THEY CONTROVERSIALLY let their hair down for the final but, while their fringes flopped, Jedward insisted they had not failed as they arrived home from Baku after a disappointing night in the Azerbaijani capital.
The duo’s Eurovision entry was holed beneath the Waterline within minutes of voting starting and had sunk without a trace by the time Sweden were declared winners shortly after 3am local time.
Despite finishing in 19th place, the Grimes twins were remarkably upbeat when they arrived in Dublin airport to the screams of about 200 fans, and they insisted they had not let the country down.
“We are not disappointed at all,” Edward said. “The experience was crazy and we have gained ourselves more crazy fans. I know we didn’t win Eurovision but we are still really influential around the world.”
He said there had been a huge buzz around them over the last two weeks and that, when the arena emptied on Saturday, the only two acts still being interviewed were the winners and them.
John expressed surprise that they had failed to attract many votes from Germany and eastern Europe despite spending the last 12 months building up a big profile across Europe and they ruled out a third stab at Eurovision glory next year. “If the president rings us and says ‘John, Edward we need you guys’ then we will think about it,” Edward said.
The head of the RTÉ delegation Julian Vignoles put a brave face on things. “You go and you take your chances and on this occasion it wasn’t to be. People liked our song though and we finished sixth in the semi-final on Tuesday, and overall we finished 19th out of 42 countries,” he said.
He said it was too early to say if the way the Irish entry was chosen would be re-examined ahead of next year’s final in Stockholm.
“There is no magic formula for selecting a winning entry. We need to send an established artist like many of the other countries do but because of the derision the contest attracts in Ireland, that is considered a risky venture by many artists.”
Jedward’s mentor Linda Martin admitted she was disappointed but said she “couldn’t be prouder of the boys”.
“Nothing went our way,” she said. “It just wasn’t our night. There were a lot of big songs and I don’t think there was much doubt that Sweden were going to win.”
There was no doubt in the minds of the fans who had gathered at the airport. “Why would we be disappointed?” asked one girl. “They were the real winners. They were awesome.”
