RTE, the Irish national broadcaster, has announced that it will opting for a national final in order to select the 2022 Irish Eurovision act and entry and has opened the song submission window for Eurovision 2022.
The 2022 Irish Eurovision act and entry will be determined during a special Eurovision show on RTE’s Late Late Show early next year. RTE is inviting composers and artists to submit their entries in order to compete at the 2022 Irish national final and has published the rules and regulations for the competition. The deadline for song submission has been set on Friday 22 October 2021.
Thus Ireland will be returning to a national final in order to deliberate its Eurovision artist and song after opting for an internal selection for several years.
The submitted entries will be evaluated by a committee of music and entertainment professionals and Eurovision fans. Hereafter the selected acts might be called to audition at the RTE Studios in Dublin. Hereafter RTE will shortlist a number of songs and acts who will compete in the Irish national final. The live televised show will be broadcast on RTE One on the Late Late Show. The winner of the show will be awarded the golden ticket to the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Italy.
Mr. Michael Kealy (Head of Delegation for Ireland) says:
I am very excited by the return of a Eurovision National Final on The Late Late Show and the prospect of giving the public a greater say in selecting our entry for Italy.
Every year the Eurovision gets bigger and more competitive than ever and given the enormous exposure and huge financial rewards for the winner I’m hopeful that we will attract a very high caliber of songwriter and performer.
This year’s artist Lesley Roy has gained tens of thousands of fans all over Europe on the back of her involvement with Eurovision and her very strong social media presence. She’s currently on an extensive tour of the UK and Ireland.
RTE says:
All songs must be submitted with an artist(s) already attached, artists must have the talent, drive, and ambition to compete at the highest level before a global audience of over 200 million people.
Artists putting themselves forward (with a song) must have intrinsic and obvious appeal to the core youth audiences who make up a significant amount of Eurovision viewers and fans
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). The Irish have competed 54 times in the competition.
In 2021 Ireland was represented by Lesley Roy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her entry ‘Maps‘.
Source: RTE/ESCToday
