Tonight, the national final of Ireland, Eurosong 2011 will be held during a special edition of The late late show on RTÉ One. Don Mescall, Jedward, Bling, The Vard Sisters and Nikki Kavanagh will try to conquer the hearts of the Irish viewers and regional juries.
The show
Ireland will select its representative at this year's Eurovision Song Contest during a special edition of The late late show: A Eurosong special. Five acts will fight for the honour of representing the Emerald Isle at Europe's favourite music competition. Don Mescall, Jedward, Bling, The Vard Sisters and Nikki Kavanagh are all part of Eurosong 2011's line-up and will try to conquer the hearts of the Irish viewers as well as the regional juries located in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick and Sligo. The winner will be chosen by a combination of televoting (33%) and regional juries (67%).
How to watch
- Live onRTÉ Oneat 22:35 CET (21:35 local time)
- Webcast (RTÉ official)
- Webcast (eurovision.tv official)
Participants
- Don Mescall – Talking with Jennifer (Ronan Hardiman & Don Mescall ) – mentored by Ronan Hardiman
- Jedward featuring Rebecca Creighton– Lipstick (Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen and Martin Larson) – mentored by Caroline Downey-Desmond
- Bling– Shine On (Patrick Mahoney) – mentored by Willie Kavanagh
- Vard Sisters – Send me an angel (Liam Lawton) – mentored by Liam Lawton
- Nikki Kavanagh – Falling (Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff and Hanif Sabzevari) – mentored by David Hayes
Have your say
You can vote for your favourite participant in the Irish final in our poll here.
Live
Niamh Kavanagh takes the stage and performs her 1993 Eurovision winning song In your eyes. The host asks Niamh about her memories from Millstreet and about her latest Eurovision experience in Oslo last year. The shows goes on and the first guest of tonight's The Late Late Show is introduced to us. A former member of Bucks Fizz joins the conversation. The third special guest is Bryan Kennedy, Ireland's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.
- Don Mescall – Talking with Jennifer (Ronan Hardiman & Don Mescall)
The first song of tonight's show is being performed by a former Eurosong contestant, Don Mescall. His song Talking with Jennifer was composed by his mentor Ronan Hardiman and written by Don himself. Ronan Hardiman explains why this should be the Irish entry focusing on Don Mescall's musical experience. The song is a pop ballad featuring a nice guitaristic orchestration reminding us of the 2009 Danish entry. Although Don is a very experienced performer, he seems to have some vocal problems. The stage setting for this routine is quite simple and bland and may get the audience into a sleepy mood. Don is dressed all in black and is joined on stage by a band. The stage features a blue and redlight show which fits well with the song's lyrics. Overall this is a decent performancethat should make proudthe Irish people if it will get to represent the Emerald Isle in Germany.
Current standings in the esctoday.com poll : 5th (3,7%)
2. Jedward featuring Rebecca Creighton– Lipstick (Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen and Martin Larson)
Next on stage is the most discussed act of this year's Eurosong. Former X-Factor contestants Jedward take the stage performing their poppy act Lipstick. The song was written by a bunch of Swedish composers and is supported by Caroline Downey-Desmond as a mentor. Lipstick is an up-tempo contemporany pop song reminding of one of Britney Spears' previous musical efforts. The vocal performance is interesting enough, but people were expecting this as Jedward is known for their weak vocal abillities. The boys are dressed up in red and black suits. The stage features an effective light show which helps to highlight their routine. Jedward receives loud applauses from the audience.
Current standings in the esctoday.com poll :2nd (37,6%)
-Commercial break-
3. Bling– Shine On (Patrick Mahoney)
The third act of tonight's competition is the new band put together by the EMI Ireland chairman Willie Kavanagh, Bling. Kavangh explains how the new act was created and presents us the story of tonight'sso-called 'mystery act'.The song was written by Mahoney and it's featuring a nice pop tune reminding us of an American musical or a commercial add soundtrack. The quartet delivers a pretty good vocal performance, the harmony of their voices sounding almost perfect. The members of the 'mystery act' are all dressed up in gala outfits featuring purple and grey as main colours. No backing singers are used for this performance. Overall this is a nicely performed song, but it seems to lack something in order to become an Irish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. The stage setting focuses on purple and yellow as main colours. Will this routine shine on tonight's scoreboard?
Current standings in the esctoday.com poll : 3rd (5,3%)
4. Vard Sisters – Send me an angel (Liam Lawton)
The Vard Sisters already tried to represent the Emerald Isle at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their previous effort Seol was the runner-up of the 1998 Irish national selection. Tonight they made their comeback on the Eurovision spotlight with Send me an angel, a song written by Liam Lawton who was also responsible for Seol. This year's song is a lyrical ballad highlighting the wonderful vocal performance of the sisters. This is the most 'Irish' performance of tonight's acts. Liam Lawton explains why the people should vote for this song and his main argument is based on the Irish origins of this act. The stage turns into emerald green and features an effective light show. The sisters are wearing similar white dresses while the backing singers are dressed in black. This is one of the best vocal performance of tonight's show. Will Ireland send these three angels to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011?
Current standings in the esctoday.com poll : 4th (4,9%)
5. Nikki Kavanagh – Falling (Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff and Hanif Sabzevari)
Nikki Kavanagh is best known for being one of last year's backing vocalists for Niamh Kavanagh's routine. Nikki's song was written by the same team who was reponsible for the 2009 Irish act at the Eurovision Song Contest. Her entry Falling is an mid-tempo pop song reminding us of last year's Azerbaijani entry. David Hayes talks about the reasons why he was named Nikki Kavanagh's mentor. He also underlines the fact that this is the most contemporany act of tonight's final. The stage turns in purple highlighting Nikki's fabulous dress. Two male dancers are used during this routine. Although the main vocals are almost perfect, the backing singers should work harder in order to improve their performance. Overall this is one of the strongest act of the Irish national final.
Current standings in the esctoday.com poll : 1st (48,6%)
This concludes tonight's performances.
Voting lines are now opened. A recap of all the five performance is being shown now.
-Commercial break-
Another quick reminder of tonight's five acts is being shown.
The hosts of the 1994 and 1995 editions of the Eurovision Song Contest are the special guests of the second part of The Late Late Show.They talk about hosting Europe's favourite music show.
Another quick reminder of tonight's five acts is being shown.
-Commercial break-
Voting lines are now closed.
Three members of Bucks Fizz perform their winning Eurovision song Making your mind up.
