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. 

April 26th 2009

Last night (Saturday April 26th) over forty members of the Irish branch of OGAE, the international fan club gathered in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford to view the preview videos of the entries for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The party which was host by Diarmuid Furlong, head of OGAE in Ireland was the fourth such event.

As in previous years, there was a vote on all the songs, using the now traditional Eurovision voting system.  With some votes coming from OGAE member, who were unable to make the event, there were sixty sets of votes cast, and the overwhelming favourite of Irish Eurovision fans, is the Norwegian entry "Fairytale", written and performed by 23 year old Alexander Rybak. In both 2006 and 2007, the Irish OGAE vote foretold he eventual winner, with Finland's Lordi and Serbia's Marija Serifovic, coming out on top. However last year things went badly astray, when the Swedish entry won the vote and the Russian Eurovision winner by Dima Bilan, didn't make the Top 10. However the Irish branch wasn't unique in this error, as Sweden won he overall vote and the Russian winner was almost universally under-rated by the OGAE members.

Last night's vote was dominated by the Nordic countries, as Sweden finished second, Denmark fifth and Finland sixth. The only country to break the Nordic monopoly as Greece which finished third. The Top 10 was completed by Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, Switzerland and Malta. You can see a large version of the final scoreboard by clicking the image on the above. On behalf of all member of OGAE Ireland, a big "thank you" to Diarmuid and Willy for being such amazing hosts!

The runaway victory for Norway, is just the latest indication of a potential victory in Moscow, coming after internet fan polls and the betting odds, which make it the hottest Eurovision favourite in over forty years and already some OGAE members are planning their potential trips to Oslo in 2010. It is however interesting to note that many fans who have been to the contest in recent years, will not be in Moscow, owing to the cost involved in visiting Europe's most expensive city.

Last night's 6th place in the OGAE poll is good news for Irish entrants Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy (left), as this is the best result that any Irish entry has received in these polls in the last four years. Last year, Irish Eurovision fans shunned Dustin The Turkey and "Irelande Douze" Points" as it finished a lowly 23rd in the vote, foretelling the disappointing result in Belgrade, when the song failed to qualify for the final. In general, speaking to Irish Eurovision fans, they appear to be more optimistic of the chances of "Et Cetera" with almost all seeming to agree that the song deserves to reach the final, even if it is handicapped by a tricky #2 draw in the running order and a lack of neighbours to vote for it.

Sinead Mulvey is about to start the most exciting month of her life, but before she heads to Moscow, she will be trying to drum up more local support this week, making guest appearances in Dublin's Front Lounge and at the Glitz nightclub on Tuesday night next (April 28th).

The Eurovision entry is beginning to pick up radio play, before being released on Friday next (May 1st) and Sinead will also be making the traditional Eurovision send-off appearance on "The Late Late Show" on Friday.

April 23rd 2009

We're now in the final run-in to the 2009 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been confirmed that Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy will be performing the Irish entry "Et Cetera" on The Late Late Show of May 1st. That's also the day that the single is in the shops in Ireland and also the release date of the official compilation double album.

RTÉ begin the countdown to this year's contest on Sunday next, when they broadcast the first preview show at 17.30 on RTÉ1. As mentioned below, cutbacks at the national broadcaster have meant that instead of recording their own shows, as in previous years, RTÉ will be using a series of generic shows recorded by the EBU in the Sunday afternoons building up to the competition. While the decision may disappoint some Irish fans, it is worth remembering that some national broadcasters (including the BBC) haven't shown any preview shows for many years.

The budget constraints which are being felt in RTÉ and are limiting the promotion of the Irish entry were highlighted in a recent article in the Sunday Tribune. The newspaper's entertainment editor Ken Sweeney reveals the nervousness of some members of the RTÉ, who fear the financial repercussions of winning quoting an RTÉ insider as say "the worst catastrophe that could hit the station would be if Ireland did win the Eurovision Song Contest and RTE had to find millions to stage it in Dublin next year." However it should be remembered that in recent years the contest has become a far more viable event economically. More live shows in larger venues, with more expensive ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandising have meant that broadcasters such as ERT and YLE made a profits from the shows staged in Athens in 2006 and Helsinki in 2007.

The limited promotional activities for the Irish Eurovision entry were concentrated on last weekend, due to the work commitments of the performers. On Friday night last, Sinead and Black Daisy performed at a Previews Party staged in London, and you can see the performance of the song on the left. This show gave the Irish team a chance to "road test" their performance for the much bigger preview party organised in Amsterdam on the following  evening.

Almost half of the acts in this year's Eurovision Song Contest performed in front of a large international audience on last Saturday evening in the Marcanti Arena and you can watch a compilation video of the performances here. Those who attended the shows in London and Amsterdam have told us that the audience reaction to the Irish entry was very positive and that there is a felling that Ireland has a very good chance of qualifying from the semi-final.

Of course all the promotion in the World will count for little, if the live performance on night is not up to scratch and Sinead we now know the rehearsal schedule for this year's contest. The Irish team will take to the stage for their first rehearsal at 10.10 Moscow time (7.10 BST) on Tuesday May 5th. The second rehearsal will be on Friday May 8th at 15.20 Moscow Time (12.20 BST) and both rehearsals will be followed by press conferences. "All Kinds Of Everything" will once again be reporting on all the rehearsals, with a special focus on the Irish entry. We're hoping to have some exclusive interviews with the team and report on how they are getting on in Moscow.

This Saturday, Irish members of OGAE (the international Eurovision fanclub) are having their annual get together to review this year's entries and on Sunday evening, we'll be brining you a report from the party. 

April 8th 2009

It's now just five weeks to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest and while Irish Eurovision fans are as excited as ever, the local media seems to be all but ignoring the event, after the publicity storm that surrounded Ireland's entry in Belgrade in 2008. While Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy may have a much lower profile than Dustin The Turkey, perhaps it may be no bad thing that they carry a lower level of expectation than Eurovision's first puppet act. Indeed looking at this year's entries one may be forgiven for thinking that Dustin's long-term impact on the competition was to kill off novelty acts for once and for all, following the failure of "Irelande Douze Points" and other novelty entries from making last year's final.

Budget constraints in RTÉ have meant that there is no money available for the promotional campaign staged by Brian Kennedy in support of his 2006 Eurovision entry. Instead, Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy (left) have decided to take part in two shows being organised in London and in Amsterdam on Friday 17th April and on Saturday April 18th. This will be the first chance that this year's Irish entrants get to judge the international reaction to their song "Et Cetera".

The limited opportunities being afforded to the Irish performers in in marked contrast to some of the more exhaustive and expensive promotional tours being organised by the U.K.'s Jade Ewen who will visit over twenty countries promoting her song "My Time" and Greece's Sakis Rouvas who is currently touring Europe to promote his entry "This Is My night", one of the favourites to win this year's event.

Whether these promotional tours make much difference is debatable when you consider that in 2005, the Belarusian entrant Angelica Agurbash spent over five million euros touring Europe, but her song "Love Me Tonight", still didn't make it out of the semi-final in Kyiv. By contrast, the last three winners; Finland's Lordi, Serbia Marija Serifovic and Russia's Dima Bilan did little to promote their entries, depending on established fan bases, word of mouth and honing their live performances.

The staging of this year's Irish entry is being finalised and its known that the letters that make up the song title, pyrotechnics and some sharp camerawork will be employed in the staging of "Et Cetera" on May 14th, when Ireland competes in the second Eurovision semi-final. Sinead wasn't giving too much when she was featured  RTÉ's "Capital D" on April 2nd. The show featured interviews with Sinead and members of her family and showed the 21 year old returning to her old school in Clondalkin in west Dublin. If you missed the show, it can still be seen on RTE's website.

The bad news for Irish Eurovision fans is that RTÉ will not be showing the preview shows, which have been a regular feature of he build-up to the contest since 1971. Other broadcaster like the BBC have dropped these shows several years ago and with the advent of the internet, most fans can now see the video online. Nevertheless in recent years, Irish Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan has been sent to the host city in advance of the contest in order to record the links between the videos, however budget constraints at RTÉ have meant that these shows will not be recorded this year. Instead RTÉ will be showing he EBU's "Countdown" shows which are made available to the participating broadcasters. We hope to have the schedule for these shows in the next Irish news update.

There is a chance of Irish Eurovision fans who are members of the OGAE fan club to see the previews in a special party being organised by Diarmuid Furlong, the head of the Irish branch of the club. The party is being held on Saturday 25th in Diarmuid's home base in Enniscorthy county Wexford and the Irish fans will be choosing their favourites from the forty two songs competing in Moscow.

Irish fans have already chosen their entry for the 2009 edition of OGAE's "Second Chance" contest which recognises the songs that lost out in the national selections. "Out Of Control" sung by Laura-Jayne Hunter finishing third in the Irish national final and has been nominated to represent Ireland in the fan club contest. Last year Irish fans chose "Not Crazy After All" sung by Leona Daly and it finished 12th in the contest.

You can find out more about the "Second Chance" contest here and anyone who wants details of joining the Irish branch of OGAE can send us a mail to be put in contact with the club.

Finally for this update, Lithuania's 2009 entrant Sasha Son will be paying a visit to Ireland in the build-up to the contest and no doubt hoping to energise the Lithuanian born community in Ireland. Sasha will be performing at Dublin's Button Factory (formerly The Temple Bar Music Centre) on April 26th and the following evening he will be playing at the Trinity Rooms in Limerick. In recent years Lithuanians in Ireland have been very loyal to their entrants securing the top points in the Irish televote in both 2006 and and 2007. In 2008, Lithuania and Ireland were drawn in different semi-finals, but this year Sasha Son will be among the eighteen entrants in competition with Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy in the second semi-final.

March 26th 2009

While most Irish fans were somewhat disappointed with being drawn second in the running order of the semi-final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Niall Mooney, the Irish member of the international songwriting team behind "Et Cetera" was not too upset. Talking to "All Kinds Of Everything", Niall revealed that two was his lucky number. "I think we have the catchiest song in our semi and there will clear water between us and what I consider to be the good songs." said Niall, before giving us a hint of the countries that he saw as our major opposition; "I would prefer to be in the beginning than bunched in between the likes of Estonia, Denmark and Norway".  "If we are going out in the semi's we are going out with a bang literally", Niall told us, hinting at the rumoured pyrotechnics that will be part of the performance in Moscow.

Pyrotechnics won't be the only stage effect that will be used in the Irish performance on May 14th. The letters spelling out the song's title will also be incorporated into the stage backdrop. "We want the crowd to sing with us and make it a party" Niall told us and certainly the fan reaction to this year's Irish entry is far more positive than last year's song "Irelande Douze Points" which upset a considerable amount of traditional Eurovision fans and got a very mixed reaction from the audience in Belgrade.

More good news for Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy who will be representing Ireland in Moscow, is that a major international label is coming on board to release "Et Cetera" on CD single. Expect to hear more of the Irish entry on radio over the next couple of weeks and the single will be in local music shops from May 2nd and it will feature an extended remix of the song. "All Kinds If Everything" will be running a competition where visitors to the site can pick up copies of the single, so watch the site over the next couple of weeks.

With budgets under strain at RTÉ and many of the high profile presenters taking pay cuts, the opportunity for international promotion of this year's Irish entry are quite limited, but we believe that Sinead (left) and Black Daisy are hoping to make their way to Amsterdam for what promises to be the biggest preview party of the year.

The first edition of "Eurovision in Concert" will take place in Amsterdam on Saturday April 18th in Amsterdam Marcanti. The aim of the event is to celebrate the 50th participation of the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest and the organisers hope to bring one of Eurovision's former powerhouses back on the map for Eurovision promo tours.

Tickets can be purchased via www.amsterdam-marcanti.nl and will be priced €20. International fans and OGAE members can attend the concert at a reduced price of €10 and are advised to reserve tickets via ogaenl@live.nl. Tickets at the door of Amsterdam Marcanti will be priced €25. You can more information at the website www.eurovisioninconcert.com where it is also possible to make a hotel reservation. So far the acts confirmed for Amsterdam are; Kejsi Tola (Albania), Inga & Anush (Armenia), Petr Elfimov (Belarus), Copycat (Belgium),Regina (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Krassimir (Bulgaria), Christina Metaxa (Cyprus), Niels Brinck (Denmark), Jóhanna (Iceland), Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy (Ireland),Sasha Son (Lithuania), Chiara (Malta), Nelly Ciobanu (Moldova), Andrea Demirovic (Montenegro), Lidia Kopania (Poland),Elena Gheorghe (Romania), Quartissimo (Slovenia) and Soraya (Spain). Others are expected to be added and it's the perfect chance to meet the performers in this year's contest.

While the draw for running order may have brought mixed news for Ireland. The Heads of Delegation meeting in Moscow brought some good news for Ireland with the election of new Reference Group members. For the first time, three members in the contest's governing body were up for election by the Heads of Delegation themselves. For two of the three positions, four people were up for election; Julian Vignoles (RTE), Dejan Kukric (from Bosnia's BHRT),  Petar Radovic (Slovenia's RTVSlo) and Christer Björkman (Sweden's SVT). On behalf of the so-called "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) two candidates were available for one position in the group; Federico Llano (TVE Spain ) and Manfred Witt (NDR Germany ). The result saw Federico Llano maintaining his position as representative of the "Big Four", as did Ireland's Julian Vignoles while Christer Björkman (left) will join the Reference Group as new member.

Christer Björkman thus becomes the first former Eurovision performer, to become a member of the group that organises the contest. Björkman sung the Swedish entry in Malmo in 1992, achieving one of the worst results for a host country's entry, but over the last few years he has put that set-back behind him, as he led the SVT tea that organises Sweden's Eurovision selection. Björkman has overseen many changes i the format of the Swedish Eurovision selection and while the country is going through one of its leanest spells at Eurovision, the Swedish selection remains one of the biggest event on that country's entertainment calendar.

This year Björkman led the move to allow pre-recorded backing vocals at the Swedish Eurovision selection something which he has reputedly said he wants to see introduced at Eurovision. This move would put him at odds with most Eurovision fans based on a recent poll on "All Kinds Of Everything", where visitors voted three to one against such a move.

March 11th 2009

RTÉ has now put the performance of Ireland's 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry "Et Cetera"  by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy from The Café television show on its YouTube channel. You can see the video on the left. That performance, although on an even smaller stage than "The Late Late Show" gives a better idea of how the formation of the group may look in the arena in Moscow in May.

Next Monday (March 16th) is the deadline for all participants in this year's Eurovision Song Contest to submit their songs to the E.B.U. The Heads of Delegation meeting which takes place in Moscow on Monday and Tuesday is where the songs are officially confirmed as meeting the rules and it is also the setting for the critical draw for the running order for the semi-finals. This year Ireland is in the second semi-final, which will be staged on Thursday May 14th and they draw for what is by far the tougher of the two semi-finals, will give people a better idea of Ireland's chances in Moscow.

Those involved in the Irish entry are hoping for a late draw and not to have to perform close to Norway, Greece and Denmark, three of the pre-contest favourites. There is a chance that Ireland may get a chance to choose its starting position in the draw, as three countries are given "wildcards" which allows them to choose the position in which they will perform. By lunchtime on Monday next we should be know the running order for both semi-finals and "All Kinds Of Everything" will be assessing the draw and its impact on Ireland's chances of success on our blog. The draw is is expected to be transmitted live on the official Eurovision website (www.eurovision.tv).

Next Monday is also the day when the broadcasters traditionally hand over the preview videos of their entries to the E.B.U. These video are used for the preview shows which are traditionally shown in the build-up to the contest. The video can also be seen on the official website, usually a few days after the Heads of Delegation meeting. The video for Ireland's entry was filmed on Friday last on was directed by Maurice Linnane (pictured left with Sinead & members of Black Daisy), an experienced director who has worked with some of the biggest names in the Irish music industry.

The storyboard for the video features the performers getting ready for a photo shoot, with Sinead running behind schedule while the band play their song, waiting for her arrival. The clothes worn for the video shoot which are reminiscent of popular girl bands of the past and give a guide as to how the costumes for Moscow will look. The video also features large letters spelling out the song's title and to emphasise the catchy chorus of the entry.

The video is being given to Irish music channels and it is hoped that it will receive a lot of plays over the weeks building up to the contest. Over the next few days, "All Kinds Of Everything" will be providing a photo gallery of the video shoot and within the next couple of weeks, we will be featuring a high quality video file to visitors to the website. In the build up to Moscow, we will be checking in with some of the songwriters of the Irish entry and hoping to  talk to members of Black Daisy.

March 2nd 2009

RTÉ has now confirmed that 750,000 people tuned into the "The Late Late Show - Eurosong 2009", which is higher than the ratings for the 2008 show, despite the lack of publicity caused by the participation of Dustin The Turkey in last year's selection. While "The Late Late Show" guarantees high viewing figures, this year's selection was the most watch TV show of the week and if unconfirmed reports are to be believed, the televote was the highest for an Irish Eurovision selection, since the days of "You're A Star " back in 2005. It is also being reported that the winning entry "Et Cetera" performed by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy, was a very strong favourite in the public vote, gaining a a level of support not much less than Dustin's greater than 60% share in last year's selection.  However, unlike last year, when many felt that a novelty entry would do well at Eurovision, making Ireland the early favourite, the early betting this year has the Irish entry a little further back in the pack, with more realistic odds. You can see Paddy Power's latest odds on the event here.

RTÉ and the songwriters and performers are currently working on ideas for staging the song in Moscow and it is believed that it will look considerably different on the larger Eurovision stage with staging and styling influenced by some of the greatest all girl bands of the past like The Bangles and The Go-Gos.  In the meantime, viewers to RTÉ's "The Café" got to see the Irish entry being performed in a different setting and a slightly different arrangement last Friday (February 27th) and if you missed the performance, it can still be seen on the show's website.

While the publicity being generated by this year's Irish entry may not be as high as the international coverage achieved by "Ireland Douze Points", the local press have had several articles on this year's Irish entrants. The Herald focussed on Sinead's work as an member of the Aer Lingus cabin crew and how Eurosong success was not changing her career path in the short-term. Sinead (left) is far from being the first Irish Eurovision entrant not to give up the "day job" while searching for success in the contest. Famously Niamh Kavanagh worked in a bank right up to the time she won the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest in Millstreet, while Ireland's most recent winner, Eimear Quinn returned to her studies after winning the contest in Oslo in 1996.

Other newspapers have been canvassing those involved in previous Irish Eurovision entries. 1966 Irish Eurovision entrant Dickie Rock, who's still a very popular entertainer in Ireland and advise for Sinead, "If I had any advice for her, I would say to keep smiling, be pleasant all the time and go to all your rehearsals -- have your performances down-pat and really put the effort in." Dickie also has some valuable advice for aspiring stars, such as Sinead, when it comes to avoiding the 'one-hit wonder' curse. "It's all down to performances and your songs. I've been very lucky to have had such great hits through the years that people identify with, and that's part of it."

Unlike her reaction to last year's Irish entrant, Ireland's first Eurovision winner, Dana also gives Sinead and Black Daisy  seal of approval. "I think it's putting our best foot forward. The judges picked what they felt was best and Sinead put on a good show. It was bright, fun, it was an all female band and they looked good. I think she's as good a chance today as any song going through". Of Sinead's relative inexperience, Dana says 'she's more experienced than I was to be truthful, I was only 18. She's a good-looking girl and I think she'll do fine'.

However one of the judges that helped select this year's Irish entry, is more critical. Shay Healy, the songwriter o 1980 Eurovision winner "What's Another Year". "It's a big stage they're going on and she's a nice young girl but there is a danger it might backfire in front of 100 million people. The general criticism I would have is that we don't send out seasoned performers. Instead we expect some amateurs to pull off a big miracle. We're fighting the odds in that sense." Shay continued "'The problem is the band looked like they were dead in the water. Their instruments looked like they jumped into their hands. They need to improve a little bit so they look like they're feeling the music and responding to each other. There's no better feeling than a band who are really getting off on each other's music but at Eurovison they will be forced to mime to a backing track. They need to work on their stage presence, get a choreographer and go to see real bands and see how they look holding a bass or whatever". However, Shay, who chaired the Dublin jury, the only one not to give maximum points to "Et Cetera", sees the song as a big improvement on recent Irish entries; "It's a good pop record and if RTE can get it out to clubs and radio stations in Europe, that would give us the chance to do quite well. I'm more hopeful this year than I have been in recent years and I certainly think she'll get a higher position than more recent entrants. Last year sending Dustin was a joke that backfired. John Waters wrote a song about a spring coming out of a mattress or whatever, which was another misfire".

However it appears that budget restrictions within RTÉ are likely to limit the amount of international promotion that this year's Irish entrants are going to get prior to leaving for Moscow in early May. There are unlikely to be the foreign trips that helped Brian Kennedy promote Ireland's entry "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" in 2006, although a visit to London for a specially organised Eurovision Preview party in April may well be on the agenda.

Instead the effort is being being channelled into a professionally made promotional video, which will be used in the Eurovision previews show around Europe and on music shows at home. The video which is being filmed next Friday (March 6th). Sinead and Black Daisy (left) will be working with Maurice Linnane who has directed videos for several of the biggest names in Irish rock music, including Horslips, The Cranberries and U2. "All Kinds Of Everything" will have a report on the video shoot and some photos, next week.

While Irish Eurovision fans wait for the highlight of their year in May, two concerts coming up in Dublin's National Concert hall may provide a interesting taster and closer for this Eurovision season.

On Wednesday April 15th, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by Andy O'Callaghan will accompany Eurovision winners Paul Harrington, Charlie McGettigan, Niamh Kavanagh and former national song contest finalist Jacinta Whyte in a "Eurovision Extravaganza" The show will be presented by two time Eurovision entrant Maxi with a guest appearance by Dustin the Turkey. Tickets which range from 11 to 38 Euros can be bought from the National Concert Hall website.

For something a little more unusual, Elitsa & Stoyan (left), Bulgaria's Eurovision entrants in 2007, pay a visit to the NCH on Wednesday June 10th. With their song "Voda" and their memorable drumming work, they gave Bulgaria its best ever Eurovision result, in Helsinki.

Their live concert, which is sponsored by the Bulgarian embassy, promises to be a chance to see one of Eastern Europe's most interesting acts blending authentic folk with jazz, ethno and world music. Again tickets can be bought from the N.C.H. website.

February 22nd 2009

On Friday night last, February 20th, the Irish public and regional juries in Cork, Sligo, Limerick and Dublin chose the song "Et Cetera " written and composed by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling and performed by Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy to become Ireland's 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry. The song will initially compete against eighteen others in the second semi-final on Thursday May 14th and if it finishes in the top ten, it will compete in the final two days later. 

February 19th 2009

This afteroon, the six finalists in the Eurosong 2009 were previewed on Derek Mooney's radio show, with guests Paul G.Sheridan and Karl Broderick reviewing the songs in contention to represent Ireland in Moscow on May. While RTÉ apparently planned not to stream the show on the internet, we found that anyone who tuned in from Norway to New York was able to listen to the show. The show confirmed the news that "All Kinds Of Everything" has previously reported on the locations of the regional juries and the scoring methods for tomorrow night's show.

Reaction to the songs was mixed between the three panelists and we have also been monitoring reaction on various internet messageboards. Of course these are all only initial reactions, based on one radio play and until we see the songs being performed it is impossible to make an accurate assessment of the songs. In general Paul G.Sheridan was generally more positive that Karl Broderick (left) and both were more kind to the entries than reaction on the web.

Here's the reaction of the panel and what a sample of web listener opinions.

Song 1 : "Flying" sung by M.N.A. While Paul was very positive about this song, saying that it had plenty of potential for a good live performance, especially with three pretty girls singing it. Karl thought that it was not modern enough, and it would never be heard  if it was not in an Irish national final.   Reaction on the internet was also rather subdued.There were positive comments on the fact that it was a uptempo pop song, the fact that different voices added texture and the strong had a strong chorus and the guitar riffs echoed Bryan Adams "Summer Of 69", but other felt that it was rather insipid, rather messy and musically dull, but might improve with a good live performance. You can judge for yourself here.

Song 2 : "Out Of Control" sung by Laura-Jayne Hunter. Karl Broderick was much more enthusiastic about this and felt that this song with ideal for Eurovision and it's transformation for a Celtic ballad it an uptempo edgy pop song was ideal for Eurovision.  Paul has had a slight preference for this over the first song and all the panelists thought that this was a very strong contender to win the selection. Reaction on the internet was very mixed. Many liked hearing the Irish Gaelic verse that opened the song. Others believed that it would be a new and fesh sound for Ireland at Eurovision and many agreed with Karl that this song had great potential for a good live performance. On the other hand, those that didn't like it, very very critical, saying that it sounded unpolished and one especially critical cooment that the song was terrible in so many different ways. You can decide for yourself here.

Song 3 : "So What" sung by Lee Bradshaw The fact that this song was a ballad somewhat surprised Karl, as he had previously seen Lee (left) as a member of the boyband Men2B, but both he and Paul were general  agreement that this was a very strong ballad. Karl was a little critical of the lyrics and Paul paid tribute to the songwriters, who were very unlucky to miss out in the 2001 Eurosong selection. Again this one drew very mixed reaction on the internet, some ssaying that it reminded them of Westlife and previous Irish winners. Others thought it pleasant and while it might have scored well in the days of juries, it would not be remembered by televoters. It should be noted that there has been a big movement towards this song at the bookmakers, and where it was one of the two outsiders at the start of the week, it has now taken over as favourite. You can hear it here. 

Song 4 : "Amazing" sung by Johnny Brady This song has a latin flavour to it but it drew rather unenthusiastic comments from both Karl and Paul. Comparisons were made to previous Spanish entries, and to Mickey Harte's "We've Got The World" but there was still the impression that the panel did not see this as the winner of Eurosong 2009. Meanwhile reaction on the internet was far better.  Several people thought it the best off the four and there was  comparision to the Danish winner "Fly On The aings of Love". It was variously described as "cheesey" and "cute". This could be the song the juries will go for, if some posters are correct, but bookmakers don't seem to agreed as the odds have drifted and it's now the outsider of the six finalists at 10/1. You can judge the song here.

Song 5 : "I Wish I Could Pretend" sung by Kristina Zaharova. This is the one song that many Eurovision fans had heard on the internet and the story of how a Latvian singer and songwriter came to enter the Irish Eurosong. Karl hated the song, re-writing the lyrics to "I Wish That It Would End", and while Paul was more favourably disposed to the song, he questioned whether the lack of connections with Ireland would make a potential victory, a win for this country or for Latvia. Comments from the public were rather harsh on the fact that the some had some grammatical errors. Again internet reaction was far more positive, with some saying the Latvian song was better than the Irish ones and that irt would qualify based on merit. Others thought that the large Latvian population guaranteed this song victory in the televote. Others thought that while it was aa good ballad, there were already several better ballads going to Moscow. You can hear it here.

Song 6 : "E Cetera" sung by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy The final song of the six did not receive any review from Karl Broderick, as he knows Sinead (left) very well and he felt it unfair to comment.. Paul and Derek were however very positive, describing it as "High School Musical meets Pink". Both seemed to think that the song although not a typical Irish Eurovision entry. The reaction on the internet was almost equally enthusiastic with some very positive comments on the song's contemporary feel. Others however felt that Irish voters tend to be more conservative and that it would be unlikely to make it to Moscow. Make up your own mind here. 

So with Eurosong being only one day away, we are only a little wiser as to who will epresent Ireland in Moscow. This is not like the last few years when we had a hot favourite going into the selection. While the odds changing all the time, it seems that "Out Of Control", "So What" and "Et Cetera" seem to be attracting the money. It will certainly be an interesting Friday night's viewing.

Meanwhile RTÉ have revealed the names of the people who will call in the votes on the four regional juries. In Cork  it will be  RTE's 'Ice's presenter Sinéad Kennedy, in Sligo,  'News2day's Paddy McKenna, the Limerick votes will be called in by 'Den Tots' host Emma O'Driscoll and Dublin by 'Kazoo's Kathryn McKiernan. The people calling in the votes are not members of the jury.

RTÉ  have also announced the names of the three panelists, who will be commenting on the songs as they are presented. RTÉ'sEurovision commentator Marty Whelan will joined by 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin, who chaired the panel that selected the six songs and a surprise guest panel member will be American chat show host Jerry Springer, who has recently been seen on "America's Got Talent". Quite what Jerry knows abour Eurovision, is anyone's guess.

February 17th 2009

We start with some good news for Irish Eurovision fans who won't be making their way to Moscow in May. RTÉ has once again decided to transmit both Eurovision semi-finals on Tuesday May 12th and Thursday May 14th. While the Irish national broadcaster is only obliged to show the second semi-final, the one in which the Irish entry will compete, RTÉ has opted to also show the first semi-final, two days earlier. Both show will be shown on RTÉ 2 television, and begin at 20.00 BST.

With the costs involved in travelling to and staying in Moscow, the numbers expected to travel from Ireland in May will be down on previous years and many fans have decided to stay at home and watch the show on television. There is also the added complication of Russia requiring all visitors from this country to have visas. Despite this, we are delighted to announce that "All Kinds Of Everything" will be reporting from Moscow, starting on Saturday May 2nd, the day before the rehearsals begin.

With only three days to the Irish Eurovision selection, a minor controversy has hit one of the entries in Friday night's show. As we revealed last Thursday latvian singer Kristina Zaharova (left) originally entered her song "I Wish I Could Pretend" in the Latvian selection, but when Latvian television had temporarily withdrawn from the contest in Moscow, the song was submitted to RTÉ, for the Irish Eurovision selection. However the song was released onto the internet in December, although not by anyone involved in the entry. One of the rules in RTÉ's Eurovision selection is that song cannot be made public, until permission is given by RTÉ. As far aas RTÉ were concerned, no song should be made public until  all six are showcased on the Derek Mooney radio show next Thrursday afternoon.

When the six finalists were announced on Friday, songwriters involved in some of the other finalists, questioned whether "I Wish I Could Pretend" had broken that rule. However RTE then contacted the song's composer Lauris Reiniks who forwarded correspondence he had had with YouTube, asking them to remove the song. The file was removed over the weekend and other versions of the song which other users added to YouTube have also been removed. Whether having the file on the internet gives the song a marginal aadvantage, is highly debatable, but this case demonstrates how difficult it is to keep these rules in the age of easy file sharing.   

Meanwhile, RTE has added the press release from last Friday to its Eurovision website. 

February 16th 2009

Compared with the publicity storm that followed the confirmation of Dustin The Turkey's participation in last year's Irish Eurovosion selection, the media reaction to to last Friday's list of finalists for Eurosong 2009 has been quite muted. The Irish Independent chose to cover the story by focussing on the generally unknown names that will perform on next Friday night's show, saying the list is less a 'Who's Who?' of Irish showbiz than a 'Who's That?', while music magazine Hot Press decided to take aim at the fact that several of the songs were written by foreign songwriters and the participation of an American songwriter in one of the entries. It should however be remembered that RTÉ is fully entitled to look beyond the island for songwriters and singers and indeed several Eurovision winners have been written by non-national of the countries they represented, including Russia's 2008 winner "Believe" which was co-written by American Jim Beanz.    

The selection has also drawn some heated debate on several Eurovision websites. The exclusion of Tara Blaise (left), recently nominated as Best Irish Female Artist at the Meteor awards and the fact that songs written by at least two former Irish Eurovision winners didn't make the cut has drawn criticism on the panel chaird by Linda Martin, who were tasked with selecting the six finalists. Also some of the songwriters who lost out in the selection have accused the panel of favouring singers and songwriters known to them.

"All Kinds Of Everything" would like to put the record straight and having spoken to a member of the panel, we can confirm that Linda and other members of her team absented themselves from voting on entries where they had personal knowledge of the entrants. As for Tara Blaise's song, it was apparently put in a selection of three reserves, to be called in should any of the first six choices drop out of the selection. The panel believed that the song was not as suitable for Eurovision as the six they chose. It should be remembered that last year, the corresponding panel was criticised for favouring known performers rather than judging the songs on their own merit and RTÉ wanted to avoid a repeat of that scenario.

On Thursday next, everybody will be able to judge the songs for themselves when they are showcased on Derek Mooney's radio show, on RTÉ1 starting at 15.00 GMT. The show is streamed on the internet and "All Kinds Of Everything" will be providing a link to the show from our front page. While we won't be doing a full review of the songs, for reasons we will reveal after the show, there will be a blog update.

Despite only one song being made public, earlier today leading Irish bookmakers Paddy Power opened the betting on the Irish Eurovision selection. The early favourite for the ticket to Moscow is Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy with "Et Cetera" at 3/1, closely followed by Laura-Jayne Hunter at 10/3, Kristina Zaharova at 7/2, M.N.A. at 4/1 Johnny Brady at 5/1 and Lee Bradshaw at 6/1. Right now the betting osdds are pretty meaningless and have probably more to do with the running order of the show, but come Friday after people have heard the songs, it may give an indication of how people feel the result may go.

We can now reveal more about how the 2009 Irish Eurovision entry will be selected. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago a mix of four regional juries, each with three members based in Limerick, Sligo, Cork and Dublin will award. Among the jury members are nationally known broadcasters, former Irish Eurovision singers and songwriters as well as long standing Eurovision enthusiasts. While the juries will be able to see the rehearsal earlier on Friday evening, each member of the jury will only vote after seeing the live performance on the show. Juries will be voting for all six songs based on the following criteria;

Ten points will be awarded to the song with the highest combined score from the three jurors, eight points to the song with the second highest combined score from the three jurors six for third, four for fourth, two for fifth and down to one point for the song with the lowest combined score from the three jurors. The four regional juries will be weighed 50/50 with the public televote. By 23.30 we should know who will be carrying Irish colours in Moscow. 

RTÉ will once again be broadcasting the show on the internet and if previous years are anything to go by, this will be one of the most popular watched shows that RTÉ broadcasts over the web.

If you're in Dublin on Friday night, but not going to the show, why not make your way to The Gasworks Bar in The Grand Canal Hotel, where a "Eurosong Party Extravaganza Night" is being held. The party starts at 20.30 and with a special party rate for drinks (4 Euros for pints, 5 Euros for vodka and a mixer, 6 Euros for cocktails), it's the perfect chance to watch the show and share the excitement with other Eurovision fans, and who knows, some of the Eurosong finalists might make their way there by the time the party closes early on Saturday morning.  If you are not familiar with the venue, this link may help.

February 12th 2009

PRESS RELEASE FROM RTÉ : RTÉ today announced the six Eurosong 2009 finalists, as selected from the public competition. The song contest was open to songwriters from outside of Ireland and a jury chaired by Eurovision winner Linda Martin chose six songs from almost 300 entries received from both home and abroad. 

These six songs to be performed live on The Late Late Show Eurosong Special 2009 on Friday 20 February are: 

The songs will be performed in the order above as drawn by independent auditor Michael O’Neill of Price Waterhouse Coopers.  
The winner will be decided by 50% regional jury vote and 50% public televote which replicates the change to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest Final in Moscow, when national juries will once again have a say in the outcome of the contest, sharing the decision equally with the televote.  

The final six songs were chosen by a judging panel chaired by Eurovision winner Linda Martin and included MD, Universal Music Ireland, Mark Crossingham, showbiz agent/choreographer Julian Benson, RTÉ 2FM DJ and Eurovision Commentator, Larry Gogan, and Diarmuid Furlong head of the Official Eurovision Fan Club of Ireland. The Late Late Show Eurosong Special will be broadcast on Friday 20 February with the winner announced at the end of the show.

SONG 1 : “Flying” performed by M.N.A and written by Ronan McCormack 

M.N.A are 3 talented, young Irish women. Jenny Bowden and Shauna Buckingham are both from Dublin’s South-side, while Shauna Kavanagh hails from Derry City. Vocally powerful, their sound is pop with a rock edge. 

22-year old Jenny has been singing and dancing all her life. She started Irish dancing at age 4 and went on to train in Tap and Modern at the Billie Barry Stage School. She played Nikki Bailey on “Fair City”, has toured the USA with Tony Kenny and appeared as a backing dancer on both 2006 & 2007 seasons of “You’re a Star”. She has performed in pantomime at both Gaiety and Olympia theatres and most recently with June Rogers at the Red Cow Christmas Cabaret.  

At 16 years of age, Shauna B. is the youngest member of M.N.A. A versatile performer, she has trained for the past 5 years with the Adele King Theatre School and is currently studying voice and theory at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. A champion Irish dancer, she has also appeared in several pantomimes at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre. In 2008, she made it through to the boot-camp stage of “X-Factor” on ITV, with all 4 judges saying yes! 

Born into a musical family, 20 year-old Shauna K. demonstrated an early interest in the performing arts. No stranger to the limelight, she has held the post of Junior Mayor of Derry City. Passionate about Irish dancing, she has placed second at the World Championships and has won both the North American and British National titles and in 2008 she toured Germany, Austria and Denmark with the stage production “Magic of the Dance”. 

Ronan McCormack could be considered a Eurovision veteran. In 1988 he was a Eurosong finalist with his Irish language entry, “Tar Liom Anois” and in 1994 he appeared as part of the original “Riverdance” troupe for the Eurovision Song contest in Dublin. Having graduated from the Waterford Institute of Technology with a B.A. Music degree, majoring in composition, he set off on tour with “Riverdance –The Show”. Not only did he dance with the show, he also played keyboards with the band. Also trained in tap and modern dance, Ronan has appeared regularly on television in Ireland and abroad, most recently he has featured as one of the professional dance partners in RTE’s “Celebrity Jigs ‘n’ Reels”. 

The song “Flying” is an up-beat pop song with a rock edge. An anthem of independence, it has nothing to do with air travel, though Ronan was in an airport when he got the idea for the song!  

______________________________ ___________ 

  
SONG 2 :  “Out of Control” performed by Laura-Jayne Hunter and written by Derry O’Donovan. 

Originally from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, writer and performer Laura-Jayne Hunter holds a first class honours degree in popular music from the Leeds College of Music and was crowned winner of the “Bright Young Things” songwriter/performer competition in Leeds city in 2008. Laura- Jayne is lead singer of the band “Vibetown” www.myspace.com/vibetownuk which plays gigs as well as corporate functions all over the UK as well as being a member of novelty girl band called “Dollypop” www.myspace.com/dollypopgirls.  

Laura Jayne says, “I would be very excited and proud to represent Ireland at the 2009 Eurovision song contest, particularly with the song “Out of Control” that I firmly believe can win the competition outright”. 

“As an experienced live performer, there is nothing I adore more than to connect emotionally with an audience which is actively enjoying my singing. I have been told on countless occasions that I “send shivers up the spine” when I sing, and I find it incredibly rewarding to entertain and to help people enjoy themselves throughout a set. I like to experiment with music. I’ve even been known to silence a noisy bar when performing songs solely composed with vocal loops using a Boss loop station, through which I record beats on the guitar, bass lines with my voice, riffs, melodies and harmonies, all live!” 

35 year-old Derry O’Donovan originally from Skibbereen in Co. Cork, now lives in Frankfurt, Germany where he works as a teacher.   He says that “Out of Control” is a true cross-border collaboration, twinning the extreme North (Coleraine) and the extreme South (Skibbereen) of the country. 

Coming from a large musical family, he has been immersed in traditional Irish music from a very young age and plays the piano, accordion, keyboard, guitar and low whistle.   

Derry says, “Having observed the top five acts in the contest over the last a number of years, I decided to compose a song that had many of the features of these successful tracks. The song “Out of Control”, has a very distinct ethnic, tribal flair, with a fusion of haunting Celtic and eastern influence. This is all combined with an extremely catchy, modern dance/pop beat and a simple melody that gets into your head and sticks. All the features I believe are the hallmarks of a successful Eurovision song!”. 

“To represent Ireland in the Eurovision song contest, would be both an honour and a childhood dream come true for me. I believe that “Out of Control” is a song that the Irish people can be proud of and that it is capable of restoring Ireland to the top of the scoreboard”.

 
 ______________________________ ___________   
 

SONG 3 “So What” performed by Lee Bradshaw and written by Billy Larkin and Kevin Breathnach 

28 year-old Lee Bradshaw has had a lifelong interest in music.  At just 17 years, of age Lee travelled the continent with the group “Men2B” who were contracted to President Records in London. 

A man of many talents, Lee is also and actor and model and appeared in the pantomime ‘Rocking Hood’ as well as several commercials.  He has modelled  for John Rocha and Louis Copeland and took part in the Brown Thomas Supermodel Fashion Show. 

Having grown up in Restaurants, Lee has become a restauranter himself and currently resides in Kerry.  He may be familiar to viewers as a waiter in the RTÉ TV series “The Restaurant”.  

Billy Larkin and Kevin Breathnach

Billy Larkin and Kevin Breathnach first met on the band circuit in the late eighties.  Since then they performed together in “Catwalk”, a covers band gigging all over Ireland.  They have collaborated on many musical projects from original songs, one of which, “Every Kiss Is A Lie”, performed by In Focus, finished in second place in Eurosong 2001.  They also compose music for TV and radio commercials.  

They have a great interest in Eurovision and would love the opportunity to represent Ireland on such a stage.   

The song “So What” is a ballad, which was inspired by a relationship break-up of a mutual friend. 

Kevin says, “The song was composed specifically for Eurosong. We spent a long time looking for the right singer and were delighted when Lee Bradshaw tried the song and was perfect for it”.  

They are delighted to be involved in Eurosong 2009 and would like to thank anyone in advance who votes for “So What”.  

____________________________      

SONG 4 : “Amazing” performed by Johnny Brady and written by Tony Adams Rosa 

Belfast born Johnny Brady is a professional singer and musician and has toured extensively in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and America.  Johnny has being performing in bands for over 10 years was lead singer in the band “Tatu” and more recently in the band “Gravity” which played their own material at venues throughout Ireland.  In 2007 Johnny performed in the Irish Rock Legends tour.  Johnny lives in Antrim town. 

Song writer and musician Tony Adams Rosa was a National Song Contest finalist in 1992 when his song “Feel the Pain” came second to “Why Me” written by Johnny Logan and performed by Linda Martin which went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992.  Tony is hoping that his song will hit the number one spot in this year’s contest! 

______________________________ _ 

SONG 5 : “I Wish I Could Pretend” performed by Kristina Zaharova and written by Lauris Reiniks & Gordon Pogoda. 

Kristina Zaharova (19) is a talented Latvian singer born in Aluksne, Latvia.  She graduated from the Aluksne Children’s Music School as a pianist and later studied choir conducting.  Kristina has been a winner of several performer’s contests in Latvia and abroad including “Latvijas Talants”(similar to “Idols”), LNT TV show Zvaigznu Lietus (Rain of Stars) and the International Festival “Russkaja Pesnja” in Moscow, Russia.  She was also a Latvian Eurovision Finalist in 2008. 

Kristina is currently working on her debut album to be released under the Microphone Records label this year .   

Kristina says, “When Lauris called me to say that I was going be singing in Ireland, I couldn’t believe it! This is a great opportunity for me and I will put my all into my performance. I really like “I wish I could Pretend” because it is a very romantic, dramatic and true song.” www.myspace.com/ kristinazaharovaofficial 

LAURIS REINIKS  (author of “I Wish I Could Pretend” music/lyrics) 

Lauris Reiniks, born in Dobele, Latvia is one of the most popular, successful and awarded pop music singers, songwriters and Television stars in Latvia, having recorded 5 solo albums. Many of Lauris’s songs have become hits in Latvia. His legendary song called “Sirds Sadeg Neparasti” received all major music awards in Latvia in 2002 and was recognised as song of the year. The song “Tell Me”, which he performed in a duet with the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 winner Marie N (Marija Naumova) received a prestigious award from the Latvian Copyrights Agency AKKA/LAA as the most played song on radio and television in 2003.

Lauris Reiniks has been closely associated with the Eurovision Song Contest since 2001 when he was appointed to announce the Latvian televoting results, and in 2003 he represented Latvia in ESC with the group "F.L.Y".  

In 2005 The British pop music magazine “Top Of The Pops” awarded Lauris with a title of “Latvian National Megastar 2004”. 

Lauris says, “As a writer I am very excited and honored to be a part of the Irish Eurosong Final this year. Ireland has always been famous for ballads and I love composing ballads. I hope people will like our song and understand its message.”

www.laurisreiniks.com 

GORDON POGODA (author of “I Wish I Could Pretend” lyrics)

Gordon Pogoda is an American composer, lyricist, and producer based in Los Angeles. In the past five years, he has signed publishing deals with EMI Music, Universal Music and Warner Chappell Music. Pogoda has had songs featured in several media. In film, he had two songs featured in the Academy Award winning picture Little Miss Sunshine one in the film Josie and the Pussycats one in the Disney film Get a Clue starring Lindsey Lohan and several others. In television, Pogoda's songs have been featured in Hannah Montana, Sex and the City, CSI Miami, ER,  Will and Grace,, King of the Hill, and most recently Samantha Who.

Pogoda wrote the number two song of the year in Russia for pop/rock artist Sergey Lazarev and a hit for Tereza Kerndlová in the Czech Republic, which was selected to represent the Czech Republic in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. http://www.myspace.com/ gordonpogodasongwriter

__________________   
 

SONG 6 : “Et Cetera” performed by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy.  Composed by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti & Christina Schilling. 

Sinead Mulvey is from Dublin (Clondalkin) and a previous You’re a Star finalist . Sinead came very close to representing Ireland in the Eurovison that year and that desire has stayed with her. For several years Sinead has worked consistently on her stage performance and has played lead roles in the Liberty Hall Panto several times.

Currently a flight attendant with Aer Lingus it would appear that Sinead’s music career is really about to take off! After being approached by several writers to enter Eurosong, Sinead decided to team up with long standing writing collaborators Niall Mooney (Galway) and Jonas Gladnikoff (Sweden) .

Jonas and Niall have clocked up a staggering 7 National Finals around Europe in the last 5 years. Niall and Brendan McCarthy (Waterford) came third in You’re a Star in 2004 with their song “Summer rain”.

Jonas Niall and Christina enlisted Daniele Moretti (Italy) to complete the writing team and Black Daisy joining Sinead on stage.

Jonas says, “Sinead’s song is loud, it’s fast, it’s really catchy and it could really rock  Russia!”

www.myspace.com/sineadmulvey 

Over the next week "All Kinds Of Everything" will be counting down to Eurosong 2009 and featuring each one of the six finalists.

February 12th 2009

We believe that tomorrow morning RTÉ will announce the six finalists in Eurosong 2009, however one of the entrants has already made their participation public. The song "I Wish I Could Pretend" is one of a number songs in the Irish Eurovision selection with an international team behind it and it it has a strong pedigree. Singer Kristina Zaharova (left) is a Latvian of Russian extraction and although she is only 19, she has already successfully participated in several music competitions. She won "Latvia talent 2007" and she was also the winner of "Raining stars 2008" on LNT TV. She is currently working on her debut album to be released shortly on Microphone Records. 

"I Wish I Could Believe" the song which Kristina will perform in the Irish selection on February 20th is a ballad in a very similar style to former Irish Eurovision winners. It is written and composed by one of Latvia's leading songwriters and was originally submitted to LTV as a potential participant in the 2009 Latvian Eurovision selection. However after being chosen to compete in the Latvian semi-finals, Latvia initially withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest due to financial reasons and the song was then submitted to RTÉ as a possible entry to represent Ireland in Moscow. Ironically when Latvian television changed its mind and decided to go to Moscow after all, "I Wish I Could Pretend" was re-selected as an automatic finalist, but the song was then withdrawn from the Latvian selection as it had been chosen to compete in the Irish final.  

The reason why the song was sent to RTÉ is because there are a large number of Latvian emigrants in Ireland, and links between the countries are very strong. Last year the Latvia won the Irish televote and the team behind "I Wish I Could Pretend" will be hoping that Latvians throughout Ireland will get behind the song for which a promo video has already been recorded and which will be released before the Eurosong selection. If the song does get to Moscow, Ireland will be hoping that Latvia, which is in Ireland's semi-final will return the 12 points to the Irish entry.  

The songwriter behind "I Wish I Could Pretend" is Latvian singer and songwriter Lauris Reiniks (left) who haas not shortage of Eurovision experience. Working as a journalist Lauris covered Latvia's first Eurovision participation in Stockholm in 2000, before returning home to call in the Latvian votes, something he has done on several occasions since. In 2001, as part of a duo he finished as the runner-up in the Latvian national final. In 2002 as a soloist he finished 5th to eventual Eurovision winner Marie N. in the Latvian selection. In 2003 he finally performed on the Eurovision stage as a member of F.L.Y. singing the host country's entry "Hello From Mars", a song which he co-wrote. In recent years he has concentrated on writing songs for the Latvian Eurovision selection, although he has never quite managed to make it back to the contest. 

With such an experienced team behind it, there is no doubt that  "I Wish I Could Pretend" is a serious contender to represent Ireland at Eurovision, however when the other finalists are announced tomorrow, we will the other contenders trying to fly  the Irish colours in Moscow. In the meantime, you can hear the first entry for Eurosong 2009, "I Wish I Could Pretend sung by Kristina Zaharov here.

February 9th 2009

While we await confirmation of the six finalists that will compete for the right to represent Ireland in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, there are a few more "titbits" to wet the appetite before the formal announcement, due in the next few days. While we already knew that Linda Martin chaired the group that reduced the field from just under three hundred submissions, we now know that veteran broadcaster and Eurovision commentator Larry Gogan was also part of the group. The other members included the head of the Irish section of a major international recording label, a representative of OGAE (the international Eurovision fan club) and a leading Irish choreographer. The panel were asked to select six finalists and three reserves, in case any of the first six were unable to perform or were disqualified. Initial suggestions are that unlike last year, when Dustin The Turkey appeared to have an advantage because of name recognition, this year's songs were judged on their own merit. 

"All Kinds Of Everything" believes that the majority of the songs chosen were ballads although they offer quite a bit of variety, from traditional Irish Eurovision style ballads to a more folk sound. Unconfirmed sources also suggest that for the third year in a row, songs written by non Irish songwriters have made the final selection and we believe that at least two of the finalists were either written or co-written by foreign songwriters. This is within the Eurovision rules, as was proven a couple of weeks ago when a song co-written by Irishman Ronan Keating, won the Danish national final. 

While the entrants had to submit a "finished product", the six chosen acts have been given a few days to make minor adjustments to their entries, which will be competing in Eurosong 2009 on February 20th. At least two of the songs will be re-mixed over the next couple of days and consequently, the radio preview of the six songs may not happen until Thursday 19th, on Derek Mooney's radio show. 

This radio preview will also be the first chance the the regional juries will get to hear the songs, as unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the jurors are being asked the judge the six entrants on the initial impact they make in from of the television audience and will not be sitting through the rehearsals. Later this week, we hope to have details of how the voting process will work. 

Once the six finalists are announced, "All KInds Of Everything" will be contacting them and hoping to get some interviews and insights into their entries. As of yet, they are not allowed to "go public". 

February 5th 2009

Less that four days after the submission period closed, the RTÉ selection panel has chosen the six songs that will compete in the Eurosong 2009 which will be part of a "Late Late Show" special on Friday February 20th. Showing an amazing work-rate, the panel got through almost three hundred entries and today the lucky six entrants were informed that they had been chosen. Interest in the selection was very high, not just in Ireland, but in several European countries and even beyond and many of the submissions came from abroad. The last two Irish selections have had songs written by foreign songwriters and it is likely that this year's selection will see this trend repeated.   

The six finalists will be invited to RTÉ early next week, but right now there is an emgargo on the entrants releasing information on their qualification or their entries, until they are officially announced. RTÉ will be making snippets of the songs available on its website before the show and there is also likely to be a radio preview of the selection. Once the finalists are announced, "All Kinds Of Everything" will be providing profiles of all the finalists and we're also hoping to interview as many as we can.

UPDATE While we will have to wait another few days to find out who is competing in Eurosong 2009, more information is filtering through on tyhe regional juries that will be selecting the winner, in conjuction with the national televote.

Four regional centres will host the juries. Dublin, the Irish capital, Cork, the second city, Limerick the third city and Sligo, the biggest town in the north west. Three members will sit on each jury, one a professional music person, one a Eurovision fan and one a well known local person, with an interest in Eurovision.  

These juries will balance the televote, both to make the voting more exciting and to mirror the 50/50 voting that will be introduced to the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

February 2nd 2009

At midday today the submission period for entries into the Irish Eurovision selection was closed and if reports reaching "All Kinds Of Everything" are coreect, there were just under three hundred entries received by RTÉ, which is an increase on the numbers in the last two years. While having such a large selection from which to choose is obviously goood news, we believe that the surge of entries in the last couple of days is putting additional pressure on the five person jury who have been charged with redducing the field to six finalists, that will compete on the Eurosong 2009 special on February 20th. It is believe that up until last Thursday there were less than one hundred entries but that the postbags on both Friday and Monday saw an avalanche of potential entries. This should not come as a surprise given the fact that RTÉ were looking for a "finished product", complete with singer and the limited time that songwriters and singers had to complete their entries.

While few entrants have made their participation public, two intereesting names have reached us. Both Tara Blaise and Marketa Iglova have supposedly entered songs to RTÉ. Tara is one of Ireland's brightest singer/songwriters and already has two albums to her credit. Tara is believed to have co-written a potential Eurovision entry with Billy Farrell with input from John Hughes, the man behind the launch of The Corrs. You can find out more about Tara on her website.

Marketa Iglova, although born in the Czech Republic. has been based in Ireland for several years. Last year she won an Acadamy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" co-written with Glen Hansard from the film "Once". It is believed that the duo may also have collaborated on a potential Eurovision entry. The duo work together under the group name, The Swell Season. It could mean that two former Oscar winners are in competition in May, as the U.K.'s Andrew Lloyd-Webber, also won an Academy Award for the best song, with "You Must Love Me" from "Evita".  

If either or both of these entries are confirmed it should certainly set a high benchmark for the other potential Eurosong finalists. Apart from Tara and Margeta, we have heard that many entries have been submitted by songwriters and singers from outside Ireland and given that the 2007 and 2008 Eurosong selections featured songs from foreign songwriters, we may see this trend repeated in 2009.

We believe that the initial intention was for Linda Martin and her team to work through the submissions by the end of this week with the intention of informing the lucky six entrants by Friday. However with the rush of late entries, this may be an ambitious goal. Nevertheless given the need for travel arrangements and rehearsal time, the pressure will be on to shortlist the finalists as quickly as possible. We expect that the finalists will be made public at least a week in advance of the final and if the rest of the songs are as good as the ones which have been sent to "All Kinds Of Everything", we don't envy the task of the selection panel. 

While we already know that  RTÉ failed to lure Johnny Logan back to the Irish selection this year, another former winner was also approached and declined. Paul Harrington, pictured left with his financee Karol Sadlier has revealed that RTÉ also approached him to make a Eurovision comeback, but the 1994 Eurovision winner refused the offer, after giving it serious consideration. Paul's niece, Ann Harrington was one of Dustin The Turkey's backing singers in Belgrade in 2008.

Paul could be making a comeback to the Irish charts in the next couple of weeks. Along with his brothers Richard, Robert and Derek, he has recorded the famous Irish folk song "Molly Malone". The single is being released in aid of four Irish charities and is being supported by the Leinster rugby team, who have recently reached the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup, the primary competition for European rugby clubs and who's supporters use the song as a rallying call. The brothers have already had the opportunity to play the song live, performing it before the Leinster Vs Edinburgh match and at the single launch in the Burlington Hotel. You can download 'Molly Malone' on iTunes, or buy the CD in all major record shops and official Leinster Rugby outlets.

Paul also had a far more sombre duty last week as he sang "Amazing Grace" at the funeral of well known Irish businessman Patrick Rocca. Patrick's sister Michelle co-presented the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 as she was among the chief mourners at the funeral of her brother, who's suicide was widely reported in the Irish media.

While we await news of Eurosong 2009, one Irishman is already Eurovision bound. Last Saturday night "Believe Again" a song co-written by Ronan Keating was chosen as the Danish entry for Moscow. The song, performed by Niels Brinck and co-written with Danes Lars Halvor Jensen (left) and Martin M Larson (right) was the choice of the Danish public. Ronan was not in Denmark to celebrate the win, but will no doubt be delighted to make it to the Eurovision Song Contest, at the third attempt.

It's still not known if Ronan will be in Moscow to support his song, as the dates for the Eurovision Song Contest conflict with the rehearsal schedule for Boyzone's summer tour, but at least his participation in the competition and that of British songwriter Andrew Lloyd-Webber will raise the profile of the contest, here in Ireland.

The Danish entry will be up against Ireland in the second semi-final in Moscow. Last Friday, the EBU made thre draw for the semi-final allocation and we now know that Ireland will be competing in the second semi-final, which will take place on Thursday May 14th. It is still not known iof RTÉ will transmit the first semi-final, two days earlier, but the show will be transmitted on BBC3. 

The draw means that Ireland will be in competition with 18 other countries, for the ten slots in the final. You can see the countries competing against Ireland in light green on the map on the left.

While the draw is supposed to divide the semi-finalists evenly by geography and previous voting trends, this year's division does no favours to Irsh chances in Moscow.

Our semi-final contains two voting blocks (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine and also Cyprus, Greece and Albania) and when you add in the three former parts oof Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) you can see that Ireland will need a very strong entry and a good draw to qualify for the final. The semi-final voting is done using televoting alone, although the reserve juries do select one other qualifier. Four of the countries in our semi-final have a 100% record of qualifying from the semi-final (Azerbaijan, Greece, Serbia and Ukraine) while seven others all have a better qualification history than Ireland. 

There will also be an interesting scramble for the 12 points from the Irish televote. Last year we gave 12 points in the semi-final to Poland and 12 in the final to Latvia, while the previous two years our top points went to Lithuania. All three countries are in Ireland's semi thisyear and because the previous votes were undoubtedly impacted by immigrants, we could see those countries vying for the top marks yet again. However with Slovakia back in the contest and also having a large immigrant population in Ireland and the involvement of Ronan Keating in the Danish entry, these two countries could also be in contention.  

January 24th 2009

On tonight's "Late Late Show", presenter Pat Kenny (left) confirmed that Ireland's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest would be chosen by a mixture of a public televote and regional juries. While the exact procedure and mix in the voting procedure has not been announced, this method of choosing the Irish entry will come close to replicating the method that will be used in Moscow in May, to select the Eurovision winner.

Regional juries, which were once the sole decision makers in selecting the winner of the old Irish National Song Contest and which were responsible for choosing all our Eurovision winners, haven't been used by RTÉ since 1998, when "Is Always Over Now?" sung by Dawn Martin won the ticket to Eurovision in Birmingham. Following the example of the Eurovision Song Contest, which first introduced televoting in 1997 on a trial basis, in 1998 an Irish public televote divided into regional exchanges chose The Mullans, when in the most boring voting sequence, all regions had their song "When You Need Me" as the winner. 

A similar regional exchange voting method was used to chose "Millennium Of Love" sung by Eamonn Toal in 2000, which is still Ireland's most successful entry of the decade. However in 2001 a huge controversery followed after the same method was used to select the Irish entry for Copenhagen. Gary O'Shaughnessy (left) and "Without Your Love" won the ticket to Eurovision based on the regional televote, however had the winner been chosen by the total number of televotes cast for each song, then boyband InFocus and "Every Kiss Is A Lie" would have won as they received 13,356 votes, just ahead of Fe-Mail with 12,271 and Gary O'Shaughnessy only came 3rd with 11,653 but he won because most of his votes came from the lower populated regions outside Dublin. When Gary finished 21st in Copenhagen it meant that Ireland were relegated and RTÉ never again used a regional televote.

Ever since Ireland returned to Eurovision, a national televote has been used to select our entry. From 2003 to 2005, it was the winner of the casting show "You're A star", while Brian Kennedy in 2006 and Dervish in 2007 performed several potential Eurovision entries and the public chose their favourite. Last year, in the multi-artist show "Eurosong 2008" it was once again the public that chose the winner, but again controversy reigned as the popularity of TV puppet Dustin the Turkey made the result a foregone conclusion.  

January 21st 2009

Potential entrants now have less that two weeks to submit their songs to RTÉ, if they wish to take part in the Irish selection for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Songwriters and performers have been sending potential entries since December and a five member jury chaired by 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin (left) has been tasked with shortlisting six songs which will be presented on a "Late Late Show" special on February 20th. 

Belfast born Linda is probably the greatest expert on the Irish Eurovision selections. Linda won the Irish National Song Song Contest (as it was then called) on two occasions. In 1984, "Terminal 3" went on to finish second at Eurovision and in 1992 Linda scored a runaway win in the Irish selection with "Why Me?", going on to win the contest in Malmo. Both songs were written by Johnny Logan.  However Linda also knows what's it's like to lose in the Irish selection. As a member of the group Chips, she took part in the Irish finals in 1976 (finishing 2nd), 1977 (4th), 1978 (4th) and 1982 (finished 8th). Following her first Eurovision performance in 1984, Linda returned to the Irish final in 1986 (4th), 1989 (6th) and in 1990, singing "All The People In The World" as a member of Linda Martin & Friends, she finished 2nd. With ten appearances in the National Song Contest, Linda holds the Irish record.

In 2003, Linda was one of the judges on "You're A Star", which selectied Mickey Harte to go to Eurovision in Riga and she filled the same role a year later when Chris Doran was chosen to go to Istanbul. Linda was replaced as a judge for the 2005 series, which chose Donna & Joe McCaul, to go to Kyiv and was she openly critical of their selection, being proven right when they failed to qualify for the final.

While details of how the Irish entry for Moscow have still to be announced, it is clear from a recent poll on "All Kinds Of Everything", that a mixture of a jury and a televote is the preferred choice by visitors to this website.

Theis option, which reflects the voting system that will be used in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, gained more supports than all other options combined, as can be seen from the chart on the left. An added advantage of using this system is that it could make the voting more exciting than simply announcing the winner of a public , as has happened in the last six Irish Eurovision selections.

While there is a lot of speculation about who is entering this year's Irish selection, an article in last Thursday's Evening Herald suggested that celebrity pop manager Louis Walsh, make be working Bubble Hits co-founder James Hyland on forming a group to enter the selection. While "All Kinds Of Everything" was already aware that such a group was working on an entry, the news of the potential involvement of Louis makes for a very interesting packages, given his management of acts like Boyzone and Westlife. Louis also previously managed both Johnny LOgan and Linda Martin.   

As we mentioned last week, one former Irish Eurovision winner that has certainly entered this year's Irish selection is 1980 winning songwriter Shay Healy (left). Shay is entering a song co-written with Today FM DJ Jim O'Neill.  "All Kinds Of Everything" asked Shay why he was attempting to return to a contest that he had already won. Shay told us "I was being too reverent to the past, when I declined to enter the song contest again and then sudddenly I realised that I get the bus pass later this year, but it is only my body that is old. My mind is like a Ferrari engine, purring along and I think I can still write as well as anybody else who might enter." There is an  increase in interest in this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Ireland because of the involvement of Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber in writing the U.K.'s entry, and that has certainly acted as a spur for Shay. "I do know that I'm after Andrew Llyod Weber's ass. The Brits are trying to gerrymander the vote with their trip to Moscow and I don't think we should let them. I hope our best songwriters will have a shot this year."

"All Kinds Of Everything" totally agrees with Shay and hopes that some of the other rumoure names are also entering the selection and we'll be hoping to talk to others invlved in the battle to represent Ireland in Moscow in forthcoming weeks.

Meanwhile Ronan Keating's involvement in writing one of the songs in this year's Danish final, seems to have rubbed a writer in the Irish Independent, up the wrong way, as you can see from this article. You can judge the song on our latest "Sneak Peek". 

January 11th 2009

We're now halfway through the submission period for songwriters to enter songs for this year's Irish Eurovision selection: "Eurosong 2009". All entries must be received by RTÉ on or before February 2nd and in what must be the fastest turn-arounds in Eurosong history, the selection will be held just 18 days later on "The Late Late Show" on February 20th.

There are many rumours doing the rounds of potential entrants to this year's Irish selection, but only one has been confirmed. Shay Healy (left), the songwriter of Johnny Logan's Eurovision winner "What's Another Year" in 1980 is looking to make a return to the contest and has confirmed that he will be submitting a song, during an interview with Newstalk's Tom Dunne.

Shay, who continues to work as a successful journalist and broadcaster as well as being a songwriter,  was however critical of the RTE selection process this year. With the reduced turn-around time between the end of the submission period and the selection show, all entrants are being asked to submit a "finished product" rather than simply a demo, as was the case in previous years. As Shay, and several songwriters that have been in contact with "All Kinds Of Everything" have pointed out, this is a far more time consuming and expensive request and unless entrants have their songs ready to go, there is little time to find performers, arrangers and studio time, in order to produce a CD which is in a form that RTE require. The decision to request a finished product is due to a limited amount of time and money within the national broadcaster and while many entrants appear unhappy with the idea, others feel that this gives them more control over their entry, and that at times RTÉ has done a less than impressive re-working of their songs for the Eurovision selection. 

The intervierw with Tom Dunne discussed recent developments in the Eurovision Song Contest and also involved singer/songwriter Nick Kelly of the popular 1980s group The Fat Lady Sings. Tom, Nick and Shay discussed how Irish songwriters have shunned the chance to present their work to an international audience at Eurovision and how several Irish songwriters should consider entering, given the chance that the contest provides to showcase songs to a large international audience. Among the names suggested were Gemma Hayes, Jack L, and Mundy (left), all of whom are known in Ireland, but have made limited impression on the international market. 

There's no question that the 2008 Irish Eurovision selection, the result of which became a foregone conclusion once Dustin The Turkey was chosen as a finalist has deterred several songwriters and performers but it appears that two of those who were beaten by Dustin in last year's Irish selection have decided to have another attempt at getting to Eurovision. Leona Daly, who's song "Not Crazy After All" was the runner-up in Limerick is apparently trying again and she will certainly enjoy the support of many Eurovision fans, who felt that she would have been a far better choice to represent Ireland in Belgrade. Another 2008 finalist, Donal Skehan is also rumoured to be entering this year's selection, this time as part of a group. Other rumoured entrants include several former contestants in the "You're A Star" talent show, which selected the Irish Eurovision performers in 2003,2004 and 2005. Cork singer Jean Elliot who finished 3rd in 2004 and Ann Harrigton, who also lost out to Donna & Joe, but who made it to Eurovision in 2008 as one of Dustin's backing singers are among the names being mentioned as well as Simon Casey, who had several local hits after being the runner-up to Mickey Harte in 2003. Simon has recently been touring Europe with his five piece band. Limerick girl Leanne Moore who won the final series of "You're A Star" in 2008, is also being mentioned as a potential entrant. Other more exotic names that have been mentioned as potential Eurosong entrants include celebrity Twink (Adele King) who finished 2nd to Dana in the 1970 Irish  National Song Contest as part of the trio Maxi, Dick and Twink and American actor turned singer David Hasselhoff who we believe to has previously been approached to sing at Eurovision. One name that now appears to be less likely is that of X Factor finalist Eoghan Quigg, who's involvement in touring as part his casting show contract rules him out, at least for this year. 

One of the more unusual Irish related news stories of the last few weks involved Boyzone member and 1997 Eurovision Song Contest presenter Ronan Keating (left). The popular Dubliner has had a busy year in 2008, with the reformation of Boyzone, but he has still found time to co-write a song which will be competing in this year's Danish Eurovision selection. The song "Believe Again" will be performed by local singer Niels Brinck in the Danish final which will be staged on January 31st. The song was written by Ronan along with Lars Halvor Jensen and Martin M. Larsson. Ronan is the latest Irish songwriter to enter another country's Eurovision selection after Johnny Logan had two songs which reached the Dutch final and the songwriting team of Niall Mooney and Brendan McCarthy who have had songs involved in the Albanian and Lithuanian selections.  This isn't the first time that Ronan has competed in a Eurovision selection. Back in 1998, he wrote "Make The Change" performed by The Carrter Twins which came fouth in the Irish National Song Contest. In 2003, "I'll Never Love You" a song Ronan co-wrote with Brian Kennedy and Callum McColl and performed by Michael Leonard came third in the first series of "You're A Star", losing out to Mickey Harte's "We've Got The World". Brian and and Callum combined again in 2006, to write Brian's Eurovision song "Every Song Is A Cry For Love".

This year "You're A Star" is being replaced in the schedule by the more versatile casting series "The All Ireland Talent Show", which is similar to "America's Got Talent". Once again there's a couple of Eurovision connections. The show which divides the island of Ireland into five regions, with a celebrity from each region selecting acts to go forward to the live shows features Dana (left), the winner of the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest as the champion of the acts from the north region, which includes Northern Ireland and three Ulster counties in the Republic, while Boyzone's  Shane Lynch is performing the same role for the Dublin region. The series which began last week aims to attract singers, dancers and other entertainers of all ages and the live shows will begin in February. You can watch Dana choosing her acts on Sunday January 18th.          

Whoever eventually gets to represent Ireland in Moscow, will be unlikely to attract the same attention as Dustin the Turkey received in 2008 but that may be no bad thing considering the disappointment that followed the failure of "Irelande Douze Points" to progress from the semi-final in Belgrade. Yesterday, the list of Ireland's most watched television shows of 2008 was published, and the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was at #9 with an audience of 691,000 and while the Eurovision Song Contest final failed to make the Top 20, for the first time ever, RTÉ will be pleased with the fact that the list includes 19 of its shows, with commercial station TV3, only gaining one minor placing on the list and that being the British soap opera "Coronation Street". 

RTÉ's Christmas schedule provided the chance of Irish Eurovision fans to see some of our former entrants. 1996 winner Eimear Quinn starred in her own Christmas special, where she sang tracks from her latest album "O Holy Night". On the left, you can watch her performance of Brendan Graham's "Winter, Fire And Snow", which was recorded for that show.

A "Late Late Show" special on the life and career of popular Irish singer Joe Dolan featured chats with Dustin the Turkey who was a personal friend of Joe, who died in December 2007, wore a Joe Dolan tie on stage in Belgrade, while Maxi who had worked with Joe during the 1960s and 70s, told us of her fond memories of the Mullingar born singer. The show also included Irish singers doing cover versions of Joe's most popular songs and featured 1993 Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh singing his international hit "Make Me An Island", while three time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan opened the show, with his interpretation of "You're Such A Good Looking Woman". You can still watch the show on the RTÉ website. 

December 19th 2008

Irish broadcaster RTÉ, has today confirmed the "All Kinds Of Everything" exclusive news from two days ago, that its 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry, would be chosen in a multi-artist national final, to be staged in either late February or early March. As we previously announced, entries for the six song selection, called "Eurosong 2009" need to be a complete package, with the singer on the submitted CD or DVD, being the same performer who will perform the song in the public selection. 

The rules for the selection have now been published on the RTÉ website. RTÉ is now accepting entries and the closing date and time for entries is noon on Monday, February 2nd. Entries should be sent to Eurosong 2009, RTÉ Entertainment, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. There are no restrictions in the rules on foreign songwriters or singers, appart from the fact that they can legally enter Ireland for the selection and Russia, if chosen to represent Ireland. There is a limit of two songs per songwriter, although interestingly, there is no such resriction on performers.

An as yet unknown judging panel of five experts from the music, entertainment and television will select six entries from all those received, to compete in Eurosong 2009. The panel may invite acts to perform for them before a final decision as to selection of the finalists is made. As an interesting change from last year entries do not have to be submitted with a video or DVD, but is encouraged.

The judging panel will make their selections using the following criteria:
a) suitability of the song for Eurovision.
b) quality of the singer/performer(s)
c) experience of the singer/performer(s)
d) stage appeal of the singer/performer(s)

With the schedule for this year's selection, being a month later than last year, it s unlikely that we will know the six finalists until the middle of February and the originally suggested date of Februay 22nd for the Eurosong 2009 selection, is likely to slip by a week or two. However as it has now been confirmed that the selection will be a "Late Late Show" special, the host will be Eurovision 1987 presenter and long time RTÉ commentator Pat Kenny (left). The format for the show, the question of whether there will be a panel of experts and the voting process have still to be announced.

It now appears that three time Eurovision singer/songwriter Johnny Logan will not be participating in the selection. However he may still be involved in the selection, was there to be a panel of experts on the show. Needless to say, there will now be weeks of speculation on who will be entering songs for the selection. If any songwriters or performers make their interest public, we will be reporting this.  

Should the Irish entry win in Moscow and bring the Eurovision Song Contest back to Ireland for an eighth time, the country now has a venue which can stage the event on the scale of recent shows. 

This week the new O2 Arena (left) opened in Dublin's docklands on the site of the old Point Depot, which hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, 1995 and 1997. The conversion which cost 80 million euros has transformed the venue into a new amphitheatre shape which can hold an audience of up to 14,000 or just under 10,000 in a seated configuration, which would be necessary for Eurovision. 

Just as they did with the old Point Depot, members of Dublin band U2 were the first to perform in the new arena, although this time it was for a camara crew for the television show the "The View", rather than for a paying audience. You can watch Bono and The Edge, viewing the new arena here and watch the first ever performance in the arena here. This week  rock band Kings Of Leon were the first act to play before a full audience and in 2009, major acts playing in the arena include Eurovision veterans Cliff Richard and the Shadows and the act that provided the interval, the last time Eurovision was staged in Dublin, Boyzone, who play the O2 as part of their comeback tour.

December 17th 2008

After weeks of speculation, RTÉ is finally poised to unveil its plans for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. As reported in last weekend's edition of the Sunday Tribune, the Irish national broadcaster has been in discussions with three time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, but it now appears that a multi-artist national final, is the preferred option and this will be confirmed twithon days. However with the later than usual announcement of its plans, it is likely that the Irish selection will moved from its original date in February and will now be closer to the March 16th deadline for submitting entries to the 2009 contest. "All Kinds Of Everything" is keeping March 7th free in its diaries!

During the summer, RTÉ is known to have toyed with the idea of having artists submit their songs through the MySpace website, but with finance and time now being limited, we believe that a more standard submission process is more likely. Songwriters and performers are likely to be asked to submit a complete package of a song and and performer, from which the finalists will be chosen. Given the Christmas and New Year holidays, the deadline for submission, is likely to be moved out to early February, giving potential entrants a chance to record their entries. If earlier rumours are confirmed, any songwriter or performer who is legally entitled to work in Ireland, will be able to enter the selection.  

The intentions of Johnny Logan are unlikely to be clarified for some time. It would be unlikely that Johnny Logan would enter a national final as a performer, having ruled out that option when recently interviewed on "Tubridy Tonight", but his participation as a songwriter should not be dismissed. As well as writing two Eurovision entries for Linda Martin, Johnny has previously entered the Dutch Eurovision selection as a songwriter and worked with local performers. A similar arrangement could well be on the cards for next year's Irish selection. 

The names of other potential entrants have been rumoured, with everyone from Andrea Corr to "X Factor" finalist Eoghan Quigg (left) being mentioned in the media. However none are likely to confirm their plans, until RTÉ has announced its selection process. Last year RTÉ reverted to a multi-artist final for the first time in seven years,but the selection become embroiled in controversy with the entry from popular television puppet act Dustin The Turkey. However the failure of "Irelande Douze Points" to qualify for the final in Belgrade is likely to mean that in 2009 novelty entries are unlikely to find favour with the Irish public.

RTÉ may struggle the gain the same media attention for its 2009 entrants and a string of disappointing results have dampened public interest in the contest in Ireland, however it should be remembered that every one of Ireland's record breaking seven Eurovision victories were songs chosen through a multi artist national final. One other factor which mat help Ireland's cause in Moscow, is the return of juries, who will have an equal weighting with the national televote in each country. In the past, juries have tended to favour Irish entries far more than televoters, and with a reduction in the power of neighbourly and diaspora voting, the contest may be a more level playing field for all participants.

December 12th 2008

"Logan set to relight the flame for Eurovision"  Sunday Tribune (12th December)

The news that "All Kinds Of Everything" has been sitting on for several days was today made public when The Sunday Tribune dedicated almost a full page to the story of Johnny Logan's potential return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009. The newspaper's entertainment editor Ken Sweeney reports that three time Eurovision winner Logan will be offered his own television series in return for representing Ireland in Moscow in May. 

RTÉ's high risk stategy comes after Ireland's worst run of Eurovision results, since the country enter the contest in 1965. Since 2001, the Irish entry has only once finished in the Top 10 (Brian Kennedy's "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" in 2006), while during the same period, Ireland was relegated from the 2002 contest, failed to qualify for the final in 2005 and 2008 and finished last for the first time in 2007 with Dervish and "They Can't Stop The Spring". While RTÉ and Johnny Logan have still to confirm the news, we will have updates on this story as it develops.

If and when Johnny Logan's involvement is confirmed, we shjould finally have clarification on how the Irish entry for Moscow will be chosen. RTÉ has never made an entirely internal decision on the singer and the song that represents Ireland in Eurovision and on only four previous occasions has one act been chosen to perform all the songs in the Irish selection.  In 1974, Tina sang all eight songs in the National Song Contest and the public chose "Cross My Heart" to go to Brighton with almost 50% of the postcard vote. The following year Tommy & Jimmy Swarbrigg the lead singers of the hugely popular Times showband were chosen to represent Ireland in Stockholm and regional juries chose "That's What Friends Are For" by a wide margin in another eight song national final. 

In 2006, Brian Kennedy was chosen to represent Ireland in Athens and his own song "Ever Song Is A Cry For Love" was chosen by the public. Like Tina and The Swarbriggs long before him, Brian finished in the Top 10 at Eurovision. However a year later, RTÉ made the rather questionable decision to send Irish traditional music group Dervish to Helsinki. The public chose "They Can't Stop The Spring" co-written by Irish Times writer John Waters and after a rather poor stage performance, Ireland finished last in the contest and would almost certainly have finished with the dreaded "nil points" if the Albanian televote had been used rather than the back-up jury. 

After that disasterous result, RTÉ chose to revert to the multi artist national final, that had brought Ireland all of its Eurovision winners. However in the most controversial of all Irish selections, the participation of Dustin The Turkey created an unstopabble bandwagon that came to a shuddering stop at the Eurovision semi-final in Belgrade. Now it appears that RTÉ will use the three time Eurovision winner as a perceived "safe pair of hands" for Moscow in 2009.

Reaction to the participation of Johnny Logan will certainly be interesting. Was he to take to the stage in May, he would at 54, be the oldest performer to ever represent Ireland at Eurovision, something he himself pointed out when approached on the subject by Ryan Tubridy while on a recent visit to Ireland. However it has to be said that former Eurovision winners like André Claveau, who was 47 when he won with "Dors Mon Amour" in 1961 and The Olsen Brothers who had a combined age of almost a hundred when they won in 2000 shows that you don't have to be in the first flush of youth to win at Eurovision. 

In November, "All Kinds Of Everything" asked visitors to this website, which if any of Ireland's previous Eurovision winners they would like to see in Moscow. Johnny Logan, finished in third place, behind 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh and Eimear Quinn from 1996. However almost one third of those that voted were not interested in any former winner returning to the contest.

In recent years, several former international winners have tried to come back to Eurovision, with varying degress of success. In 2006, Sweden's Carola tried to repeat her success of 1991, but despite starting as favourite in Athens, she only came 5th. However compared with another Swedish Winner, that was a success. In 2008, Charlotte Nilsson returned to the contest as Charlotte Pirelli and only made the final thanks to the charity of the juries. In the final she finished in 18th place. Other former winners like the Denmark's Olsen Brothers, 1997 winner  Katrina (without The Waves) and Vicky Leandros, haven't even managed to qualify from national selections.

Consequently there is no doubt that if Johnny Logan is Ireland's representative in 2009, it is a high risk strategy that is far from guaranteed to bring success. There is however no question that if Johnny is in Moscow it will attract huge interest in the Irish entry and that the Eurovision Song Contest will get an overdue boost in public attention in Ireland.