FAILING TO qualify for tonight’s Eurovision final has not fazed Sinead Mulvey, lead singer of this year’s Irish entry.
“I’m disappointed – but happy that we gave our best performance” Mulvey said yesterday. “We can come back to Ireland with our heads held high – that’s what we’ve been hearing from people back home. To be honest, having Ireland behind me means more.”
Seven of the 10 countries that passed through in Thursday’s semifinal were from central and eastern Europe, but Mulvey resisted the suggestion that the results could have been affected by bloc or neighbourly voting.
“I really can’t say. At the end of the day the public voted and this is who they voted for.”
RTÉ brought Mulvey together with Black Daisy, an existing rock band made up of singer and bassist LA Halvey, guitarist Nicki Billings, and drummer Asta Mileriene, for the Eurovision contest. Mulvey says the four are considering continuing to work together: “It’s onwards and upwards for us. We’ll see what happens when we get home.” The performers return to Dublin this evening.
RTÉ spokeswoman Sharon Brady said yesterday that the network was very happy with the group’s performance and with the whole production.
“It was a great song that proved the favourite in both the jury and public vote in Eurosong 2009 and the girls did Ireland proud.”
Some 25 countries compete in tonight’s final, which features a spectacular opening act by Cirque du Soleil.
According to most bookmakers, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the UK will battle it out for top honours.