Just one week since the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, RTÉ have already well began the selection for the Eurovision Dance Contest 2007.

RTÉ are pleased to announce Ireland's participation in the first Eurovision Dance Contest. The event is organised by the EBU and will be broadcast live from London on Saturday, September the 1st and will be produced by the BBC.

14 countries are already participating, including Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Austria, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Spain.

Each country will send a male/female duo. They will each perform a ballroom type dance and one freestyle dance, which can be the National dance of their country. The winner will be decided by a televote on the night.

The Irish entry will come from RTÉ 's dance show, Celebrity Jigs and Reels, which finishes it's run on the 20th of May. Five teams from the show's professional dancers will compete for selection for the contest. A jury will decide which couple will represent us and the announcement will be made on this final show. The members of the Jury are: Jane Gilheaney, director of the Shaylyn Dance Company in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim; David Bolger, artistic director of Coiscéim Dance Theatre, Dublin and representing RTÉ, Julian Vignoles, Assistant Commissioning Editor, Entertainment.

The winning couple will then, over the next three months, prepare their performances, in Irish dance and ballroom, for the competition. RTÉ will engage a choreographer, TV professional and costume specialist to assist them.