Sir, – Ireland, represented by the band Wild Youth, failed to qualify for the final of the Eurovision. In the last nine editions of the contest, only once have we made it to the Saturday night show. An open song submission followed by the Late Late Eurosong format has proved to be a fruitless effort to restore our former glories at the contest. Clearly our approach to Eurovision is not working and a new one is badly needed.
My suggestion is we look to our nearest neighbours across the pond. In 2021, following a string of poor results, the UK decided to shake things up. The BBC outsourced the selection of their Eurovision entry to a major record label, TaP Music. The result was an impressive second place last year.
It’s critical in the modern contest that you have music professionals presiding over or at least heavily involved in the selection process, an approach that has also been implemented with much success by Eurovision powerhouses Sweden and Italy.
As such, RTÉ should involve a record label and have it take responsibility for the choice of act, song, and the presentation of our entry on the Eurovision stage. That way, we’re more likely to have a credible piece of music represent us on stage rather than something that sounds like a cookie-cutter “Eurovision song”.
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This country is brimming with great music, coming from a diverse pool of new and exciting talents. It’s high time that we put music first and showcased it on the greatest stage in Europe. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT WIGGINS,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – As a taxi driver with a profound love of Irish music, I regularly have music playing while in the course of my duty.
I have a tendency to turn off the Irish music when somebody gets into the car because I realise it is not to everyone’s taste.
Most noticeably, foreign nationals ask me to please leave it on as they love Irish music.
Riverdance was hugely poplar worldwide, so it defies logic why Ireland does not enter a song for the Eurovision that reflects our musical culture and heritage. – Yours, etc,
PAUL O’BEIRNE,
Beaumont,
Dublin 9.