Eurovision fans and past contestants demand moving the Irish national selection from “The Late Late Show” to a larger, more suitable stage.
After Irish Head of Delegation for Eurovision, Michael Kealy, confirmed that Ireland’s national selection for Eurovision 2025 will again be part of “The Late Late Show”, significant criticism emerged from contest fans and former Eurovision contestants. “The Late Late Show” has hosted the national selection for the past three years, as well as from 2006-2007 and 2009 to 2015. It’s a light-hearted talk show featuring celebrities from various fields, dedicating a special February episode to showcase about six artists’ Eurovision entries, from which Ireland’s representative is chosen.
Many argue that the decision to continue holding the national selection as part of the talk show hinders Ireland’s chances of achieving high results in Eurovision.
Sound Issues and Performance Limitations Highlighted by Past Contestants
Erica-Cody, who competed last year in the national contest and placed fourth with “Love Me Like I Do”, sharply criticized sound problems that affected her performance quality, stating, “The sound from the broadcast compared to the room was very different.”
Charlie McGettigan, 1994 Eurovision winner with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”, supported moving the Eurosong to a larger venue, such as Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. McGettigan noted, “‘The Late Late’ is fine for most music acts but Eurovision has become such an enormous event. It’s difficult to pass judgement on a Eurovision entry in such a small performance space in comparison with the actual Eurovision.”
Ryan O’Shaughnessy, who reached 16th place in the 2018 Eurovision final with “Together”, claimed the current format deters singers from participating: “It puts a lot of people off doing it because the sound isn’t great. They don’t seem to tailor the vocal effects to individual singers. They use the same effect on every vocal. But every vocalist needs a different microphone and mix.”
Fan Criticism and Calls for Venue Change
Irish Eurovision fans also voiced their concerns. Keith Mills, a leading figure in the Irish Eurovision blog “All Kinds of Everything”, pointed out that the current format is simply unsuitable: “‘The Late Late’ is a talk show and the whole sound mix is set up for chat, not a music show. RTE have tried to make it better. But everything would sound much better if Eurosong was happening in a proper music arena.”
Limited Staging Possibilities Affect Performance Quality
Indeed, one of the main issues is that competing artists cannot present a performance in the national selection that hints at what will be performed on the Eurovision stage. The local competition is held in a small TV studio with limited camera angles and an audience of only dozens of people. Many expect to see a grand and worthy performance in the national selection as well, as similar as possible to what will be performed at Eurovision, so that the audience can vote and decide based on a performance that closely resembles what will take place on the Eurovision stage in May.
Despite demands for substantial format changes, it appears that RTE will stick to holding the national selection as part of the talk show due to financial constraints faced by the local broadcaster.
Ireland in Eurovision 2024
Bambie Thug represented Ireland at Eurovision 2024 with the song “Doomsday Blue.” The song was chosen through the national pre-selection. Ireland advanced to the final after placing third in the first semi-final with 124 points, and in the grand final, they finished sixth with 278 points.
This marks the first time since 2018 that Ireland has qualified for the final, and it is the country’s best result since 2000.
Source: The Irish Sun.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Ireland’s 58th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Ireland joined the competition in 1965 and has won it seven times over the years, holding the record for most wins alongside Sweden. Ireland’s last victory was in Eurovision 1996 with the song “The Voice” performed by singer Eimear Quinn.
