Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Ireland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. The country was represented by Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy with their song "Et Cetera".[1][2]

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country Ireland
National selection
Selection processEurosong 2009
Selection date(s)20 February 2009
Selected entrantSinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy
Selected song"Et Cetera"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (11th, 52 points)
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Before Eurovision

Eurosong 2009

It was unknown for some time how Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the Irish broadcaster would select the Irish entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. RTÉ had had plans to have a large-scale national final like that of last year's contest.[3] However the current financial situation in Ireland have made this impossible, and it was debatable whether a national final would be held at all, with an internal selection by RTÉ to be held instead. Despite this, RTÉ were set to have a national final for their selection, which were to be broadcast as a special edition of The Late Late Show, similar to that seen in 2006 and 2007, to be held on 20 February 2009.[4][5]

Although a national final was to be planned, it was rumoured that RTÉ were in the middle of talks with three-time former winner Johnny Logan. It had been rumoured that, in exchange for his own television show, Logan would return to Eurovision and represent Ireland at the 2009 contest in Moscow.[6][7] Logan had previously said that he would have represented Ireland at the 2007 contest, however a deal between Logan and RTÉ was not reached at that time.[8][9] Eoghan Quigg, who came third in the 2008 series of The X Factor, has also stated that he would like to represent Ireland at Eurovision.[10]

RTÉ officially confirmed that a national final, called Eurosong 2009, would be held to choose the Irish representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and that no internal selection would be held. Like in 2006 and 2007, this was to be held on 20 February 2009 on a special edition of The Late Late Show.[11][12][13]

Format

Pat Kenny, host of The Late Late Show and of Eurosong 2009, revealed that six artists and songs will compete in the national final, where the winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of a public vote and the votes of regional juries in Ireland.[14]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition until 2 February 2009. Over 300 entries were submitted, and a jury panel, headed by Irish Eurovision winner Linda Martin, selected six finalists for the competition, which were revealed on 13 February 2009.[15][16][17] The songs were premiered on 19 February 2009 on The Derek Mooney Show, broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1.

The first entry to be confirmed to be competing at Eurosong 2009 was "I Wish I Could Pretend" performed by Latvian singer Kristīna Zaharova. The song, composed by Lauris Reiniks and Gordon Pogoda, was initially included in the line-up of the 2009 Latvian national final, however was also submitted for the Irish selection. Reiniks therefore decided to withdraw his song from the Latvian selection in favour for the Irish national final.[18][19]

Final

The final took place on 20 February 2009. Six entries competed and the winner, "Et Cetera" performed by Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy, was determined by the 50/50 combination of a public vote and a regional jury vote from four regions in Ireland: Sligo, Dublin, Cork and Limerick.[1][2] Each jury region awarded 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point to their top 6 songs, while the public vote awarded 40, 32, 24, 16, 8 and 4 points to their top 6 songs.[20] An expert panel consisting of Marty Whelan (Eurovision commentator), Linda Martin (Eurovision 1992 winner) and Jerry Springer (famous American talk-show and talent show host) also provided commentary and feedback to the artists.[21]

Final – 20 February 2009
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 M.N.A. "Flying" Ronan McCormack 15 8 23 6
2 Laura-Jayne Hunter "Out of Control" Derry O'Donovan 9 32 41 3
3 Lee Bradshaw "So What" Billy Larkin, Kevin Breathnach 10 16 26 4
4 Johnny Brady "Amazing" Tony Adams Rosa 20 4 24 5
5 Kristīna Zaharova "I Wish I Could Pretend" Lauris Reiniks, Gordon Pogoda 32 24 56 2
6 Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy "Et Cetera" Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti, Christina Schilling 38 40 78 1

Before Eurovision
Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy performing "Et Cetera" at the UKEurovision Preview Party
Photo by Tristán White.

It had not been planned by RTÉ to have a large promotional campaign of the Irish entry, due to budget constraints. However Sinéad and Black Daisy performed twice for an international audience; at the Eurovision Promo Concert in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 18 April,[22] and also at the UKEurovision Preview Party in London on 17 April.[23]

Before heading to Moscow, Sinéad and Black Daisy once again performed on The Late Late Show on 1 May.[24] RTÉ also broadcast the EBU "Eurovision: Countdown" preview shows before the week of the contest.[25]

At Eurovision

Since Ireland was not one of the "Big Four" and is not the host of the 2009 contest, it had to compete in one of the two semi-finals. Sinéad and Black Daisy competed in the second semi-final on 14 May, where they performed second in the running order, following Croatia and preceding Latvia. The group failed to qualify Ireland to the final for the second consecutive time.

In the final of the contest, the Irish votes were presented by Irish TV personality Derek Mooney, who previously did the same in 2000.[26] RTÉ released the names of the five jurors which made up half of the Irish votes in the final, along with televoting. They were former Eurovision winners Linda Martin (ESC 1992) and Paul Harrington (ESC 1994), producer Bill Hughes, singer and TV personality Emma O'Driscoll and singer/songwriter Luan Parle.[27]

Points awarded by Ireland[28]
Split voting results from Ireland (final)
Draw Country Jury points Televoting points Scoreboard (Points)
01  Lithuania 12 7
02  Israel
03  France 6 3
04  Sweden 4
05  Croatia
06  Portugal
07  Iceland 12 7 12
08  Greece
09  Armenia
10  Russia 1
11  Azerbaijan 2
12  Bosnia and Herzegovina
13  Moldova 3
14  Malta 7 2 5
15  Estonia 5 5 6
16  Denmark 6 4
17  Germany 3 1 1
18  Turkey
19  Albania
20  Norway 10 8 8
21  Ukraine
22  Romania 4 2
23  United Kingdom 8 10 10
24  Finland
25  Spain
Points awarded to Ireland (Semi-final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
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See also

References
  1. Fisher, Luke (20 February 2009). "Et Cetera wins Irish national final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. Klier, Marcus (20 February 2009). "Ireland: Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy to Eurovision". ESCToday. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  3. Murray, Gavin (28 October 2008). "Ireland: "We will participate at Eurovision 2009"". ESCToday. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  4. Murray, Gavin (21 November 2008). "Ireland: Announcement before the end of the month". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  5. "Provisional date for RTÉ's national final". Oikotimes. 21 November 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  6. Murray, Gavin (14 December 2008). "Ireland: Johnny Logan for Eurovision 2009?". ESCToday. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  7. Konstantopoulos, Fotis (14 December 2008). "Provisional date for RTÉ's national final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  8. Murray, Gavin (7 October 2006). "Johnny Logan 'would' represent Ireland again". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  9. Viniker, Barry (27 October 2006). "No Johnny Logan at Eurovision 2007". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  10. Edgar, Gale (15 December 2008). "'X Factor' star hoping to sing in Eurovision". Irish Independent Newspaper. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  11. Murray, Gavin (18 December 2008). "Ireland: Open selection for Eurovision 2009". ESCToday. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  12. Rendall, Alasdair (18 December 2008). "Ireland: RTÉ goes on national selection on 20 February". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  13. Murray, Gavin (21 January 2009). "Ireland: National Final on February 20th". ESCToday. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  14. Fisher, Luke (23 January 2009). "Ireland: Six songs and regional juries for Eurosong". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  15. Murray, Gavin (5 February 2009). "Ireland: Almost 300 entries submitted for Eurosong 2009". ESCToday. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  16. Konstantopoulos, Fotis (5 February 2009). "Ireland: RTÉ receives almost 300 entries for Moscow". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  17. Murray, Gavin (13 February 2009). "Ireland: Six Eurosong finalists revealed". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  18. Medinika, Aija (12 February 2009). "Latvia: Lauris Reiniks drops Eurodziesma for Irish final". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  19. Costa, Nelson (12 February 2009). "Latvia: Lauris Reiniks drops Latvian for Irish final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  20. Murray, Gavin (19 February 2009). "Ireland: Eurosong 2009 radio previews". ESCToday. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  21. Murray, Gavin (19 February 2009). "Ireland: Jerry Springer on the panel for Eurosong". ESCToday. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  22. Romkes, René (26 March 2009). "Eurovision in Concert 2009". ESCToday.. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  23. Hondal, Victor (9 April 2009). "Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy confirmed for London Preview Party". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  24. Fisher, Luke (2 May 2009). "Jade and Sinead face the cameras before Moscow". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  25. Murray, Gavin (24 April 2009). "Ireland: Eurovision Countdown begins on Sunday". ESCToday. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  26. Murray, Gavin (8 May 2009). "Ireland: Derek Mooney to announce Irish points". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  27. Fisher, Luke (12 May 2009). "RTE reveals names of the jury". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  28. Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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