RTÉ has announced today that we will get to hear the songs in contention to represent Ireland at Eurovision during the week on RTÉ Radio 1. There are six songs that will be in the running to represent the Emerald Isle in Turin. We will get to hear the first two songs tomorrow and by the end of the week, we will have heard all six.
Radio Airplay Annoncement
In a tweet posted on RTÉ’s Twitter, it was announced that Ireland’s Road to Eurovision begins tomorrow with the first two acts, vying to win Ireland’s national final and compete for Ireland at Eurovision, will be played on RTÉ Radio 1 tomorrow during Ryan Tubridy’s radio show. The other four acts will be played during the week. The Ryan Tubridy Show is on RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays from 9am till 10am (GMT).
Ireland’s National Final Plans
Ireland will choose its representative for Eurovision Song Contest 2022 during a Eurosong special of The Late Late Show. The six songs, which we will hear for the first time this week, will perform on the show with the winner going on to compete for Ireland in Turin in May.
The Late Late Show is a long-running chat show which runs weekly on Friday evenings on RTÉ 1. The show is also hosted by Ryan Tubridy. This is the 10th time that RTÉ has used The Late Late Show to pick Ireland’s act for Eurovision. The show was previously used as a national final in 2006 and 2007, then from 2009 till 2015.
Details of the voting method for the show have not yet been revealed, in the past, the show’s winner has been chosen by a 50/50 combination of televoting and national juries. No date for the Eurosong special has been officially announced so far. Ireland’s Head of Delegation previously stated in an interview that RTÉ had been aiming for the final to take place on 21st January. This date now seems unlikely as no announcement has yet been made and is less than a week from now.
In the same interview, it had also revealed that RTÉ has received over 320 entries since the start of the submission period at that point.
2022 will mark the first time in 6 years that RTÉ has opted to select its Eurovision representative through a National Selection show, haven decided internally between 2016 to 2021. In those years there was only one appearance for Ireland in the final, that was with ‘Together’ from Ryan O’Shaughnessy in 2018.
Ireland’s Eurovision Journey
Ireland debuted at Eurovision in 1965 with Butch Moore’s “Walking the Streets in the Rain”, which finished in sixth place. They have gone on to win the contest a record seven times, most recently with Eimear Quinn’s “The Voice” in 1996. Though they have been less successful in recent years, they have still turned out memorable entries such as Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s “Together”, which qualified for the Grand Final in 2018 and finished in 16th place.
Most recently, Lesley Roy represented Ireland at Eurovision 2021 with the song “Maps”. Her ambitious staging ultimately was not enough to qualify Ireland to the Grand Final. However, “Maps”, along with her 2020 entry “Story of My Life”, have both become fan-favourites.
Are you excited to hear the songs from Ireland? Are you looking forward to Ireland’s national final? Who would you like to represent Ireland at Eurovision? Let us know in the comments or on social. Be sure to follow THAT Eurovision Site on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
News Source: RTÉ
Photo Source: EBU / Andres Putting
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