Since at least 2007 the wheels have fallen off Ireland’s Eurovision bus. There have been four failures to qualify for the final, including Molly Sterling this week, and we’ve twice finished last.
Only Jedward’s first Eurovision appearance in 2011 led to a relatively strong Irish result (8th) in recent years.
Ireland no longer does well because we are out of step with what amounts to a viable entry nowadays and there is an apparent lack of investment and will on RTÉ’s part. Since Ireland’s glory days in the 1990s, there have been a number of changes to the rules of the contest that have transformed it.
The number of countries entering has doubled. The orchestra has been banished in favour of recorded backing tracks. Countries are now allowed to sing in their choice of language, meaning most sing in English, while historically only Ireland, the UK and Malta had that privilege.
And the current voting system means winning acts must combine musical excellence with popular audience appeal.
The central issue RTÉ needs to address is how it selects Ireland’s entries. In recent years it has moved between selection formats with little success.
The You're A Star talent show resulted in a series of entries with little or no professional experience. In his recent book Ireland and the Eurovision, former RTÉ executive David Blake Knox argued this selection format arguably "inflicted some professional and personal damage on some of the performers who had managed to qualify for the Eurovision."
This was dumped in favour of a public voting selection process on the Late Late Show, embellished from 2011-14 by the introduction of a mentoring system which, as Blake Knox has argued, effectively further shifted the responsibility for crucial decisions away from RTÉ and into the hands of music industry professionals, some of whom had little or no television experience.
Last year, after Kasey Smith and Can-Linn failed to qualify for the final, RTÉ announced it was shaking up its selection system, but this consisted of getting rid of the mentors and going back to an open competition and a one-night public vote.
While Molly Sterling is a promising young songwriter with a lovely voice, the presentation of Playing with Numbers did not help it stand out from the contest's many other ballads.
Placing her behind a wooden upright piano blocked her relationship with the cameras and the audience. Once again we are left wondering why those in decision-making positions are not producing the cutting-edge presentation, staging and camerawork required to succeed in today’s Eurovision.
A situation has developed in which Eurovision lacks prestige in Ireland and must look like a poisoned chalice for established artists with the kind of musical and performance chops to succeed in today’s contest.
Remedying this situation is going to take time, effort and investment along with smart, well-researched choices and good judgment.
The selection format needs to be built up into a prestigious and exciting national event that takes place over a number of weeks. Whether the will and the means exist within RTÉ to make this happen remains an open question.
