RTÉ, the national broadcaster of Ireland becomes the next broadcaster which opens invitations to songwriters and composers wishing to participate in the Irish selection process for Eurovision 2018, after confirming their participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest next May. 

The submission and selection process

The broadcaster characterizes Eurovision as a highly competitive event, and that’s why they continually review the selection process. Applications of songs to RTÉ will be open until 6 November. The candidate entries can only be sent to the email [email protected].

All submitted songs will be evaluated by a number of music expert panels. Each songwriter/composer is able to submit only one song which cannot last more than 3 minutes. If more than one songs are submitted by a single person, only the first will be taken into consideration.

Rules and rights of RTÉ

According to the EBU rules and as RTÉ demands, all of the submitted songs must not have been commercially released and/or publicly performed including online video platforms or social networks, in full or in part, before 1 September 2017.

Every involved artist/songwriter has definitely to know the rights of the broadcaster through the whole process. As noted, along with the submitted songs, RTÉ holds the right to take into account other songs that have not been submitted through this procedure, by approaching established acts or songwriters. Moreover, and quite important to know that RTÉ has the ability to match any selected song with a different artist to the one submitted with the entry.

Entries must be sent ONLY as an MP3 (192kbps) file or Soundcloud link. Any other format (CD, cassette, etc.) isn’t going to be accepted by RTÉ.

Ireland at Eurovision

The very first appearance of Ireland in the contest was in 1965. Since then, the country has been counting 51 participations and 7 victories, more than any other country so far. However, the glorious results of Ireland in Eurovision have ceased to be a reality over the last decade. The country has missed 7 finals since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 and has reached the Top 10 only twice; in 2006 with Brian Kennedy and Every song is a cry for love, which managed a 10th place with 93 points and in 2011 when the duo Jedward achieved an 8th place with 119 points.

This year, Ireland internally selected the young singer Brendan Murray with his ballad song Dying to try to represent them in Kyiv. Despite an atmospheric performance in the second semi-final, Brendan didn’t progress to the Grand Final, as he finished 13th with 86 points.

Could RTÉ find the winning song of Eurovision 2018 among the submitted entries?