Ireland’s 2016 Eurovision representative, Nicky Byrne, is satisfied with the success of Dancing With The Stars and reminisces about his very personal Eurovision participation.
Nicky Byrne talked to The Irish Sun about his current television success and looks back at his Eurovision adventure.
Dancing With The Stars
Nicky Byrne hosts the popular TV-show Dancing With The Stars alongside former model Amanda Byram, broadcast by RTÉ. The show, in which celebrities team up with professional dancers, has proven to be a huge success.
Nicky Byrne considers himself to be lucky to have been given the opportunity to co-host the programme, as several of his former TV-ventures, including hosting RTÉ’s Million Euro Challenge, failed to take off and got cancelled.
The singer, who himself starred in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, stated:
I did have a couple of TV shows that didn’t take off so I needed this, and I was delighted to get the chance. I like to bring my own personality to it but at the end of the day it’s about the dancers. I just count my lucky stars that Dancing With the Stars is so popular and my radio show is doing so well.
A personal touch to Eurovision
Nicky Byrne represented Eurovision at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, with his entry Sunlight. He performed in semi-final 2, eventually placing 15th out of 18 contestants, receiving 46 points – and thus not qualifying for the Grand Final.
However, his participation included a very personal motivation, as his father Nicky Byrne Senior, who passed away in 2009, had been a Eurovision huge fan.
Nicky Byrne looks back positively on his Eurovision experience, yet also acknowledges points that could have been improved:
I can’t hide from the fact that the Eurovision didn’t take off the way we wanted it to but I have no regret about doing it. I loved flying the flag, and representing Ireland in the biggest entertainment show in the world. I am my own worst critic but coming back home and watching the tapes – I thought I gave it a good performance but it didn’t go how we wanted and didn’t go over the line.
Earlier life of Nicky Byrne
Nicholas “Nicky” Bernard James Adam Byrne, Jr (Dublin, Ireland, 1978) started out as a promising football player before his musical career took off in 1998, after auditioning for a part in a new boyband, Westlife. As part of the immensely popular group Westlife he had many hits, selling millions of records worldwide.
After Westlife decided to disband, Nicky Byrne went on to have a career as a radio- and television host.
He represented Ireland at Eurovision 2016 with the song Sunlight, composed and written by himself, Ronan Hardiman and Wayne Hector. Sunlight was released as the lead single of Nicky Byrne’s debut solo-album of the same name.
