Ireland And The Return Of A Eurovision Giant Written by Joey Hunter on July 16, 2024 | 2 Comments

There Was Once A Bleak Future

A year ago, Ireland’s competitive future at the Eurovision Song Contest looked bleak. With only one qualification since 2013 the legend of being a Eurovision powerhouse was in tatters; that Sweden equalled its record of the most wins further enhanced the Irish pain. How long until Sweden became the undisputed victor?

I reflected on where everything had gone wrong here on ESC Insight, from the glory years and through the subsequent decline. It wasn’t all dark, and there were glimmers of hope. In 2018, Ryan O’Shaughnessy showed that qualification was not off the table with the right song and presentation, and Brooke Scullion became a fan favourite in 2022.

But, as Wild Youth returned from Liverpool on the Friday before the Grand Final, the mood in the Irish camp must have been pretty dark. Mine was.

It’s a year later and it feels right to reflect on Ireland’s Eurovision 2024 journey. If Bambie Thug’s success in Malmö will be a turning point for Irish broadcaster RTE.

Eurosong Returns

Since 2022, RTE’s National Final selection show, Eurosong, has been broadcast as a special edition of The Late Late Show, a popular Irish chat show. With both prior winners from this format failing to reach the Eurovision Grand Final, it was not necessarily a good omen that the same show was being kept for 2024.

One positive change for Euroong 2024 was that the six contestants and their songs were revealed one per day, a couple of weeks before the National Final. A similar introductory process also happens in Finland for those entering UMK. For smaller selection shows, this is a good way to give each contestant their own exposure beyond the TV broadcast and generate some excitement and buzz that can boost their careers no matter the National result.

Of the six entries, there were four that I felt noteworthy. The first was ‘Go Tobann’ by Aisha, a punk rock song that was, notably, mostly in Irish. RTE had not sent a non-English language song to the Song Contest since 1972’s ‘Ceol an Ghrá’. With a style not usually associated with Ireland and the use of the national language, this was a promising sign that different styles were at least being considered.

The second was ‘Doomsday Blue’ by Bambie Thug, who described their music as Ouija Pop. The song, at times melodic, at times aggressive and shouty, divided people instantly and couldn’t have sounded less like something Ireland would send to the Song Contest. Maybe Ireland really was being brave?

However, it was not a given that Ireland would opt for a change, as two other songs were gaining attention. Erica Cody’s ‘Love Me Like IDo’, was a simple pop song, but one that it would be hard for anyone to take either a strong like or dislike. Perhaps the closest comparisons in recent years would have been ‘Heartbeat’ or ‘That’s Rich’, acceptable entries that struggled to qualify.

Finally, there was Next in Line, with their song ‘Love Like Us’. Next in Line had been formed by Louis Walsh and had even previously performed on The Late Late Show. Although there was some improvement in the diversity of Eurosong, it felt that Erica Cody or Next in Line would ultimately be the winner. When the running order for Eurosong was announced, and the final two spots went to these artists, it began to feel like this was where the competition would be.

A Little Bit On The Late Late Show

One of the many joys of National Final season is watching the variety of ways that countries select their entries. Perhaps the two most well-known outside of the community are Sweden’s Melodifestivalen and Italy’s Sanremo—which predates the Eurovision Song Contest itself and baulks at referring to itself as a humble National Final. Both are huge events spanning several nights, and although incredibly different from each other in many ways (Melodifestivalen essentially being an arena tour, and Sanremo being a week-long festival), both attract some of the biggest names in their national music industries. It is perhaps not a surprise that Sweden and Italy have two of the most, if not the most, successful records at the Song Contest in recent years.

Not every broadcaster has the budget, historical precedence or indeed inclination to hold such grand selection processes, which is why most countries opt for something more restrained. And then there’s Ireland’s RTE. There may be National Finals that have lower budgets or poorer production value, but there is something about The Late Late Show that feels totally unsuitable for a Eurovision selection process.

Firstly, a small cabaret stage in an Irish television studio cannot do justice to an artist trying to display their vision to an audience. If Eurovision had remained unchanged since the 1960s, then perhaps this would work, but when so much about a successful Eurovision entry is the artistry and vision that the artists have, this format cannot do justice to anything but the most simple of entries

Secondly, the concept of an in-house panel to critique the artists is perhaps one of the worst things about the current format of Eurosong. This X-Factor/Britain’s Got Talent format may work if the end goal is to win Eurosong, but when the winner of Eurosong then needs to compete at Eurovision, the panel continually hedge their bets, the critiques feel half-baked, and it all feels pedestrian and cautious.

Send the Witch

Bambie Thug’s win at Eurosong was far from a foregone conclusion. On the night, the song stood out against the competition, which is what any winner needs to do. It would be hard for anyone to call the performance forgettable. When they won Eurosong, there was certainly a sense of surprise. Ireland had needed to do something different for ages, but this was a direction that nobody had quite seen coming. Had Ireland selected this over two extremely safe and “that’s so Ireland’ choices? Had the different option of sending a song in Irish been pushed aside?

Yes.

Both the Irish Jury and the Irish Televoters had given ‘Doomsday Blue’ twelve points, with only the International Jury opting for the safe options. The change really was coming from inside.

The Eurovision Song Contest community is broad and varied, so it is both difficult and unwise to generalise, but there was uncertainty about how well the song would do. The song was divisive, from some loving this new Ireland through the detractors on the other extreme, to those pleased that Ireland was taking a new direction but unsure if such an extreme pick was really the wisest idea.

Bambie Thug was selected to perform fourth in Malmo 2024’s first Semi Final. As the rehearsals progressed, the buzz became a roar. Suddenly, without the restraints of The Late Late Show studio, Bambie Thug was given the space to deliver the kind of performance worthy of the Eurovision stage. Qualification seemed inevitable, and when it arrived, Bambie Thug had become one of the most anticipated acts of the Grand Final.

And could Ireland even win? Well, that was taking it a bit too far, but finishing sixth in both the televote and (perhaps more surprisingly) with the jury, saw Bambie Thug finish sixth overall, giving Ireland its best result in the 21st century.

So What Next?

The question for the Irish delegation is no longer how to turn it around but how to both maintain this momentum and manage expectations.

The immediate question will be Eurosong. Should RTE carry on with the current run of one win from three entries, or would an internal selection now be the most sensible choice? There are, of course, pros and cons of both. If you have a song and an artist with something special, why would anyone risk losing out in a National Final to something more mainstream but less likely to stand out? Conversely, getting support from the public during a National Final can validate that the correct artist has been picked by testing the artist in a competitive situation.

A sensible solution could be to hold Eurosong again for 2025, but in a setting that isn’t the Late Late Show. A space designed for live music could enable the artists to deliver the performance that they feel would be best to showcase their artistry, yet RTE’s limited budget may make this option, however attractive, a non-starter.

Ireland also needs to avoid the temptation to go with a watered-down version of 2024. Perhaps the one thing that really ensured Bambi’s success was how true an artist they are to themselves. A Bambie 2.0 will not be that. The next Irish entry doesn’t need to be, in fact shouldn’t be, Ouija Pop, or something in a similar vein. It can be any genre of music that is authentic to the artist that is being picked. However, the lesson that should be learnt is that a country should not be afraid of picking a song that some people won’t like. That’s fine. Art is subjective and sometimes controversial, and this should be embraced.

It is also important for RTE to manage Ireland’s expectations. A great result one year does not guarantee a great result the following year. However, if Ireland keeps taking risks, sending interesting and authentic music that reflects all aspects of the current Irish music scene, then success, and perhaps more importantly respect, will inevitably come.

The 8th Win?

As I reflect on Ireland over the past year, another country I keep returning to is Sweden. If you had asked me six months ago which country would be the first to make it to eight wins, I would have said Sweden without hesitation.

The Swedes are undeniably experts at what they do in the Song Contest, with some of the slickest pop productions in the contest year after year. Yet the Swedish songs doing well in the current iteration of the Song Contest are increasingly not pop. New styles are being embraced that feel authentic to the artist. This decade alone, we’ve had a rock winner from Italy and rap in both Ukraine and Switzerland’s recent wins, as well as songs that have been equally successful as they are diverse, such as ‘Shum’, ‘In Corpore Sano’ and ‘Cha Cha Cha’. For these artists, not playing it safe certainly paid off.

I have no doubt that Sweden will continue to do well in Eurovision over the coming years, but as time progresses and the Contest evolves, I can see a scenario where it is Swedish broadcaster SVT, rather than Ireland’s RTE which will need to change their approach.

If you asked me now which country will be the first to make it to eight wins, I may still pick Sweden, but not without hesitation. There’s no need for Ireland to be down in its own (doomsday) blues any more.