ireland was represented by Red Hurley (left) who finished 10th with "When", written by Brendan Graham. Red continues to be one of Ireland's most popular singers and has recently released a new CD and he is playing several gigs to promote the album, a compilation of hit hits, combined with some new material. Red's website, which gives visitors a chance to download one of his latest recordings can be found here. 

Like Red, 1994 Eurovision winner Paul Harrington also released a compulation album earlier this year. The album simply called "A Collection" can be found in Irish music shops and can also be order through Paul's website.

One of the more surprising returns to the spotlight over the past few months was by Geraldine Branagan. Geraldine first came to fame in the early 1970s as part of her family group and made it to Eurovision in 1975 when she sang "Toi" for Luxembourg. That song was co-written by Derry man Phil Coulter, and their involvement in Eurovision helped the couple to develop a personal relationship which has lasted for over thirty years. The ever glamourous Geraldine has spent most of the last thirty years raising a family, releasing an album "Gold and Silver Days" in 1997 and this year she has also played several concerts as part of the popular showband revival circuit and in September accompanied Phil Coulter in a special concert staged at the National Concert Hall to celebrate the anniversay of the Irish defence forces.

While Johnny Logan may be an infrequent visitor to Ireland these days, his popularity in Europe continues undiminished. Following last year's album "Johnny Logan And Friends"  which topped the charts in Norway and was also successful in Denmark and Sweden, Johnny has just released a new collection "Irishman in America" (cover pictured left). The album contains a mixture of popular Irish songs such as "Waxies Dargle" and "Rocky Road To Dublin", Johnny's interpretations of American classics such as "This Land Is Your Land" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", as well as some new songs written by the three time Eurovision winner. While the album is not released in Ireland at the moment, but it can be bought online.  Johnny will be touring Germany and Scandinavia laster this year and into 2009. Over the past few years Johnny has made guest appearance in several countries Eurovision selections, so don't be surprised if you hear more from him next year. You can keep up to date with all the news of Johnny's career on his website.

Other former Irish Eurovision artists have been on our television screens over the past few months. Donna & Joe McCaul who won the third series of "You're A Star" in 2005 and went on to perform the Irish entry "Love?" in Kyiv may have disappeared off the radar in the past couple of years, however they made a comback of sorts during the summer as contestants on the hotel based reality show "Failte Towers". The publicity generated by their appearance on that show gave the duo a chance to put on the record, their disappointment at their treatment following their Eurovision failure and the personal abuse they encounted. It served as a much needed reminder that the right to represt your country should not be  given to those that are lacking in experience.

By contrast, Ireland's first Eurovision winner Dana (Rosemary Scallon) was one of the subjects of "Who Do You Think They Are?", the show in which celebreties trace their family trees and reveal the impact that their families have hads on their lives. The Derry born singer has had a long and successful career following her Eurovision win in 1970 and must be the only singer in the World to have performed for the Pope (the leader of the Roman Catholic church) and also performed  a residency at the supporters' club of Rangers, Glasgow's predominently Protestant football club. The show gave Dana a chance to trace her family from its Scottish roots and on to America where her own career blossomed for several years, before she came back to Ireland to persue a career in politics. Known for her conservative views on social issues, the programme unearthed a skeleton in her family closet with her great grandfather being shown to be a bigamist.

On Monday 20th October, another Irish Eurovision contestant gets the chance to trace their family roots, when 1992 winner Linda Martin (left) follows a trail of immigrant sculptors and craftsmen, starting in Little Italy in Belfast and leading to Dublin, Edinburgh and eventually, Milan. Along the way, Linda also uncovers some surprising sides to her family: from a Scottish coal-mining tragedy to a grandmother with a very 'liberal' approach to men and marriage.

One face that hasn't appeared much on Irish television in recent months, is Dustin the Turkey. Since his infamous Eurovision performance in Belgrade in May, little has been seen of the puppet character. Rumours which circulated in the Irish media suggested that the the popular character was to be dropped by RTÉ ahead of the autumn schedule. However, a spokesman for the national broadcaster said "Dustin previously had a contract for young people’s programmes, but is now moving in a different direction. We’re trying out a format which is". Apparently Dustin's career may be heading for a new project aimed mainly at adults and there are plans to develop the character, with that change in mind.

Finally, a piece of rather bizarre news. Over the weekend Glasgow born songwriter Bill Martin (left) made a rather outragous claim to British Eurovision fans meeting in Birmingham. Bill co-wrote the U.K's 1967 Eurovision winner "Puppet On A String" with Derryman Phil Coulter as well as "Congratulations" the song which finished second in 1968, before going on to write a string of hits for bands like the Bay City Rollers, Kenny and Slik. However not content to be creditted with co-writing the first U.K. winner, Martin now appears to want the credit for writing Ireland's first Eurovision winner "All Kinds Of Everything".

While it is well known that Phil Coulter arranged and produced the song, Martin claims that the Martin & Coluter partnership also wrote the "All Kinds Of Everything". According to Martin their song for Lulu in 1969 was rejected by the BBC as the British broadcaster did not want the cost of hosting another contest. Consequently Martin and Coulter looked instead to Ireland. Martin makes the false claim that the rules of the day, stated that songwriters had be citizens of the country and instead named two Irish citizens (Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith) as songwriters on the credits and he so Martin and Coulter achieved a second Eurovision Song Contest victory when Dana triumphed in Amsterdam.

Interestingly, on a recent radio interview Phil Coulter was rather dismissive of Martin's songwriting ability, but he paid credit to the Scotsman's personality and connections which he said helped the duo become one of the most successful songwriting partnership of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "All Kinds Of Everything", the Irish Eurovision website, is currently checking into Martin's storyr.

July 2nd 2008

Over a month after the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, the story of the ill-fated Irish entry has finally disappeared from the media as more serious stories of the economic recession and the reaction to Ireland's failure to ratify the Lisbon Treaty have dominated the news. Whether the failure of Dustin The Turkey and subsequent posters (see story below) contributed to the rejection of the latest E.U. treaty has been widely debated and it certainly appears that our Eurovision flop has played a part in a perceived resentment to the direction that Eurovision and perhaps even Europe in general is going at the moment. 

Considering the publicity generated by "Irelande Douze Pointe"  it was no surprise that first Eurovision Semi Final on Tuesday 20th May featuring Dustin the Turkey, was the most watched programme on RTE 2 that week, with over 691,000 viewers watching Ireland fail to qualify for the final, for only the second time. Figures released by RTE, show that following Ireland's elimination, the Eurovision Final on Saturday 24th May was watched by only 377,000 on RTÉ 1, one of the lowest ever ratings for the contest in Ireland, although it should be noted that this figure does not include the significant number of Irish viewers who tuned into the BBC's coverage of the contest. Both RTE viewing figures are even more disappointing considering that 820,000 people tuned in to watch Dustin being chosen as the Irish Eurovision entrant back in February.

There is no doubt that this year's entry was a massive disappointment and an expensive failure for RTÉ. The Irish national broadcaster spent 170,000 Euros on the contest this year, included an entry fee of 65,000. The total bill is 26,000 Euros more than RTÉ paid out in 2007, but at least the ratings for the final were considerably higher. It is unlikely that in the tougher economic climate which will prevail in 2009, that RTÉ will have the same money at its disposal, although another withdrawl as happened in 1983, in similar economic conditions is unlikely. 

The scale of the failure of the 2008 Irish entry is more apparent when you consider the fact that it was one of the favourites to win the contest in Belgrade and ended up among the seven worst results that Ireland has gained in over forty years competing at Eurovision. "All Kinds Of Everything" has looked at Ireland's biggest Eurovision failures since the current points system was adopted in 1974 and has come up with a list of the country's biggest flops. 

It's interesting to note how many of Ireland's failues have come in the last decade. Six of our seven worst results have come in the last ten years and considering we missed out on 2002, only three entries in the past ten years can be considered to have had some success in the contest; "Millennium Of Love" sung by Eamonn Toal which finished 6th in 2000, "We've Got The World" sung by Mickey Harte which came 11th in 2003 and "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy which came 10th in 2006.

The question has to be asked how this reversal of its previously good fortunes can be reversed. Many felt that returning to the idea of a multi-artist national selection was the way to go, although the process was somewhat hijacked by Dustin's high public profile, which made his victory inevitable, irrespective of the quality of the song. A clue to RTE's possible intentions came last week, from an unusual source. The President of the Spanish national broadcaster RTVE, Luis Fernández (left) was questioned by several politicians, regarding the selection of this year's Eurovision entry, the controversial and eventually unsuccessful "Bailar El ChikiChiki" by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. Despite being a massive hit in the Spanish charts and gaining a huge Spanish audience for Eurovision, the novelty entry only finished 16th in Belgrade. However Mr.Fernandez justified the rather controversial selection process by stating that other c ountries, including Germany, Turkey, Norway and Ireland were looking at using a similar format in future.

The 2008 Spanish selection was seen as one of the most open and democratic ways of choosing a Eurovision entry, with anyone interested in competing in the contest being asked to upload their song onto the MySpace website. Over 500 entries were submitted and the public chose five and the Spanish broadcaster chose another five to compete in a national final, with the public choosing the winner. Whether such an open format would work in Ireland and if as in Spain the Irish public ends up choosing another joke entry with little international appeal, but be a consideration but certainly it is a potentially interesting direction for RTE. 

Something else that Irish fans have to look forward to is the re-opening of The Point Depot in Dublin's docklands.  The only venue to host the Eurovision Song Contest on three occassions is to re-open as a 13,000 capacity venue with a new name this December. You can see an artist impression of the venue on the left. 

Mobile phone company O2 has announced Ireland's first ever music venue naming rights deal, which will see the venue renamed The O2. The deal was done in conjunction with worldwide music promoter Live Nation. The venue will open its doors this December and promises to stage 150 live events each year. The venue promises an amphitheatre design and "clear sightlines and proximity to the stage for everyone in the audience, due to its unique tiered seating design". The Point closed its doors for the refurbishment early last year. With such a venue available, it is very likely that it would once again stage the Eurovision Song Contest, were Ireland to host the event. You can find out more about the venue here.

May 29th 2008

It may be over a week, since ireland's most controversial Eurovision entry was rejected by European televoters, but the early elimination of Dustin the Turkey and "Irelande Douze Points" continues to attract public interest and has now become the centre of a political dust-up. Never a stranger to the world of politics, Dustin has been protesting at the unauthorised use of his image in a poster (left) that refers to his defeat at Eurovision, using the legend, "They didn't vote for us. Get Them Back. Vote No To Lisbon". The Irish electorate go to the polls in a referendum on The Lisbon Treaty, which defines the future of the European Union at the end of next week, with all the major political parties in Ireland supporting a "yes" vote. Ireland's Eurovision entrant is reported as saying "I have intention of giving free publicity to cowboys who hijack my image for thir own gain, without first giving me vast amounts of cash." When asked which way he would vote next week, Dustin said "I can't understand why we need a treaty, what two Lisbons want to do is entirely up to them". 

Another inveterate self-publicist, Louis Walsh, has also used Ireland's failure in Belgrade to suggest what has gone wrong with Ireland's recent Eurovision entries. Louis, who has previously managed Eurovision winners Johnny Logan and Linda Martin says 'When we can't even qualify for the final, we have to be realistic about these things. The problem is everyone in the Eastern part of Europe take it very seriously and they send their biggest stars with their best writers. Walsh adds "We don't put enough work into it. We need to get good artists and our best songs. It's down to the music and no-one credible is putting their names forward. It's like an afterthought. If we had someone credible like Cathy Dennis (a top British pop songwriter) writing the track, then of course it would do well."

This year's Eurovision season is nearly at an end, but tomorrow (May 30th) sees this year's winning singer, Russia's  Dima Bilan (left) visiting Ireland as part of the winner's tour. Dima will be doing an online chat on RTE's website between 13.30 and 14.30 BST (14.30 to 15.30 CET) and you can post your question to Dima on this page.  Later tomorrow, Dima will be a guest on "The Late Late Show" and will be performing his Eurovision winning song "Believe".

Tomorrow night's show, which is the last in the current season has a second Eurovision connection as Ireland's representatives for the second Eurovision Dance Contest in Glasgow in September will be selected by the viewing public, by a televote. Last September in the inaugural year of the competition, Ireland came a very respectable third in the competition in London represented by "Celebrity Jigs and Reels" winners Nicola Byrne and Mick Donnegan. This year, the EBU has decided that The Eurovision Dance Contest will feature professional dancers partnered by celebrities.  The four couples have been selected by RTÉ and the Irish Dance Sport Federation to potentially represent Ireland and they are: dancer Dearbhla Lennon and actor Gavin O’Fearraigh, dancer Susan Ginnety and actor Killian O’Sullivan, dancer Danilo Forte and model Lisa Murphy and dancer Kelly Smith and musician Richard Rock, Richard is the son of 1966 Irish Eurovision singer Dickie Rock. 

This year’s Eurovision Dance Contest, to be held in Glasgow on September 6th and will once again feature 16 countries, including; Austria, Denmark , Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and The United Kingdom. 

May 27th 2008

Irish television viewers were watching Serbia last Saturday night, but it was the country's football team rather than the Eurovision Song Contest that took most of the public interest. With Ireland's entry eliminated in the first semi-final on Tuesday night, more attention was given to the first international game played by the Republic of Ireland, under the management of Italian Giovanni Trapattoni. The game which co-incided with the contest in Belgrade, ended in a one all draw. The Eurovision Song Contest barely got a mention in Sunday's newspapers and was relegated to the inside pages of most of Monday's press, with an Irish triumph in Europe (Munster's victory in rugby's Heineken Cup) getting most attention on the front pages.   

The coverage that was given to the contest, tended to focus on the comments of Irish born B.B.C. commentator Sir Terry Wogan (left) who was displeased by the perceived political voting by Eastern European countries and the U.K.'s result in the contest. The U.K.'s entry "Even If" sung by Andy Abraham which finished last of the 25 countries who competed in the final.

Wogan who was already likely to retire (see story from April 26th below) appeared to use the voting as a justification for his decision to part company with the contest, which he presented in 1998, and on which he has been commentating since 1971. Wogan's commentary has tended to influence British public opinion on the contest, and a poll conducted by the Daily Express newspaper showed that 98% of those who took part, wanted to see the U.K. withdraw from the contest.  

By contrast, reaction in Ireland was a lot less hysterical, with the arguements around the participation of Dustin The Turkey being re-hashed yet again. Meanwhile the semi-final, which saw "Irelande Douze Points" being eliminated, attracted the highest television audience for a Eurovision semi-final, since they were introduced in 2004, with an average audience of 578,000, rising to a peak of one million when the qualifiers were being announced. The single of "Irelande Douze Points" also re-entered the Irish Top 10 and number 8, having slipped to number 11 the previous week.

On Saturday evening, the full extent of Ireland's 2008 Eurovision humiliation came into focus, when the full results of the semi-final were made public and showed that the Irish entry finished in a lowly 15th or 19 competing countries and only managed to pick up a measely total of 22 points from the 20 countries that could vote, seven of those points coming from Estonia. When compared with the 53 points which the often derided "Love?" by Donna & Joe received from 38 countries in 2005, it shows just how poorly Ireland did in Belgrade. Indeed, even if "Ireland Douze Points" had scored double the number of points, it would still not have qualified for the final.

While one radio post mortum followed another, the was a piece of good news for one entrant in the 2008 Irish Eurosong selection. Leona Daly (pictured left, with Dustin) has signed a deal to release her debut album in June and the single of "Not Crazy After All", the song which finished second in the Irish Eurovision selection is being released on Friday next (May 30th).

Fiday will also see the winner of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Russia's Dima Bilan appearing on RTE's "The Late Late Show". Dima will be performing his winning entry "Believe" on the show as part of the "winner's tour" which visits several European countries.

Meanwhile as Ireland tries to lick its wounds for the second successive year, bookmakers Paddy Power have opened a book on who is likely to sing the Irish Eurovision entry in Russia in 2009. The early favourite is Limerick girl Leanne  Moore, who won the sixth series of "You're A Star" in March.  Other more familiar names in the frame are two time winner Johnny Logan and also Niamh Kavanagh who called in the Irish votes on Saturday night. Nadine Coyle currently with Girls Aloud and recently reformed Boyzone are also mentioned as potentially possiblities, while the idea of another puppet act; Podge and Rodge, who have expressed interest in Eurovision would be likely to cause even more controversy than Dustin.  

May 20th 2008

After sending one of the most controversial entries in the competition’s history, Ireland’s Eurovision hopes were dashed last night as Dustin the Turkey and “Irelande Douze Points” went crashing out of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, as if failed to make the Top 10 in the first semi-final of the event. The entry, which was an early favourite for the contest had been drifting in support with the bookmakers, but had remained one of the favourites to qualify for Saturday night’s final. 

There will of course be disappointment in the Irish camp, after working so hard on this year’s contest, but the profile of Dustin in the Irish media has never been as high, and thanks to the participation in the contest and the very entertaining press conferences with the international media, Dustin now has international recognition that would never have been otherwise possible. After his performance, the unflappable Dustin appealed to his fans "all over the world" not to resort to street riots after he failed to make the final. Dustin admitted he was "disappointed" but would accept the voters' decision but he warned that Europe would have "yet again lost a real opportunity to have a truly inspirational leader... for all of Europe from France to Serbia, Finland and Canada". “ I urge my fans across Europe to be dignified in defeat. I do not want street riots as I'm a peace-loving bird," he said. It’s however highly unlikely that Dustin will fulfil the earlier threat to have his giblets removed and return to the contest as “Dustin International”.  

Reaction to the result among Irish Eurovision fans has been very mixed, while all are disappointed that once again an Irish Eurovision entry has failed to have international appeal, others believe that in the long term it is very good result, as RTÉ are never likely to opt for a novelty entry with only domestic appeal, as our Eurovision entry. 

The post mortems in the media have already begun, with Irish Eurosong runner-up Leona Daly being interviewed on radio, and confirming her belief that had her song not been deprived of representing Ireland, by the media hype that surrounded Dustin’s participation, that Ireland would now be looking forward to competing in Saturday night’s final. The recriminations are likely to continue all day on radio chat show.

May 14th 2008

Dustin the Turkey and the Irish delegation (left) arrived into Belgrade on Sunday and have been gaining widespread attention in the Serbian media in the build-up to the first Eurovision semi-final on May 20th, with appearances on Serbian national television and press covering the Irish entry. Meanwhile at home the single of "Irelande Douze Points" spend a third week in the Top 10, slipping down two places to number seven. Meanwhile the official Eurovision double CD has finally been released in Ireland and is on sale in music stores throughout the country.

Radio listeners were given a chance to preview ten of the entries on Derek Mooney's show on Radio One on Tuesday when a panel chose the Ukrainian entry "Shady Lady" as the best of the ten. 

RTÉ' television's Eurovision previews shows are being broadcast just before this year's first semi-final , with the first previews show going out late on Sunday night, starting at 23.45 until 1.05 and the second show on Monday night, starting at 23.40 and running until 1.00, just nineteen hours before Dustin takes to the stage in Belgrade. There is also a special show about Dustin's journey to Belgrade being broadcast on RTÉ just before the first semi-final and features several celebrities giving their opinions and advise to Ireland's 2008 Eurovision representative. The good news for Irish radio listeners is that this year's Eurovision Song Contest is also being broadcast on radio, with commentary by Larry Gogan. 

The first Irish rehearsal took place on Monday morning (12th May) and was followed by what many reporters consider to be the most entertaining Eurovision press conference (left) in many years, with Dustin engaging with some of the international press corps and giving them an example of the humour which has made him such a popular television personality in Ireland.

While Dustin admitted that he may only have the support of 80% of the Irish public, this Press Conference may have gone a long way to softening the hostility of many international fans to the first appearance of a puppet in the Eurovision Song Contest.

One other piece of news that may please Irish fans is that this year's Winners Tour will be taking in Ireland, and a performance on RTÉ's "Late Late Show" on Friday May 30th. There may also be a chance for Irish fans to meet the winner of this year's contest.

Finally, for this update, for Eurovision fans in Dublin, don't forget the "You're A Vision Disco", more information on the March12th update or at Headway's website. 

May 3rd 2008

"It's getting exciting now Pat". This week saw the 20th anniversay of Ireland's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in the RDS in 1988, a contest which helped launch the international career of Celine Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland, and presenter Michelle Rocha's famous quote from that night certainly could not be more appropriate, as we approach the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Irish Eurovision fans, who are waiting to see RTÉ's previews shows are going to have to be patient this year as they are not being transmitted until 11.30pm on May 18th and 19th, just a few hours before Dustin the Turkey takes to the stage in Belgrade in the first semi-final on May 20th. The preview shows are typically shown in the weekends before the contest, but in a schedule full of major sporting events, they have now movd to a later and late night slot. However one thing that is repeated from the last few years is that they will be presented by RTÉ commentator Marty Whelan, and there will be footage of Marty from this year's host city, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. 

 Dustin The Turkey made the by now traditional "Late Late Show" appearance last night (May 2nd) and unusually the song was performed to backing track, rather than being sung live. The stage show was very basic, compared with the performance in Limerick, with the three male dancers apparently dropped and backing singers Kitty B and Anne Harrington, adding some choregraphy. However with some rather distracting camerawork and the knowledge that there are still some more elements to be added to the stage show in Belgrade, it was hard to judge how the song will look on the Eurovision stage. You can see the performance by clicking the video (left). 

Dustin will also be appearing live in HMV on Dublin's Grafton Street at 10.00am today (Saturday), where he will be answering questions, posing for photographs and signing CDs. This week the single of "Ireland Douze Points" holds the #5 position in a very static Irish singles chart, but with airplay gains and "The Late Late Show" appearance, it would be expected to climb the chart next weekend.

Meanwhile anyone looking for the double CD, containing all this year's Eurovision entries in HMV or elsewhere, will have to wait another week, as the release date has been pushed back to May 9th in Ireland and May 12th in the U.K. On the same day another double CD of old Eurovision entries is also released "Ultimate Eurovision Party" is released by BMG in the U.K. and Ireland. The album contains 42 Eurovision songs and while most have appeared on Eurovision compilations in the past, there are a few rarities to be found. U.K.entries Like Clodagh Rodgers "Jack In The Box", Coco's "Bad Old Days", Olivia Newton-John's "Long Live Love",  Bardo's "One Step Further" ad Frances Ruffelle's "Lonely Symphony" are difficult to track down on CD, while the English version of Luxembourg's 1973 winner Anne-Marie David and "Wonderful Dream" hasn't appeared on any CD released in Ireland. You can find more information on the album here .

 "The Late Late Show" also gave Irish viewers a chance to judge on of the opposition to Dustin with Polish entrant Isis Gee performing her song "For Life". Unlike Dustin, Isis sung live and she is the latest foreign eurovision star to use the popular Irish chat-show to promote their entry in this country. In 2006, Sweden's Carola performed "Invincible" and was rewarded with 8 points in the semi-final and 7 in the final. Last year's Belarus entrant Koldun appeared on the Eurosong show and gained 6 points in the semi-final, but nothing in the final, while Poland's Jet Set did even better, earning 10 points in the semi-final after making a guest performance on "The Late Late Show". This year it looks virtually certain that Ireland's 12 points in the semi-final, will be going to Poland, thanks to the large Polish immigrant population.  You can watch Isis perform "For Life" by clicking the video (left). 

Meanwhile as Dustin and the Irish delegation start to pack their bags for Belgrade, it has been reported that the Dustin puppet has been insured for 100,000 euros.  This has been done in case the puppet gets lost in the luggage en route to Belgrade. Apparently Dustin is normally carried around in a special protective case but as the case is too big to take on a flight as hand luggage, he will be going in the cargo hold and with only one puppet model it was decided to insure against the possible loss. It's not known if there's a contingency plan, but fingers crossed for a safe flight to Belgrade.

April 26th 2008

April is traditionally the month that sees Eurovision acts promoting their entries, and with the advent of televoting some of this year's contestants are spending a lot of time and money on trips around Europe in the hope of gaining some extra support in May.

 Dustin The Turkey (left) is no exception and last night he appeared a special Eurovision Party which was staged in London. The party attracted several hundred British fans and many of this year's Eurovision acts performed their entries. While Dustin didn't perform, he he did make a special guest appearance, but the reaction of he crowd was somewhat hostile as he was booed both as he was introduced to the crowd and when he left the stage. Many people feel that this is only a taste of the reaction that Ireland's most controversial Eurovision entry is likely to get in Belgrade. Despite the hostile reactions, fans and media clamoured to see Dustin as you can see in the picture (left). 

Al in all, yesterday wasn't a great day for the Irish entrant as a few hours earlier it was revealed that "Irelande Douze Points" had only entered the Irish singles chart at #5. With a string of chart-toppers to his name and the publicity generated by his Eurovision entry, most pundits were expecting an instant #1 and bookmakers PaddyPower were offering odds on on the Irish Eurovision entry going straight in at the top of the charts for the first time since Chris Doran in 2004. However with a month to go to the contest with the consequent increase in radio airplay and an appearance on "The Late Late Show" just two weeks away, there is still a strong possibility that the track will reach #1.

 Dustin's track won't be the only 2008 Eurovision entry in Irish music shops before the contest. On May 16th, two other CD singles are released in Ireland. While it's no surprise to see the U.K. entry being issued in Ireland, the release of the French entry is rather usual . The U.K.'s entrant Andy Abraham is very well known in Ireland from his time on "X Factor" so "Even If" could be the first U.K. entry to hit the Irish Top 40 since Javine reached #32 with "Touch My Fire" in 2004. Meanwhile, this year's French entry has managed to attract a lot of media attention due to the fact that it will be the first entry from France to be performed in English. The controversy has become a political issue in France, where the universality of English in modern communications has worried some Francophones and has generated international interest in the track and a lot of radio play. Consequently French entrant Sebastien Tellier who is will known on the electronic music scene will have his entry "Divine" released in both Ireland and the U.K. and it will become the first Eurovision entry issued on vinyl single in over a decade as both a 7" single and a 12" will be released on May 16th.

Tonight's "Turridy Tonight" chat show on RTÉ has television personality and Irish Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan (left) as a guest. Marty will once again be RTÉ's commentator on the contest in Belgrade, and as previously reported, the Irish national broadcaster will be showing both semi-finals as well as the final on May 24th. The preview video of this year's Irish entry was shown during the interview and a quick vote of the audience suggested that half believe that Ireland will win this year's contest.

Listening to Marty, who has just come back from Belgrade, where he filmed the inserts for RTE's previews shows,  it's clear that he still has a great interest in the contest and that he's quite excited about the prospect of heading to the Serbian final. Like most of the Irish media, Marty is especially looking forward to the press conferences given by Dustin The Turkey and how the international media will react to a very Irish comedy entry. 

Meanwhile there are strong suggestions that this may be the final contest for another Irish born commentator. Rumours suggest that the BBC's Terry Wogan may be handing over the commentators duties after Belgrade and that fellow Irishman Graham Norton is the favourite to take over. 

April 21st 2008

This year's Irish Eurovision entry "Ireland Douze Points" by Dustin the Turkey finally hit the music shops on Friday last and reportedly sold very well over the weekend, guaranteeing a high chart entry next weekend. The CD single (pictured, left) contains two tracks, the standard Eurovision mix, clocking in at just under three minutes and in a first for an Irish Eurovision CD single, there's also a dance version of the track - "The Turkey Robot Mix", remixed by the song's composer Simon Fine, which sacrifices a lot of the lyrics in favour of a 1990s style techno beat. Both tracks are also available on several download sites.  If as many people predict, the song tops the Irish chart before the Eurovision Song Contest, it will be the first time that this has happened since 2004, when Chris Doran's "If My World Stopped Turning" following his victory on the second series of "You're A Star". You can follow the succes, or otherwise, of Eurovision related singles in the Irish charts on this page.

Last Saturday almost forty members of the Irish branch of OGAE, (the international Eurovision fanclub) made their way to Enniscorthy in county Wexford, for the third Eurovision Previews Party. Apparaently a good time was had by all, and after watching all 43 entries there was a vote where every person attending (and a couple of the  "All Kinds Of Everything" team that couln't make the party) voted on the songs, awarding points in Eurovision format.

In the past two years the Irish OGAE vote chose the actual Eurovision winner, and if they are once again proved right this year, then the victory in May is going to Sweden, as "Hero" sung by Charlotte Pirelli (left), was the clear winner. The Swiss entry was second, and there was a large gap to Armenia, which finished third.

Sweden's victory with the Irish fanclub is the latest in a series of such boosts for the returning 1999 Eurovision winner, but it should be noted that former entrants always tend to have fan support, with Carola from Sweden in 2006 and Evridiki from Cyprus in 2007, doing far better on the fan club votes, than they did in the actual contest.

The result of the an club vote, also shows a level of dislike of the home country's entry by many Irish Eurovision fans, with "Irelande Douze Points" finishing down in 18th place, which is lower than Dervish and "They Can't Stop The Spring" finished in last year's vote. There was also bad news for supporters of the U.K.'s entry, who might be looking to Ireland to provide significant points in May, as "Even If" by Andy Abraham, failed to make the top half of the table. The vote was also bad news for the pre-contest favourite, Russia, which finished down in 24th,and also for the widely publicised Spanish novelty entry which finished second to last. You can find the complete votes below.

Thanks to Diarmuid Furlong, head of OGAE Ireland for the results and for once again organising a very successful meet-up of Irish Eurovision fans.

April 16th 2008

This weekend starts to see a ramp-up of acivity in the build-up to this year's Eurovision Song Contest. On Friday, the CD singles of the Irish Eurovision entry "Irelande Douze Points" by Dustin The Turkey (left) hits the music stores. Don't forget that if you want a chance to win one of five copies of the single then try our Picture Quiz. Because the track has been available to download from Nokia's music site since the start of the week, there is a strong possibility that it may enter the Irish Top 40 singles chart this weekend, although its major chart impact should happen the following week, when the sales of the CD start to kick in.

Also on Friday, Dustin will be doing a webchat, starting at 13.00 BST (14.00 CET). You can submit potential questions for Dustin on RTÉ's website and join the chat on Friday lunchtime. 

Then on Saturday evening members of the Irish branch of OGAE, the international Eurovision fan club are gathering in Enniscorthy in Co.Wexford. There are some suggestions that this will be the most exciting event to happen in Enniscorthy since 1798 and we just hope that a loss less blood is spilt after the sometimes contentious voting results are announced! "All KInds Of Everything" will have the results of the Irish fanclub vote soon after its announced.

April 9th 2008

In a month's time Dustin the Turkey and the Irish delegation will fly out to Belgrade, to take part in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, but behind the scenes, it looks like the organisers of the competition are none too pleased with Ireland's 2008 entry: "Irelande Douze Points". An article on the Serbian news site Glas-Javnosti suggests that the EBU Refrence Group which is responsible for the rules of the contest gave serious consideration to disqualifying Eurovision's fitst puppet act.

One of the rules states that "The lyrics and/or performance of the songs shall not bring the Shows or the Eurovision Song Contest as such into disrepute. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be allowed in the lyrics or in the performances of the songs. No commercial messages of any kind shall be allowed. A breach of this rule may result in disqualification." It appears that the reference group are none too pleased with the increase in novelty acts in the contest and members discussed setting an example by disqualifying the Irish entry. 

Meanwhile people travelling near the building site of the new Point Theatre in Dublin last week, would have seen a giant poster (left) dedicated to Dustin's Eurovision entry. It wasalso the venue at which "Riverdance" made its debutin 1994. The Point, which is the only venue to stage three Eurovision Song Contests is undergoing major renovation, which will see the capacity more than double to 14,000, making it Ireland's largest indoor concert venue. The work should be completed in early 2009, in time for next year's Eurovision Song Contest, in the event that Dustin wins in Belgrade. You can read more about the project at The Point Village website. 

Meanwhile Dustin has begun his weekly newspaper column, published every Friday. So far he has avoidedany major controversy and instead concentrated on his promotional activities for Eurovision, including apossible visit to contest newcomers Azerbaijan.

Irish members of the Eurovision fan club O.G.A.E. are once again having a previews party and are continuing the decentralisation, which saw the Irish entry being chosen in Limerick. This year the club members will be going to the town of Enniscorthy in county Wexford, the homebase of Irish OGAE organiser Diarmuid Furlong to view the preview videos of the 43 entrants and to vote for their favourites. The event will be held on Saturday April 19th and OGAE members wishing to attend should contact Diarmuid before Wednesday 16th.

This will be the third such event, but the first to be organised outside Dublin and the Irish OGAE vote has been acurate in predicting the winner in the past two years, choosing Finland as its favourite in 2006 and the Serbian entry in 2007. We'llbe covering the result of the poll on this site, after the party.

April 1st 2008  : PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS STORY WAS AN APRIL FOOL'S DAY JOKE 

Over the past few years, former Irish winners such as Dana, Johnny Logan, Linda Martin and Eimear Quinn have been given the honour of calling in the Irish Eurovision votes, but this year RTÉ has decided to bring back another famous name from the past, to give the Irish votes in Belgrade.

Irish television viewers will be famiilar with Bosco (left). The popular children's television puppet was a predecessor to Ireland's 2008 Eurovision entrant Dustin the Turkey, as Bosco had his/her own show back in the late 1970s. Indeed Dustin and Bosco are no strangers to one another as this piece of video shows. 

Bosco has rececently revived his/her career, after a DVD containing episodes of his/her was officially released in November 2005. This was followed up by a second DVD which was released in the run-up to Christmas 2006. There was also a CD released in 2006 called Bosco - Songs & Stories which featured some of Boscos favourite songs and for Christmas 2007, Bosco was back for a seasonal campaign at www.boscoisback.ie. Bosco has promised to open the Irish voting with his/her trademark "hello boys and girls".

Meanwhile should Ireland win in Belgrade, it is reported that the popular duo of Podge and Roge would be in contention to present the show in Dublin in 2009. The famous brothers have had several Eurovision entrants on their popular late night television show, including this recent interview with Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker.

March 27th 2008

Last night Dustin The Turkey appeared on the Spanish Buenafuente television show and met up with the Spanish Eurovision entrant Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre pieces of Eurovision related television, including a special puppet show featuring puppets depicting both Rodolfo and Buenafuente joining Dustin. Dustin also sang along to "Baila La ChikiChiki", this year's Spanish entry, which has becoming hugely successful in Spain and which sems likely to be a major summer hit, irrespective of how it does in Belgrade in May.

This year's Irish entry "Irelande Douze Points" has also received large publicity and exposure in the Spanish media and Dustin's appearance on the private Spanish television channel La Sexta will hopefully generate Spanish support for Ireland in May. You can watch the show, by clicking the image on the left. Mean Irish bookmaker has opened up a special bet between this year's two biggest novelty acts, quoting Ireland at 2/5 to beat Spain, with the Spanish entry at 7/4 to beat Ireland.

Meanwhile Dustin has added another job to his increasingly impressive career. As well as being a builder, politician, children's television presenter, singer and songwriter, from tomorrow (Friday March 28th) he becomes a newspaper columnist, as he starts a new weekly piece in The Irish Sun.

March 24th 2008

A couple of days after making its debut on the internet, the preview video for this year's Irish Eurovision entry received its first public television airing on last week's edition of "The Once A Week Show". The show also gave viewers a chance to see some interesting backstage footage from the video shoot and interviews with the backing singers Kitty B and Ann Harrington, who will be accompanying Dustin the Turkey on stage in Belgrade. Dustin as always was hamming it up for the cameras.

Considering the use of location footage and the production values of the Irish preview videos for the last two years, this year's effort is a little minimalist and some fans have even described it as migrane inducing. You can judge for yourself by clicking the image on the left.

Of course this year the preview video, which are mainly used in television shows broadcast in advance of the contest, is of far less importance than usual, given the international publicity already generated by the participation of Eurovision's first puppet act and the ensuing controversy of the Irish Eurosong selection.

Dustin has already made several appearances on television and radio shows in the U.K. and will be in Spain this week to appear on the Buenafuente Show on the La Sexta channel on Wednesday night (March 25th). This is the show that launched this year's Spanish Eurovision entry "Baila La ChikiChicki" performed by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, and this trip to Spain will be Dustin's chance to meet up with one of his rivals for victory in May.   

Many people feel that the interest generated by this year's Spanish novelty entry may take votes from Ireland, but it appears that far from being rivals, the Irish and Spanish entrants are teaming up to help one another to counter-act the voting blocks that have dominated the contest in recent years. Dustin's visit to Spain will give Spanish television viewers a chance to see "Irelande Douze Points". In return Rodolfo will make a trip to Ireland and will make a guest appearance on Dustin's weekly television show. 

Spain isn't the only country on Dustin's flight plan, he will also be visiting Andorra, Estonia and Macedonia. These promotional visits were apparently not organised by RTÉ, but rather after the broadcasters in these countries invited Dustin to come and promote his Eurovision entry. Also French television channel M6 are sending a crew to Dublin to cover the story in the build up to the contest in May.

The other big news over the past week, has been the draw for the running order of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest final and the two semi-finals. All things considered, it was a reasonably good draw for Ireland, drawing the #11 slot in the first semi-final on May 20th, far away from and later in the draw than the other novelty entry in the semi-final from Estonia. The draw means that RTÉ now know their rehearsal slots in Belgrade, with early morning visits to the venue for rehearsals and press conferences on Monday May 12th and Wednesday May 14th, before the full semi-final show rehearsals on May 19th and the final dress rehearsal on the afternoon of May 20th. The five day gap between May 14th and May 19th may give Dustin additional opportunities for some promotional acitivies. "All Kinds Of Everything" intends to provide full coverage of Ireland's most newsworthy Eurovision act ever, live from Belgrade from May 9th, more than two weeks before the final.

Unfortunatly Ireland's 2008 Eurovision entry has become the subject of of an international political dispute between two Balkan neighbours. The lyrics of "Irelande Douze Points" contains a list of Eastern European countries, which includes a namecheck for Macedonia. However Greek broadcaster ERT, in an unusual display of pettiness has taken offence at the mentioning of Macedonia, rather than their preferred "Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia" the name under which the country joined the United Nations and which is still used by the EBU, albeit in an abriviated form on Eurovision scoreboards. You can read more about this dispute by clicking on the image on the left.

Consequently, the lyrics of Ireland's entry will have to have a minor adjustment with Lithuania most likely to get mentioned instead of Macedonia. One can only hope that the Bosnian broadcaster continues to show a little more common sense and doesn't launch a similar objection to the incorrect "Bosnia-Herzegova", which is also included in the song's lyrics.   

Dustin has played down the story, issuing a statement saying: "we did not mean to offend Macedonia or Greece with our song. Geography is not our strong side. You probably noticed that because in our song we claim the Danube river goes through France". This is the second time in three years that the Irish Eurovision entrant has unwittingly gotten involved in a politically motivated dispute in the Balkans. Two years ago Brian Kennedy was a guest star at the ill-fated national final of the then Serbia & Montenegro, when the winning act from Montenegro had missiles thrown at them by an angy crowd, after some obviously politically motivated voting, which eventually resulted in the country having to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, before going their separate ways later that year.

March 12th 2008

The participation of Dustin the Turkey has obviously meant an increase in interest in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Irish bookmakers PaddyPower is now offering a variety of Dustin related Eurovision bets on its website. Irish fans obviously have high expections for "Irelande Douze Points" in Belgrade as it's 1/5 to qualify from the semi-final, and at 4/1, it's the hottest early favourite for the contest since Russia's tATu in 2003.  

While the Irish entry has still to be released commercially, there are plans not only for a single which will be in the shops on April 18th, but also apparently for a Eurovision themed album by Dustin. Work has begun on "I'm A Vision" and apparently invitations have gone out to former Irish Eurovision entrants to work with Dustin on the project. While 1970 entrant Dana (the nemesis of the turkey, after her comments on the Eurosong 2008 selection) is unlikely to be involved in the project, Marc Roberts who lost out to Dustin in Limerick is likely to be involved and has obviously no hard feelings after his defeat saying that Ireland should now get behind Ireland's 2008 and try and win the contest for an eighth time. However the reaction of Eurovision fans still seems to be divided 50/50 between those that support Dustin's entry and those who think that Dana was right in saying that Ireland would be better to withdraw from the contest, rather than send a joke entry to Belgrade. A poll on this website, saw the slight majority favouring Dana's opinion.  

While we await the release of Dustin's album, which is most likely to be in May, two former Irish Eurovision stars have new releases in the shops this week. 2006 Eurovision entrant Brian Kennedy releases his new album "Interpretations" this week. It's the sixth album on the Curb label from one of Ireland's most enduring artists, featuring Brian's Interpretations of songs that he wished he'd written hiself. As the title suggests Brian gives his interpretations to a unique collection of  songs which include "You Are So Beautiful To Me" (originally sung by Joe Cocker), "Night & Day" (Frank Sinatra), "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green), "Gaye" (Clifford T Ward) and "Stuck In A Moment" by U". The album can be bought on Amazon's UK website.

Meanwhile 2004 Irish entrant Chris Doran has a new single in the shops this week. Waterford man Chris has been recording in America, and this new single "Hey Girl" has a rather R'n'B flavour. You can listen to the track on Chris's MySpace site and for more information on Chris, he also has a Bebo page. Brian is currently promoting the single, which is also being released in the U.K., Australia, Japan and the U.S.A. Chris will be appearing on RTÉ's "The Café" television show tomorrow evening (March 13th).

One of the undoubted side efffects of Dustin's participation in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, is that the profile of the show is very much higher in Ireland, than it has been since the first season of "You're A Star" in 2003.  

Mickey Harte the winner of that show and Ireland's representative in Riga is the special guest performer at a Eurovision related event being staged in Dublin on Friday May 16th, the week before this year's Contest in Belgrade. The event titled "You're A Vision Disco" promises to be "a glitzy night of Eurovision kitsch, douze points pop hits and special guests, and it is being staged to raise funds for Headway Ireland, an worthy organisation that brings positive change for those impact by acquired brain injuries.

The event is being staged in Break For The Border in Dublin with doors opening at 8pm GMT, and tickets for the event cost 20 Euros in advance or 22 Euros at the door. Further information can be found at Headway's website. 

A week earlier, Friday 9th May is likely to be ther night when Dustin makes the traditional "Late Late Show" appearance by the Irish Eurovision entrant, before they head off to the host city. This year's format for the Eurovision Song Contest, which involves two semi-finals before the final on May 24th, means an extended rehearsal schedule, which will start almost two weeks before the final.

With Ireland being drawn in the first semi-final, it will mean an extended visit to Belgrade for the Irish delegation, and "All Kinds Of Everything" will be in the Serbian capital, before the first rehersal, setting the scene and bringing you all the major stories in the build up to the contest.

On Monday next, March 17th, the draw for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will be made, and there is little doubt that Ireland will be hoping to avoid an early position in the running order, which helped to kill the chances of last year's most controversial entry, from Israel. Another consideration is that another novelty song, from Estonia, is also taking part in the first semi-final, and again it will be hoped to avoid a draw close to that entry. "All Kinds Of Everything" will be reviewing the impact of the draw after it is made on Monday next.

March 1st 2008

A week after the Irish public chose its entry for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest and it looks like the dust from the media storm caused by the selection of Dustin the Turkey and "Irlande Douze Points" is finally begining to settle. Needless to say, this has been the highest profile Irish Eurovision selection in decades and for once Ireland's Eurovision entry will be going to the contest as most talked about song in the competition. 

The publicity generated by the participation of Dustin certainly helped Eurosong 2008 to quite strong viewing figures. The first part on the show, in which the songs were performed pulled in 499,000 viewers, and a 36% audience share. While the ten minute results sequence had an audience of 820,000, or a massive share of 53% of available viewers. This is the sixth successive year when the Irish Eurovision selection show has been a hit with viewers, following the "You're A Star" selections from 2003 to 2005, and "The Late Late Show" Eurovision specials in the past two years, which featured Brian Kennedy and Dervish performing all the potential entries.

The show was also a huge success on the internet wheere tens of thousands of visitors to both RTÉ's website and the official Eurovision website (www.eurovision.tv) tuned into the show which was streamed live around the world. In the U.K., interest in Dustin's victory has overshadowed their own Eurovision selection and the massive international interest in Ireland's entry was covered in media outlets all over Europe and has also reached the most unusual places including the well respected international business Bloomberg website.

Needless to say, Irish tabloids have given a huge amount of column inches to the story, both in the build-up to Eurosong 2008 and since Dustin's selection. While most of last Sunday's newspapers went to press too early to cover the result tomorrow's Sunday World will be catching up with the story, thanks to an article by "All Kinds Of Everything" blogger Peter Walsh.     

The news of Dustin's victory even made its way to the top of the Irish political landscape, with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern having to answer questions in Vienna, during the week. Rather than concerning on pressing international issues like Ireland's recognition of Kosovo, or the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, it was Dustin's appearance at Eurovision that was under focus. Ahern (left) confessed that he was hoping that Leona Daly would win. "I have to say I personally knew the number two on the night, so I wasn't rooting for Dustin". "I was rooting for her because she grew up with my daughters and I knew her very well and she did very well on the night."

Ahern is one of many people who feel that the the Dublin singer would have made a better if less newsworthy Eurovision entrant. Leona's song "Not Crazy After All" which we can officially confirm finished second to Dustin in the televote has begun to pick up some radio airplay, and will hopefully get a commercial release. The song is also going to be Ireland's entry into this year's "Second Chance" contest, organised by OGAE, the international Eurovision fanclub. The "Second Chance" contest gives additional recognition to the best songs that failed to make it throiugh the national Eurovision selections.

"All Kinds Of Everything" believes that, unlike last year, Ireland's 2008 Eurovision entry will get a commercial release and will be available for commercial download and will be released on CD making it eligable for the charts. There are rumours of dance remixes of the song (a first for an Irish Eurovision entry) and a promo video for "Irlande Douze Points" is also to be filmed in the next few weeks.

The staging of the song is likely to get a major overhaul before Belgrade in May as many commentators felt that the performance in Limerick came across was distracting and rather cluttered.

For those wondering about the identities of Dustin's two female backing vocalists, we can reveal that we were Kitty B (on Dustin's right) and Ann Harrington, photographed beside Dustn on the left.

Ann is the niece of 1994 Eurovision winner Paul Harrington and previously came close to representing Ireland in the contest in 2005, when she was one of the finalists in the third series of "You're A Star" losing out to Donna & Joe McCaul. 

February 24th 2008

It's the day after Eurosong 2008 and despite the fact that we had what was probably the most predicytable result in an Irish national final ever, the media circus surrounding Dustin The Turkey's victory with "Irlande Douze Points", shows no sign of stopping. It seems that the possibly of having puppet representing Ireland at Eurovision is one thing, the reality of Dustin's victory seems to have finally hit home. There's no question that the selection of Ireland's first novelty Eurovision entry has split public opinion down the middle.

Never short of spotting (or perhaps fostering) a controversy, the Irish Daily Star Sunday gives pages two and three to Eurosong under the headline "Fowl Play", focussing on the bigger attention gained by Dustin,, compared with the other finalists. Even on the day of the final Dustin was was hugging the headlines and was also a featured news story on Sky News and was interviewed (see video on the left).

It really is hard to see what the problem is here. Even if Dustin wasn't a puppet, the fact that one of the entrants had a long established and successful recording career meant that they were going to gain more attention. Of course the fact that that act is a puppet makes for an even bigger story, and it would be foolish for Dustin or RTÉ to try and play down the story. Without the participation of Dustin, there is no question that interest in Eurosong 2008 would have been a lot lower. I'm sure ratings would also have been lower and in that sense all the finalists gained more exposure than they normally would have done, by having Dustin in the show.

Dustin's participation is a story that's not going to die away, now that we have a result. Expect tomorrow's radio chat shows and letters to the editor sections of the newspapers to run Eurovision stories for several more days.

February 23rd 2008

Eurosong 2008 day has finally arrived and tonight all eyes will turn to Limerick and the selection of Ireland's entry for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest to be staged in Belgrade, Serbia in May. The six Eurosong finalists have spent most of the week rehearsing in Dublin, and those that have seen the rehearsals say that we are in for once of the most intersting Eurovision selection shows in many years.

The six Eurosong finalists have now take the 200km journey from Dublin to Limerick, Ireland's third biggest city and will be during further rehearsals of in the actual venue, The University of Limerick Concert Hall (left). Insiders suggest that the slickest choreography belongfs to Donal Skehan and his team of three dancers and two backing singers. Dustin The Turkey's entry uses one of the more unusual stage props; a shopping trolley and that both female singers Maya and Leona Daly are really impressive vocally, however if Irish fans are looking for something more safe and traditional from and Irish perspective, then Liam Geddes and Marc Roberts, may be the one to do well.

Tonight's show starts at 19.00 GMT (20.00 CET) and runs for one hour and five minutes and returns at 21.45 GMT after the main news, for the results sequence. The show is not only being broadcast on television, but will also be transmitted on RTE's website and on the official Eurovision website.  Despite the fact that seven other countries are choosing their entry tonight, most international attention seems to be focussed on Ireland, due in part to the country's successful Eurovision history but also due to the participation of Dustin The Turkey.  

There's no question that most of the attention has been pointed at the popular television puppet and recording star, but over the past few days the air of inevitability about tonight's result seems to have blown away. On Thurday last the six songs that are in competition to represent Ireland in May were aired for the first time on Derek Mooney's radio show and an assorted panel gave their opinions. Suffice to say, that while Dustin's entry "Irlande Douze Points" certainly got people talking, the full enormity of sending a joke entry to the Eurovision Song Contest hit home for the first time. Also many people seemed to be impressed by the quality of the other five songs in the competition.

While the songs were being unveiled on radio, the six finalists were in another part of the RTÉ complex, being interviewed and talking about their songs on "The Afternoon Show". The popular television show hosted by Sheana Keane and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh gave the six Eurosong entrants a chance to talk about their songs and for the public to hear snippets of the six songs which are in competition to represent Ireland in Belgrade in May.

Unfortunatly reaction to the songs hasn't been universally positive. While many Eurovision fans believe that this is the best quality field in an Irish Eurovision selection for many years, the Irish Independent's Jason O'Brien was far less enthusiastic, descibing the six songs as "a flock of turkeys" and saving most derision for the favourite Dustin The Turkey and "Irlande Douze Points" and re-producing the lyrics of the entry. The only enthusiasm that O'brien showed for for Leona Daly's song "Not Crazy After All", and even that was muted praise, describing it as "the only song that didn't have listeners switching off in droves."

It's interesting that opinions on the songs seems to have changed since they were made public.

"All Kinds Of Everything" has been running two polls over the past week, asking visitors to the site about the finalists in this year's Eurosong. From Monday to Thursday afternnon we hasked people which entry they were most interested in hearing, and for the past two days, after the songs were aired, we asked them, which was their favourite. The results may not be indicative of public opinion, but they tell an interesting story.

Before the songs were aired, Dustin had an enormous lead with 35% of the votes, with Marc Roberts and Donal Shekan following up on 20% each. Since the songs have aired, theses three songs continue to lead the others, but the order has changed. Donal Shekan's "Double-Cross My Heart" now leads with 28%, with Dustin on 24% and March Rooberts on 22%. There's also good news for Leona Daly who has seen her support double since the songs were aired, as she climbs from 7% to 14%.

The bookmakers still have Dustin as favourite at 2/9 (you have to bet 9  to win 2) with Donal Skehan at 5/1 Leona Daly at 8/1, Liam Geddes 18/1, Marc Roberts 20/1 and Maya the outsider at 33/1

While his five rivals were tucked up in their beds on Friday night, Donal Shekan (left) was still out canvassing for votes. Donal did a P.A. at the  Queerbash event in Limerick's Baker Place performing a live version of Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round", earlier in the week Donal had also be courting the gay vote by appearing at Glitz in Dublin.

After his performance Donal was happy to chat to his audience and proved how much of a Eurovision fan he is by listing the of the songs in contention in this year's contest, some already chosen, and some only at the selection stage.

"All KInds Of Everything" will be at tonight's Eurosong selection, and we'll be out celebrating afterwards, no matter who wins. Peter Walsh will be keeping the blog updated as the night passes, so feel free to comment on tonight's events and tommorrow we'll be playing catch-up with the Irish selection as well as the other songs chosen in the other seven finals taking place all over Europe tonight.

February 20th 2008

RTÉ is now running a promotional slots for Eurosong 2008 on its ad. breakers, featuring a 1960s style transistor radio with video clips of some of Ireland's great Eurovision moments. In case you missed them, the show starts at 7.00pm (19.00 GMT) on SAturday night next and runs for an hour and five minutes. People then have over an hour to vote, and the results show starts at 9.45pm and (21.45 GMT) and runs for ten minutes and if you live outside Ireland you will be able to see the show live on the internet, in a high quality webstream. As Eurosong is coming from Limerick, "All Kinds Of Everything" will be at the show, and we're hoping to interview the winner after they are chosen. Consequently, the website may not be updated until Sunday morning.    

Don't forget that you can hear all six entrants in the Irish Eurovision selection on Derek Mooney's Radio show at 3.00pm (15.00 GMT) tomorrow (Thursday) and the performers will also be talking about their songs and the Irish selection. If you're out at work, or able to hear the show live, it will be available on RTE's website.

"All Kinds Of Everything" will also be making sound files available on Thursday afternoon. Starting at 4.00 PM (16.00 GMT) we'll be adding one song at random to the front page of the site every half an hour. 

It's not often that a songwriter in the Irish Eurovision selection, has a song topping the U.K. chart at the same time that he's hoping to have another one of his songs represent Ireland at Eurovision, but for Steve Booker (left) that happy coincidence fell into place this week. On Sunday last his song "Mercy" performed by British singer Duffy, entered the British charts at #1 and next Saturday "Not Crazy After All", the song he wrote with Leona Daly, will be performed by Leona at Eurosong 2008. You can watch the video of "Mercy" here.   

February 18th 2008

Last Friday night (February 15th) saw the six Eurosong finalists appearing on RTÉ's flagship chat show, "The Late Late Show", hosted by 1998 Eurovision presenter, Pat Kenny. The singers interpreted Johnny Logan's 1980 Eurovision winner "What's Another Year", which each singer taking parts of the classic song in the order in which they will be performing in the Eurosong 2008 final in Limerick, next Saturday night (Feb.23rd). You can watch the performance by clicking the image on the left.

Many Eurovision fans were slightly disappointed slightly disappointed that there was no chat with the six performers, given the media and public interest in this year's Irish selection, but there is little doubt that we'll be hearing more from the contestants over the next week, and "All Kinds Of Everything" will be doing some interviews and featuring the six finalists in the build-up to Saturday night.

Don't forget that you can hear all six songs in contention to be Ireland's 2008 Eurovision entry on Derek Mooney's Radio 1 show on Thursday next, starting at 15.00 GMT. The show is transmittd live on RTE's website and we'll be providing a link to the show and soundfiles of the songs on Thursday.

Meanwhile Marc Roberts has become the song Eurosong finalist to take to Bebo, Ireland's biggest social networking site, to promote his Eurosong participation. You can see Marc's page here.  

February 15th 2008

There's good news for Irish Eurovision fans that are not intending to go to Serbia in May. RTÉ has decided to broadcast both semi-finals of this year's contest from the Belgrade Arena (left). Broadcasters are only required to transmit the semi-final in which they were participating, but as well as the first semi-final on May 20th, in which Ireland competes, RTÉ will also show the second semi-final two days later. Many people believe that the local interest in this year's contest is likely to be high, given the publicity around our selection show on February 23rd and several large immigrant communities, like those from Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, will also be interested in seeing how their entries do in Belgrade. Despite showing the second semi-final, there will be no televote in Ireland, as only those countries which are competing in the show can vote. While it is unclear which RTÉ channel will transit the second semi-final, until today Irish viewers were most likely planning to tune in to BBC3, to see the second semi-final. 

February 14th 2008

There's no question that for one reason or another, Eurosong 2008, has become the most discussed and reported on Irish Eurovision selection show in decades and apparently there's a waiting list for returned tickets in Limerick's University Concert Hall, for those that missed them a couple of weeks ago. 

Irish Eurovision fans should watch "The Late Late Show" tomorrow night (15th), to get a glimpse of the six finalists competing in this year's Irish selection. This will be the first time that the performers have all appeared together in public together, since they were announced by RTÉ, and given the controversy and debate that has happened since, it should be well worth tuning in. While they won't be performing their potential Eurovision entries, all six performers will be interpreting Ireland's 1980 winner "What's Another Year".

"All Kinds Of Everything" has been told that RTÉ radio has decided to air the six songs competing for the chance to represent Ireland in Belgrade and that they will be aired on Derek Mooney's afternoon radio show on Thursday February 21st, two days before the winner is selected. As most of RTE's radio shows are also hosted on its website, listeners from outside Ireland will also be able to hear the songs.

We also believe that RTÉ has pulled off a little coup, by having 2007 Eurovision winner Marija Serifovic (left) in Limerick for the Eurosong show. Given that six other countries are having their Eurovision selections on that evening, it will be quite an achievement by the Irish broadcaster to bring Marija to Ireland. "All Kinds Of Everything" believes that as well as performing, Marija may also be joining former Eurovision winner Linda Martin and celebrity pop mogul Louis Walsh on the judging panel. It now appears that Johnny Logan won't be in Limerick, as he will be a special guest star at the Croatian Eurovision selection, taking place on the same evening. 

Finally, one of this year's Eurosong finalists has opened their own website to promote their entry. Dustin the Turkey, has created a special page on Bebo, Ireland's favourite social networking website and in a couple of days he has already gathered over sixteen hundred "friends". The website doesn't reveal much about his song, and even less about the mystery female singer that will accompany him in Eurosong 2008, but a celebrity gossip site is reporting that it could turn out to be Namoi Lynch, a sister of Boyzone member Shane Lynch, and of two of the members of B*Witched. Naomi also tried her hand at a recording career as a member of the short-lived duo Buffalo G.

February 11th 2008

The timing of the Eurosong 2008, is now confirmed, with the show starting at 19.00 GMT on Saturday February 23rd, lasting for a hour before taking a break and returning with the result after the main evening news. The show will apparently be transmitted live on RTÉ's website on what is the busiest night in this year's Eurovision calendar, although reports on other websites that it was also to be transmitted on the official Eurovision website (www.eurovision.tv) appear to be incorrect, as they will be transmitting the Croatian selection, which takes place on the same evening.  

Meanwhile, the unprecedented media coverage of this year's Irish Eurovision selection show Eurosong 2008, continues apace, over a week after the six finalists were announced. Needless to say the vast majority of the attention is focussed on Dustin The Turkey, but over the last few days some of the other five finalists have started to get some attention, if only to voice their opinion on the participation of the more famous rival in the race the represent Ireland in Belgrade in May.     

16 year old Mayoman Liam Geddes (left) is still at school and is the only amateur performer in the Eurosong field. Liam was featured on UTV on Friday night last and he has the advantage of having a songwriter from Northern Ireland as his Eurosong entry "Sometimes" was written and composed by schoolteacher Susan Hewitt who hails from county Armagh. Susan and Liam were introduced by a mutual friend at the end of last year, and Sometimes was written after just one meeting. 

Liam who has plenty of experience of performing cover versions, got to sing live on UTV, although under Eurosong rules, he was not allowed to perform his potential Eurovision entry. Liam was obviously hoping to gain support from Northern Ireland's television viewers, although it is still unclear whether anyone from outside the Republic will be able to vote on February 23rd, as earlier reports that there may be internet voting appear remain unconfirmed. Nevertheless with a large number of people south of the border tuning into UTV, it was a chance of Liam to showcase his talent and drum up support for his Eurosong performance.

Liam's father (also called Liam) was one of those interviewed on Monday's "Liveline" radio show, hosted by Joe Duffy. The phone-in chat show almost became a "Eurosong" special, with Liam Senior being joined by three other finalists; Leona Daly, Marc Roberts and Donal Skehan as well as several members of the public who seemed to be generally against Ireland being represented a puppet act in Belgrade.

Dublin singer Leona Daly (left) was very forthcoming in talking about the chances of her and her song "Not Crazy After All" making it to Eurovision. Leona believes that the media interest in the participation of Dustin The Turkey, had created an unever playing field for the other five finalists and that she thought the result was already a foregone conclusion.

Leona expressed an opinion that many share, that it would be better to have all six songs played in advance of the show as this would allow people to judge and discuss the merits of the six entries, as happens in most other countries. Those that have heard Leona's entry say that is is one of the stronger songs in the selection and that is a very contemporary, radio friendly track that would be a good example of Ireland's current music scene which boasts many great young singer/songwriters.

Leona also expressed the opinion that having gained so much publicity for Eurosong 2008, that it might be better if Dustin The Turkey withdrew from the selection before the entry was chosen in order to give genuine singers and songwriters a chance to demonstrate their talent to an international audience.

1997 Eurovision runner-up Marc Roberts (left) doesn't believe that the result of the Eurosong selection is a certainty, claiming to have faith in Irish viewers to have the good sense to pick something that they can be proud of to represent them in Belgrade. Rejecting criticism of the Eurovision Song Contest, Marc said that his participation in the contest had been a boost to his career, both in Ireland and beyond. Those that have heard Marc's song say that it is not a big ballad but it is quite different from "Mysterious Woman". Marc describes the track as an uptempo Take That style track. Given his position in the running order, being the last to perform, Marc may be the best placed to cause an upset on the night.

Fellow finalist Donal Skehan was also on "Liveline" and he too is optimistic of his chances of making to to Belgrade, despite being overshadowed by Dustin's participation. Being a longtime Eurovision fan, Donal says that his song is ideal for the contest and that with a song written especially for Eurovision, he may well have a better chance in May, than would Dustin, who's appeal may be limited to the domestic market. Donal says that he is confident of a Top 5 finish for Ireland in Belgrade if his song "Double Cross My Heart" is chosen to go to Eurovision. You can hear the "Liveline" show here.

Meanwhile all the local publicity is making it difficult for Slovenian Maja Slatinsek to gain any attention for her entry "Time To Rise", however this is the one song that has leaked onto the internet, as it was on the original list of finalists which were put on Romanian television's website. There's no question that this is both a challenging and interesting song and if Maya can pull off the high notes which feature in the entry, Maja is likely to win a lot of support in the University of Limerick Concert Hall and beyond.

Meanwhile, there was no getting away from Dustin The Turkey this weekend, whether it was Eurosong panelist Louis Walsh on "Tubridy Tonight" coming out in support of the popular TV puppet or  Lorraine Keane coming out on TV3, blasting Dustin for entering Eurosong. She claimed that the other finalists "aren't doing it to take the piss - they're doing it for the right reasons.It means so much to them.They look at something like the Eurovision as a launch pad." Keane urged the stuffed bird to "stick to the day job".

Sunday's newspapers were full of the story, with "You're Star" judge Brendan O'Connor perhaps tongue in cheekly suggesting that Dustin wouldn't be the first "bird with a big beak and a nasal twang" to do well in the contest, citing 1988 Eurovision winner Celine Dion as an inspiration for Dustin to follow. When you see a photo of the Canadian singer taken at the time and the popular Irish television star, there is an undoubted similaity and insiders suggest that Dustin's styling for the Eurosong showdown will be at least as memorable as that of Dion back in Dublin's RDS, twenty years ago. On the other hand those that have heard Dustin's entry say that there is little similarity to "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" and that "Irelande Douze Points" is a uptempo dance track which features female vocals along with Dustin rapping and includes such lines as "Shake your feathers and pop your beak" and "Wave euro-hands and euro-feet, wave them in the air to the turkey beat".

The Sunday tabloids gave saturation coverage to the Eurosong selection and Dustin's possible participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade. The Sunday World had Ryan Tubridy dedicating his weekly column to the story, describing the idea as "Brilliant. Brilliant.Brilliant." And the pages centre pages were dedicated to an interview which Dustin gave to Amanda Brunker. Dustin claimed that "I've been spending all my free time down the local video store topping up my tanin preperation. My outfit on the night needs to be quite eye catching, so expect a lot of my bikini-line on show!" Dustin had another go at Donna & Joe McCaul, Ireland's Eurovision performers from 2005 saying that "People from athlone should stay in Athlone. They should build a big wall around the place". 

Meanwhile, two Sunday papers claimed to have the "exclusive" story of revealing the man behind Dustin The Turkey, as both The Mail On Sunday and the Star On Sunday (left) revealed that soft spoken and mild manned John Morrison (38) had shunned the limelight over the past twenty years and had let his alter-ego Dustin take all the headlines. 

John has apparently become a very rich man thanks to the success of Dustin and the string of chart topping singles and albums. Those that have met John say that he is totally different from his puppet character and that you could not meet a more unassuming man. It is a most surprising outcome of his Eurovision participation, that John's ananimity which has been taken away as the level of interest in Dustin the Turkey grabs the headlines, far beyond Ireland.

February 7th 2008

With just over two weeks to go to Eurosong 2008, there is no doubt that this is the most talked about Irish selection, in Ireland's Eurovision history, which goes back to 1965. While the early National Song Contests attached huge local interest, and "You're A Star" was a ratings winner in 2003 and 2004, there has been nothing like the interest both national and international, in the competition that will be broadcast live from Limerick on February 23rd 2008. With all due respect to Marc Roberts and the other four finalists, in the selection, there really has been only one story in the last fews days: the participation of popular children's puppet TV star Dustin the Turkey.

Every national newspaper has dedicated column inches to the story, with The Irsh Mail putting the story on its front page on Tuesday, with an additional page an a half of coverage inside. The previous evening the story made "Questions And Answers", the RTÉ version of the BBC's popular political panel show and was also featured as an item on the main evening news. 

However even more remarkably, the story has made the news in many international outlets from Australia to Belgium, the U.K. and the U.S.A. Never has there been so much coverage of an entrant in the Irish Eurovision selection and probably the most remarkable thing is that the song "Ireland Douze Points" has yet to be aired in public, although a parody aired on RTÉ's "Liveline" has also gained much attention.  

This is the first time an entrant in a national selection for Eurovision has gained so much interest and it's comparable to the media hype which surrounded Lordi's entry in 2006 or Israeli transexual Dana International in 1998, although in their examples, the attention came after they had been chosen as their country's Eurovision entry. It should however be remembered that international attention does not guarantee a good Eurovision result, as last year's Israeli entry, the controversial "Push The Button" by Teapacks proved, when it failed to make it out of the semi-final in Helsinki.  

The question of whether all the attention has given Dustin's entry an unfair advantage has been debated on radio throughout the week and certainly the bookmakers seem to think that Dustin is all but unbeatable, with odds of 1/3 to win Eurosong 2008, meaning that you have to bet three euros to win one. Perhaps surprisingly, the second favourite is Dubliner Leona Daly (left) at 4/1, Donal Skehan at 7/1, Marc Roberts at 8/1, Liam Geddes at 12/1 and Maya Slatinsek the outsider at 25/1.

More remarkably, when bookmakers offered odds of 33/1 for Dustin the Turkey to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade in May, there were several punters willing to bet on Ireland's eighth Eurovision win, and the price has since tumbled to 10/1, making Dustin the early favourite for victory, something which hasn't happened to an Irish entry since Niamh Kavanagh and "In Your Eyes" in 1993. 

Despite or perhaps because of the shock of seeing Dustin as the favourite to win the contest, Irish songwriters, performers and Eurovision fans continue to have mixed feelings on the potential participation of Dustin although it's clear the puppet will have one person on his side in Limerick, Irish pop supremo Louis Walsh, who will be one of the three Eurosong 2008  judges. Walsh has come out 100% in favour of Dustin's Eurovision bid; "What's the problem with sending Dustin to Belgrade? We've sent plenty of turkeys in the past.I think certain people need to get off their high horse about the whole Eurovision thing.We have tried sending serious acts to the Contest in recent years and they haven't delivered the goods so I have nothing against Dustin at all. Everyone in Ireland likes him and it will be a great laugh having a turkey involved,if nothing else."

Walsh adds 'Who cares what people in other countries think? The Eurovision is meant to be about having a laugh and being a bit wacky. A couple of years ago a heavy metal band with monster masks won it so anything goes. The people of Ireland will vote for who they want and ultimately they will decide.We can't get too high brow over the Eurovision Song Contest because it has always been a bit of a laugh". We'll probably have to wait until February 23rd to hear the opinions of former Eurovision winners Johnny Logan and Linda Martin.

Meanwhile the suggestion that RTÉ should use two rounds of voting, with a second "Super Final" with the top two entries, as happened in Slovenia last Sunday is not being considered by RTÉ, as they have already organised the format of the selection, although in may be something they will consider in the future.

February 4th 2008

Within a few hours of the announcement of the six finalists in Eurosong 2008, Ireland's Eurovision selection show, the newspapers and radio have been busy reporting the story and there's no doubt that the one entrant grabbing all the headlines is Dustin the Turkey. This morning the three national broadsheet newspapers finally caught up with the story which we reported on "All Kinds Of Everything", and which was later published in some tabloid newspapers here in Ireland and in the U.K. The Irish Times titled their article "Ireland's Eurovision entry may be a turkey - and that's official" and quoted 2007 Eurovision songwriter and Irish Times journalist John Waters saying "Don't forget that we are talking about the Eurovision. It's fun, it's kitsch and nobody takes it all that seriously". The Irish Independent titled their article "Dustin joins the long list of Eurovision turkeys", and had a few words from the popular TV puppet who explained his decision to enter, claiming that "there is a direct link between the recent downturn in the economy, his lack of musical output and our poor showing in the Eurovision over the last number of years". Meanwhile The Examiner focussed on Eurovision fans reaction to the entry, under an headline "Eurovision junkies face cold turkey as Dustin makes final". Surprisingly, there has been very little attention to the fact that as an RTÉ insider, Dustin may have had an unfair advantage in the selection process, something which is known to have upset several of the unsuccesful songwriters. 

By the afternoon, the story became the main topic for discussion on the RTÉ 1 radio chat show "Liveline", hosted by Joe Duffy, and it was clearly established that Dustin's entry had already ruffled the feathers of several Eurovision veterans. Composer, arranger and former Eurovision conductor Frank McNamara (left), a man who's opinions on the contest are well respected, was one of the few commentators to criticise all the finalists in the 2007 Irish Eurovision selection, and predicted Ireland's poor showing in Helsinki. Describing the decision to allow Dustin's entry to compete as "beyond a joke", McNamara claimed to be stunned, speculating that RTÉ might be showing two fingers to Eurovision, after last year's last place finish. Despite what many feel, McNamara still claimed that Eurovision is a worthy musical competition and a song of the quality of "What's Another Year", would still win the contest, in the modern era of gimmicks and neighbourly voting.    

The man who wrote Johnny Logan's 1980 winner Shay Healy (left) was also interviewed on the "Liveline" show and offered a more pragmatic or perhaps a tongue in cheek reaction to a potential Irish Eurovision entry performed by a puppet. Describing the song as a "firebreak" for Irish songwriters from the many poor songs which have represented the country in the past few years. Healy, pointeed out that most of the finalists, with the exception of Marc Roberts were unknowns with little experience, and that in such a field, it might not be a bad decision to send Dustin the Turkey.

Another former Eurovision winning songwriter Phil Coulter, said that with Eurovision in a downward spiral and in the descent into a "tasteless lottery", Ireland had two choices, following the recent trend where the hairdresser is more important than the songwriter or do we still try and demonstrate the country's rich heritage of good singers and songwriters. Coulter claimed that we still had the songwriters capable of writing a Eurovision winner and that an entry by a puppet would be trivialising the contest.

Meanwhile the chairman of the judging panel, Bill Hughes said that the song was chosen on merit and that the it was very funny and had a great melody and hook and decried the fact that the interest in Dustin was taking from the other five finalists. Hughes confirmed that the Dustin entry also featured a female vocal and that it had the elements which have already been reported, with referencees to Bono, Terry Wogan's wig and "Riverdance". You can hear the "Liveline" piece on the RTÉ website, which includes a song compsoed especially for the show, containing the elements known to be in Dustin's entry "Ireland Douze Points".  

The "All Kinds Of Everything" mailbox has already had several reactions from songwriters and fans and there seems to be mixed feelings on the selection of Dustin the Turkey (left). Diarmuid Furlong, the chairman of the Irish branch of OGAE (the international Eurovision Fan Club), probably sums up the feelings of many: "I think that sending a turkey to Belgrade would be making a mockey out of the whole contest and is an insult to serious songwriters and performers in Ireland who were overlooked and lost their platform to showcase their talent, to a turkey. On a positive note it's given RTÉ and Eurosong great publicity and will probably increase the general public's interest in Eurovision, but I will reserve final judgement until I hear the songs".

For one reason or another interest in the Eurosong 2008 show certainly seems to be a lot higher than the last time Ireland had a multi-artist national final, back in 2001 and tickets for the event, which will take place in Limerick on February 23rd went within two of becoming available this morning, as fans from Ireland and beyond besieges the Limerick University box office.

Over the next three weeks, "All Kinds Of Everything" will be featuring all six finalists in the countdown to the Irish Eurovision selection.

February 3rd 2008

RTÉ has officially announced the finalists in Eurosong 2008, the Irish Eurovision selection.

Eurosong 2008 will be presented by Ray D’Arcy and broadcast live from University Concert Hall Limerick on Saturday 23 February. The live show will be broadcast from 7-8pm and voting lines will open (phone and text) only after all six acts have performed. The public will then decide which song will represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May. The winner will be announced in a live results show at 9.30pm. RTÉ is inviting members of the public to join the audience for Eurosong 2008 with tickets being made available on a first come first served basis from 9am on Monday 4th February from the UCHL box office. The tickets are free of charge and the phone number to call is 061-331549

SONG 1 : “Double Cross My Heart” performed by Donal Skehan composed by Joel Humlén, Oscar Gorres and Charlie Mason.

21 year-old Donal Skehan began performing at the age of four. Throughout his youth he performed in numerous school musicals, choirs and local shows. In 2005 Donal beat off hundreds of auditionees to gain a place in the International boyband, Streetwize. Donal set off with the band on a worldwide search for its final member and during this time acted as spokesperson making several TV and radio appearances in the UK, Sweden and America.

After leaving the band in 2006, Donal went on to study TV presentation, production and direction and secured a producing and part-time presenting role in the music channel, Bubble Hits.

Donal says, “Music and Eurovision have always been a key part of my life and it was no surprise to my family and friends that I decided to submit a song for this year’s Eurosong. Ireland has an amazing history at Eurovision and I want to bring back that sense of national pride. Let’s show Europe we still have it!”

Oscar Gorres has previously collaborated with international hitmakers such as Bryan Todd (Josh Kelly, Ashley Tisdale) and Jörgen Elofsson (Westlife, Britney Spears). He has also written and produced tracks for Swedish singer Danny Saucedo’s number one album and for top-selling German popstars, Marquess.

A native of Sweden, 20 year-old Joel Humlén is singer, writer and producer and has co-written with artists and composers ranging from Swedish singer Danny Saucedo to KayJ and The Provider. While New Orleans native Charlie Mason has seen his material recorded and released by artists such as American Idol’s Sarah Burgess, Monrose (Germany’s No. 1 girl group), Danny Saucedo and Russian heartthrob Sergey Lazarev. 

SONG 2 : “Irelande Douze Pointe” performed by Dustin The Turkey. Composed by Darren Smith, Simon Fine and Dustin The Turkey.

Dustin has been a star since the 1980’s when he joined The Den with fellow puppets Zig and Zag. Dustin has already recorded six albums, and performed duets with artists such as Bob Geldof, Chris De Burgh, Ronnie Drew, Dervla Kirwan and the late Joe Dolan. He currently presents “The Once A Week Show” with Sinead Ni Churnain on Saturday mornings on RTÉ Two.

After a number of years in the wilderness Dustin The Turkey says he has decided to return to the recording studio in an effort to restore his nation’s position as the High Kings Of Eurovision. He says it’s a selfless act based on his desire to help his country as he believes there is a direct link between the recent downturn in the economy, his lack of musical output and our poor showing in the Eurovision over the last number of years.

Darren Smith, Simon Fine and Dustin The Turkey have collaborated on “Crazy Turkey” from Dustin’s bestselling album “Bling When Your Minging”.

SONG 3 : “Time to Rise” performed by Maya. Music by Maja Slatinsek and Ziga Pirnat. Lyrics by Ziga Pirnat.

22 year-old Maya is one of the most promising and esteemed singers in Slovenia and the surrounding region. She comes from a small remote village in Slovenia and began singing on TV when she was five years old and won several international children’s singing contests abroad. After her first appearance at the Slovenian National Eurovision selection in 2004, she was recognised as one of the most talented young singers in the country. She followed the success of many famous Slovenian singers when she went on to perform and win at the HIT Festival (The Festival of Slovenian Radio Station) later that year. Maya went on to perform at festivals in Slovenia and abroad while studying music at the University of Ljubljana. An accomplished performer, she was a backing singer for many famous Slovenian and European performers and in 2006 she was a backing singer for Slovenia’s Anzej Dezan at the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens.

Maya, who is well known in Eurovision fan community, performed live on TV many times. She sings with symphonic orchestras, big bands, as well as her young pop rock group Fish ’n’ Chips. Maya is also a great fan of Ireland and Irish music. She has always hoped for a chance to perform in Ireland. 

The song Time to Rise was co-written by Ziga Pirnat. Maya and Ziga met in 2006 when he joined her group Fish ’n’ Chips as the keyboard player and this is their first joint project. Ziga, who was also raised in a village in the Slovenian countryside, started learning piano when he was very young and soon began composing and writing poetry. Ziga says he’s very enthusiastic about the project as he is a great admirer of Irish culture and language. His dream is to someday produce a song as Gaeilge. Maya and Ziga consider their selection for the Irish Eurosong competition to be their “greatest personal victory”.

Ziga says, “The song ‘Time To Rise’ is about unnecessary worries of our everday life. There are many people in the world with much worse problems than our own; with a life that we can hardly imagine. We should think of them when facing our ‘small’ problems and try to find and do those little things that make the world a better place”.

SONG 4 : “Not Crazy After All” performed by Leona Daly, composed by Leona Daly and Steve Booker.

Dublin born Leona Daly’s career path has taken her from Dublin to Nashville by way of London. In Nashville, she won the respect and support of Oscar nominated Music Row songwriting giant Sharon Vaughan. Leona says ‘I kept going over and back. I love Nashville, it’s just all about music. It was a great place for me to learn my songwriting craft’ 

That led to a meeting with English songman Steve Booker, who has co-written ‘Not Crazy After All’. Steve’s compositions have been recorded by Stevie Nicks, Natalie Imbruglia, Jack Savoretti and most recently Duffy. Together Daly and Booker have formed a powerful songwriting bond, working with producer Jon Kelly (Kate Bush, Beautiful South, Deacon Blue)

Leona started singing when she was four and she achieved her first chart success when she recorded a cover of Cat Stevens vintage song ‘Where Do Children Play’ for a charity album. 

A confirmed Eurovision fan, Leona says, 
‘It’s a fantastic competition, and one that Ireland has tended to do well in over the years. I hope I can be a part of that success and do my country proud’

SONG 5 : “Sometimes” performed by Liam Geddes and written by Susan Hewitt

At just 17 years old, Ballina native Liam Geddes is the youngest performer in Eurosong 2008. Liam has been singing and performing for a number of years in musicals, charitable events and as a guest soloist. In the past twelve months he has sung at the Green Glens Arena, Millstreeet to an audience of over 2000 people. Liam was the highest placed and youngest Irish competitor on X Factor 2007. Liam says, “It would mean the world to me to represent my country in Eurovision”.

Susan Hewitt from Kilmore in Armagh, was born in Belfast and began her musical studies with piano lessons at 6 years old. She studied music at Queens University before becoming a secondary school music teacher and setting up her own private piano teaching practice. Now a full-time mother of three, Susan is studying classical violin and also enjoys writing. Entering the Eurovision has been on Susan’s “to do” list for quite a few years.

Liam and Susan’s entry is also the only cross-border collaboration in the competition. The song was written specifically for Liam for the 2008 Eurosong competition. They first met in November and the song was composed over the following months. Susan says, “‘Sometimes’ is a love song as all the best songs are”. 

SONG 6 : “Chances” written and performed Marc Roberts

Talented singer/songwriter Marc Roberts is both the performer and composer of “Chances”. Originally from Mayo and now based in Galway, Marc is no stranger to Eurovision. He previously represented Ireland coming second in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with “Mysterious Woman” which reached number 2 in the Irish charts. Marc’s debut album was released in 1998 and featured six of his own original compositions highlighting his writing talent. “Meet Me Half Way” & “Once In Your Life” followed. Marc is currently working on his fourth album which will include co-writes with Jimmy MacCarthy and Winsten Sela from the USA. Marc’s albums are licensed to record companies in both the US and Australia, where he tours regularly. 

Marc was also selected to perform alongside Mick Hanly, Sinead Lohan, Charlie McGettigan, Eleanor McEvoy and Jimmy MacCarthy to represent Ireland in a showcase of best Irish song writing talent and impressed a specially invited audience of top music publishers and industry representatives in America. His shows have sold out the National Concert Hall and Cork Opera house amongst others. Marc plans to tour Ireland, Germany, America and Australia later this year. 

February 2nd 2008

Another day closer to the announcement of the finalists in Ireland's Eurovision selection, and news of another potential contender has reached "All Kinds Of Everything". The song "Double Cross My Heart" sung by Dubliner Donal Skehan (left), is thought to be among the six entries which will be unveiled by RTÉ on Monday next. Indeed some sources suggest that with the six finalists now confirmed, the announcement may be brought forward by a day.

21 year old Donal is a longtime Eurovision fan and has no shortage of performing experience, having been a member of the boyband Streetwize International. Nowadays he produces Glenda Gilson's daily showbiz show and works for Irish music channel Bubble Hits. "All Kinds Of Everything" has heard Donal's entry "Double Cross My Heart" and its a slick uptempo pop song, which wouldn't be out of place in the Swedish Eurovision selection and has a faint style similarity to the 2007 Belarus entry "Work Your Magic". The song is written by Oscar Gorres, Charlie Mason and Joel Humlen, a team of Swedish songwriters who also have written songs for Danny Saucedo, a winner of the Swedish version of "Pop Idol".  If the rest of the songs in the selection are of an equally high standard, we're in for a great Eurosong 2008.

Meanwhile other rumours suggest that in a first for an Irish Eurovision selection, the six songs may be made available to hear online, prior to being performed on February 23rd. Also all six entries will be presented to the public in a special show, on the week before the Irish final. This may be an effort to level the playing field for all the finalists, after the publicity generated by the participation of television personality Dustin the Turkey.  

February 1st 2008

Monday February 4th has now been confirmed as the date when the six finalists in the Irish Eurosong 2008, will be officially announced. The reason for the delay is apparently because RTÉ wants to put the six performers and songs through their paces in advance of confirming the finalists. As a safety net, at least one potential Eurovision entry has been been put on "reserve" in case any of the six finalists, withdraws or is deemed unsuitable for the Eurovision selection show which will be broadcast from Limerick on February 23rd. The other entrants have now been officially informed that they have not been chosen.

"All Kinds Of Everything" has been in contact with the ticket office at Limerick's University Concert Hall, which will stage the show and they expect to have full details of tickets for the show, from Monday next. These will be available for sale to the public, and with a capacity of around a thousand seats, there should be room for most fans who want to watch the show live. With direct flights from London, Manchester, Glasgow and several other UK and European airports to Shannon, which is just 30kms away, and with several top class hotels in Limerick, Eurovision fans from outside Ireland are also considering the trip. "All Kinds Of Everything" will have datails of tickets, as soon as they are announced and we are also working on a potential special surprise for visitors to the city, for Eurosong 2008.  

There's little doubt that the likely participation of Dustin the Turkey has already managed to attract more media interest in an Irish Eurovision selection, than ever seen before. Irish tabloids have been reporting the story, since "All Kinds Of Everything" reported the story on Sunday last and ever the UK's Daily Mirror has picked up the story, under the heading "Irish give Eurovision the bird".  Today's Irish Star confirm's Dustin's "12 Points" (Douze Points) as one of the two known finalists along with "Time to Rise sung by Maja Slatinsek (see story below). 

The fact that Dustin the Turkey presents an RTÉ television show, has rankled some unsuccessful songwriters and performers and there is no doubt that if Dustin's partiicipation is confirmed on Monday, there will be murmurings of favouratism within the national broadcaster, however those with a long memory will remember that one of Ireland's early Eurovision winners (What's Another Year" in 1980) was writeen by Shay Healy, who had also worked for RTÉ in advance of his entry being chosen for the National Song Contest. Also few can deny that the participation of Dustin has created so much interest in this year's Irish Eurovision selection, that it should benefit whoever gets the ticket to Belgrade on February 23rd.

Dustin may not be only RTÉ personality in Eurovision selection, although the participation of Rob Ross (left) one of the presenters of the popular children's afternoon show "Ice", may be an even bigger joke than Dustin. Rob has made a video for his supposed Eurovision entry "The Fa La La Song" and it has been shown on "Ice", a couple of times this week, and can also be seen on RTE's website. The song is a bizarre celtic techno mix, which uses the "Somewhere In Europe" trick of naming checking as many European cities at possible. It's highly unlikely that this is a serious contender for the Irish selection, but given Ireland's result in Helsinki in 2007, it couldn't really do any worse.

On Monday "All Kinds Of Everything" will have a profile of the six songs chosen to compete in the Irish Eurovision selection on February 23rd and in the meantime, if anyone want to confirm any of the other finalists, please send us an email.

January 30th 2008

Whether they read it here or elsewhere, the Irish tabloids, Eurovision fansites and even RTÉ's own website are now covering the story of the potential entry of Dustin the turkey into this year's Irish Eurovision selection. Reaction by fans has been mixed, with many feeling that given the changes to the contest in recent years, a non-Eastern European country can only win the competition with a novelty entry, like Finland did with Lordi in 2006. Others however feel that this is pushing the humour element of the competition a little too far. Also "All Kinds Of Everything" would like to remind everyone that this story is still not fully confirmed, and we only need to remember what happened in the U.K. last year, when the media and Eurovision fans got excited about the prospect of Morrissey writing the entry, only for the negotiations between the singer/songwriter and the BBC break down without agreement.

Whether it's the consequence of the potential entry of one of Ireland's best known acts, or something else, it now appears likely that the list of the six finalists in Eurosong 2008, may not now be officially announced until next Monday (February 4th). Originally it was thought that the finalists would be announced this week.

However some pieces of the jigsaw are now coming together, with the date (February 23rd) and the venue (Limerick's University Concert Hall) now confirmed. It is also known that the presenter of the show will be popular Kildare man Ray D'Arcy, who Eurovision fans will remember as the presenter of "You're A Star", in the years it selected the Irish entrants : 2003 to 2005.

While no official announcement has been made, it appears that a panel will comment on the development of the Eurovision Song Contest and the six potential Irish entrants. "All Kinds Of Everything" believes that three time winner Johnny Logan, 1992 winner Linda Martin and long time Eurovision fan Louis Walsh, who previously managed both Johnny and Linda, will help the television audience choose the winner.

Tickets for the show are likely to be available early in February and the once again RTÉ will transit the selection live on the internet. "All Kinds Of Everything" will be providing coverage of the event in the days building up to the selection.

January 27th 2008

One week after the deadline for submitting potential Eurovision entries to RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster is poised to announce the details of the six songs that will compete for the ticket for Belgrade. RTÉ has confirmed that almost 150 entries were submitted, which although down on the 200 submitted for Dervish in 2007 and the almost one thousand submitted for Brian Kennedy in 2006, there is no doubt that the request be RTÉ, to have a  video presentation of potential entries, had an impact on the number of  songs submitted this year. Several songwriters are known to believe that the time and expense involved in creating a DVD for the entry deterred them from getting involved this year. Nevertheless, songwriters from all over Ireland and beyond were able to get their entries into the competition and the RTÉ panel selected the six finalists within a few days of the deadline.

Most of the singers and songwriters involved in the competition are waiting for RTÉ's official announcement, due within the next few days, but one team has gone public with the entry, and several other strong rumours are doing the rounds. The only confirmed finalist appears to be Slovenian singer Maja Slatinšek (left) with a song titled "Time To Rise", written by compatriot Ziga Pirnat. The song was rejected from this year's Slovenian final, but had qualified for the Romanian selection, but was withdrawn from Romania after making the Irish selection. Maja has been to Eurovision before, as she was one of the backing performers in 2006 on the Slovenian entry "Mr.Nobody", and she has also competed as the lead singer on a couple of unsuccessful entries in the Slovenia's national finals.

Two other finalists in the 2008 Irish selection may be the work of songwriters of previous Irish entries, with Karl Broderick's "Missing You" (see story below), and a new song with an environmental message by Raymond Smyth (writer of "Millennium Of Love") rumoured to be in the final shake out.

However the big story in this year's Irish final could be an entry by Dustin The Turkey (left) which may be a tongue in cheek parody of all things Eurovision, called "12 Points" (Douze Points). If the Dustin rumour is true, it will mean that the Irish final has one of the country's biggest stars in the race for Belgrade. For anyone unfamiliar with the character, Dustin is a popular Irish television puppet and star of RTÉ's "The Den" since 1990. A "turkey vulture" with a thick North Dublin accent, Dustin joined the show with puppets Zig and Zag but remained with the show after their 1993 departure. He also outlasted four human co-hosts: Ian Dempsey, Ray D'Arcy, Damien McCaul and Francis Boylan Jr., making him the longest serving member of the on-screen cast of The Den and one of Irish popular culture's iconic figures.

Dustin has also had a hugely successful recording career, topping the Irish singles charts on several occasions and recording big selling six albums. If Dustin is indeed competing in the Eurosong 2008  final, there would be little doubt, as to who would start as favourite.

However one other rumour might set up a "battle of the birds" on February 23rd. There are rumours circulating that Dublin transvestite duo Ladyface, may have submitted an entry. Davina & Veda are one of the most popular acts on Ireland's gay scene, and write much of their own material. Given the success of Ukrainian cross dressing Verka Serducka, last year, could this be Ireland's year to send try the same route. You can find more information and songs by the duo here.

January 16th 2008

While RTÉ has yet to make an official, we have news from a well placed source of the date and venue For Eurosong 2008, the show that will select the Irish entry for Belgrade. Despite what has been reported elsewhere, "All Kinds Of Everything" believes that the show will not be staged in Dublin's Helix complex, but rather in the University Concert Hall, in Limerick and the date to put in your diaries is Saturday February 23rd.

The 1,000 seat venue (pictured left), is part of Limerick's University campus, situated in the suburb of Castletroy on the eastern side of the city, and is conveniently accessed by visitors coming from Dublin and Cork. When the venue is officially confirmed "All Kinds Of Everything" will provide more information on it, and how to get tickets for the event.

This isn't the first time that Limerick's University Hall has been the venue for the selection of Ireland's Eurovision entry. Back in 1994, the University Hall staged the National Song Contest, hosted by Pat Kenny and the song chosen on the night of March 13th, was "Rock'n'Roll Kids" sung by Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan. Two months later, the song went on to give Ireland a record breaking third successive Eurovision victory, in Dublin's Point Theatre. Unlike 1994, when regional juries chose the Irish entry, the 2008 entry will be chosen by the public, from a selection of six songs.

If the date of February 23rd is confirmed, RTÉ seems to have chosen the busiest night in this year's Eurovision calendar, as this is also the night when Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Poland and Romania select their entries. It is expected that RTÉ will once again broadcast the show live on the internet and "All Kinds Of Everything" hopes to be on the spot to report on the selection, as it happens.

While most of the singers are songwriters that have submitted potential entries to Ireland's Eurovision selection are not going public on their intentions, one former Eurovision entrant that has declared his hand is Ireland's 2005 songwriter Karl Broderick. Karl wrote "Love?" which was performed in Kyiv by Donna & Joe. While it didn't make the final, Karl hasn't given up on Eurovision, despite saying that he would not enter the contest again, after the 2005 disappointment. Karl says the return of the old style Irish final prompted him to change his mind; "The only reason I decided to try again was because RTÉ changed the rules to allow songwriters to pick their own performer for the songs".

If its selected for the Eurosong final , Karl's song "Missing You" will be performed by model turned singer Michelle McGrath (left). Michelle has recently starred as "Snow White" alongside 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin in Broderick's production in Dublin.

If the rumours are true, Karl is not the only former Irish Eurovision songwriter trying again in 2008 and if any other singer or songwriter wish to go public with news of their potential entries, please send us a mail, and we'll cover the news.

January 11th 2008

While other countries have already chosen their Eurovision entries, Irish broadcaster RTÉ is still at the very early days in choosing the Irish entry for Belgrade in May. Television spots promoting the competition to select this year's Irish entry are now being broadcast, with the dealine of January 21st rapidly approaching. A five person panel has apparently already started work on whittling the entries down to a field to just six songs that will compete for the votes of the Irish public in Eurosong 2008 which will be staged in late February.   

The judging panel will make their six selections employing the following criteria:

a) suitability of the song for the ESC
b) quality of the singer/performer
c) experience of the singer/performer
d) stage appeal of the entry

With the latter point in mind, RTÉ is requesting video performances of the entries, to judge how comfortable the performers are in front of a camera, with a lesson being learnt from the failure of the Irish entrants in 2007. You can find more information on the selection competition on RTE's website.

The six finalists will be made public in early February and then work will commence on the arrangement and staging of the entrants. While entrants are generally remaining confidential, it is widely rumoured that at least two former Irish Eurovision performers are involved in potential entries, one as a songwriter only and several former Irish Eurovision songwriters are giving the competition another try.

As well as those with experience of the contest, newcomers are being encouraged and it is known that many of the finalists from the "You're A Star" television talent search show are involved in performing the submitted songs, among them is believed to be Sinead Mulvey (left) who recorded the original demo version of "Love?" the Irish Eurovision entry in 2005. It is also believed that a well known group from the Irish folk scene has enterd a song in Irish Gaelic.

Also, like last year, RTÉ is encouraging songwriters from outside Ireland to compete in the country's Eurovision selection, although there is no information on what kind of response that has yielded. 

While we await news of the potential 2008 Irish entrants, RTÉ broadcast a special show on New Year's night, featuring Dervish, the Sligo based Irish Eurovision entrants from 2007. Undettered by their abysmal result in Helsinki, where the Irish song came last for the first time in the competition's history and the widespread ridicule poured on the result in the Irish media in the days after the contest, Dervish have returned to the folk music base, released a new album and played many live gigs in the second half of 2007.  

The Irish entertainment scene was in shock over the Christmas and New Year period, following the death of Joe Dolan (pictured left with Irish Eurovision singer Chris Doran). The popular Mulligar based singer was one of the most popular entertainers in Ireland for over 40 years. Indeed he was the only singer from the Irish showband scene to make a big impact outside the country, scoring several hits in the 1960s and 70s. Joe's biggest hit was "Make Me An Island" (written by Albert Hammond), which went to Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1969, and Number 1 in fourteen other countries. In 1978, Dolan became the first Western European pop singer to perform in the Soviet Union. In 1997, he re-recorded "Good Looking Woman" one of his biggest hits as a charity record with Dustin the Turkey, reaching Number One in the Irish Singles Chart. In 1998 and 1999, he released two successful albums of covers of songs by Britpop and rock artists, including Blur, Oasis, U2 and Bruce Springsteen.

While Joe Dolan had no direct connection with the Eurovision Song Contest, he worked with many Irish Eurovision acts who paid tribute to this legend of Irish music following his death on December 26th, following a short illness. Many Irish Eurovision stars were among the thousands at Jpoe's funeral a few days later.