Ireland: RTE to unveil the Irish ESC 2019 hopeful and entry on 8 March

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 1,887 views

RTE, the Irish national broadcaster, will be unveiling one of the biggest secrets surrounding the upcoming Eurovision edition. Who will defend the Irish colours at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv?

The mystery will be solved next Friday 8 March when Ireland is set to unveil its Eurovision 2019 act and entry.  RTE has yet again opted for an internal selection in order to determine its Eurovision hopeful and entry for Eurovision.

There have been many rumours, rejoinders and much speculation regarding the 2019 Irish Eurovision candidate  and entry in the past months.

Ireland is set to perform in the first half of the Second Semi-final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 May in Tel Aviv.  This year will see Eire’s 53rd Eurovision participation.

Ireland in Eurovision

Ireland debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and has won the competition a record 7 times  (1970, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996).

The Emerald Isle holds many a record when it comes to our beloved contest: Ireland is the only country to have won the event 3 times in a row (1992, 1993, 1994), whilst Dublin retains the record of being the only city to have hosted the event twice in a row (1994, 1995).

In fact the 90’s were Ireland’s golden years in Eurovision, the country welcomed the Eurovision bandwagon 4 times in a span of 5 years (1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997) with Dublin hosting the event thrice.

Ireland’s Johnny Logan is also the only artist to have won the competition twice (1980, 1987).

In 2018 Ireland selected Ryan O’Shaughnessy via an internal selection in order to fly the Irish flag at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with his entry Toguether. The multi talented young placed 16th in the Grand Final in Portugal.