Ireland have chosen their Eurovision representative for Vienna. During a Late Late Show crammed with silly euro-themed games and nods towards Eurovision’s past, a 50/50 combo of televote and jury decided to send Molly Sterling with “Playing With Numbers” to Eurovision. The ballad edged out tough competition from Kat Mahon and Erika Selin, while pre-contest favourite Nikki Kavanagh finished fourth after a vocally questionable performance.
Molly Sterling”Playing With Numbers”
Eurosong 2015: The Results
1. Molly Sterling “Playing With Numbers (104 points)
2. Kat Mahon “Anybody Got A Shoulder (100 points)
3. Erika Selin “Break Me Up” (88 points)
4. Nikki Kavanagh “Memories” (66 points)
5. Alex Saint “She’s So Fine” (42 points)
Voting Breakdown
Wiwibloggs react to Molly Sterling’s victory and the Eurosong final
So what do y’all think of the result? Are Ireland set to redeem themselves after their non-qualification last year? Is a record eight victory now a feasible possibility or a distant dream?
You can read the lyrics to “Playing With Numbers” by clicking HERE. And click HERE to read our pre-Eurosong interview with Molly.
I think rte should pick the song on a different show not late late because only old people watch that and if old people got their way job my Logan would be on it
I was lucky to be in the audience Friday night. The sound in there was much better than I expected (everyone complains it’s not the best venue in terms of audio and stage size). You can’t hear it on TV but Erika had the best reaction: lots of clapping along and many people singing along. She was the only one to get a standing ovation from some of the audience afterwards. It seemed like everyone tuned out of Nikki’s performance half way through. Ryan’s “you can hear a pin drop” comment after Kat’s performance was true, she dazzled everyone. Very… Read more »
I’m surprised that Ireland has chosen this song! They have actually picked a song that is relevant to the music business of the 21st century! Molly’s vocals were fantastic and she had a unique tone. If you look at Irish, British and American charts this sort of sound is on the rise. In the past 2 years, Ireland has sent cliché ‘Eurovision’ songs, that have done awful, so, I’m sorry but the Wiwibloggs commentators are wrong. New, alternative and relevant music is the way to go for Eurovision, an example of this is Netherlands in 2014 who came 2nd. I… Read more »
totally agree with EVERYTHING AAron said
So a break down from my P.O.V about the eurosong 2015 1) Should not have gone on so much about Erika being swedish since they ignored where Alex was from. 2) They did highlight the good points of Erikas song as well so they were kind of 50/50 in regards to how they acted about Erika and her song. 3) I am Irish and I can speak for myself when I say I was happy that Ireland gave it a complete open call. And I had it down to a battle between Nikki and Erika for the win. 4) On… Read more »
Hi all….I was in the studio audience on Friday night and the best 2 songs/performances ended 1st and 2nd. I was a fan of Erika’s song personally but had no doubt it would not be the fav of the irish viewers in fact it did very well with the juries which surprised me.However the performance was not good in studio neither was the vocal…..and after watching on tv recording later it came across worse.Nikki fell into the same bracket and indeed was screechy both in studio and moreso on tv. I said from the start the gentler ballads would suit… Read more »
Ok. I have calmed down now. I do like this song but it wasn’t the best. It will grow on me. I do hope it passes the semi final. I think I may vote for her.
@Ron I really hope it will do well, Ill vote for it anyway for it to qualify. All these people saying it definatly wont qualify need to give it a rest
Don’t be so sure it won’t do well JJE. We’ve never had a 16 year old singer / songwriter playing piano in Eurovision before : the nearest thing would probably be 17 year old Nicole playing guitar in 1982. Molly is the type of act that could finish just about anywhere on the scoreboard.
People are more annoyed Erika wasnt selected! Get over it! Yes she was amazing and should of won,but she diddnt! This song might qualify in 10th or 9th but wont do well in the final. But its not the worst song ever
Well at least Ireland has been nice and is letting the other countries qualify instead of them.
But seriously it is so dull, generic, boring, forgettable and all over bad.
Ireland sucks
These are some of the qualities that some people are either forgetting or just simply ignorant to:
1. Radio Friendly
2. Dramatic
3. Melodic
4. Vocally impressive
5. Originality
6. Easy on the ears
7. Simple
8. Effective
9. The performance is centred around Molly. That is a huge element in Eurovision success.
10. It’s gimmick free.
11. Her natural, raw talent.
There are a lot of of big, powerful ballads in our semi final (Malta and Switzerland to name 2.). Playing with Numbers will be a nice, welcome break and should get Ireland into the final.
I hate the fact that people are cursing poor Molly. Prior to last nights show I really taught it was erikas show to loose. Break me up was the biggest let down of the night! Vocals were far from solid and come on she sat on a stairs singing an up tempo song for half of the song! There was only need for one backing singer and one man on guitar leave the girl group at home. You can’t blame the late late show stage either, when they ended I felt like I was watching x men and all the… Read more »
Reminds me of Ella Henderson – yours.
I can see this getting votes from United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and possibly the Scandinavian countries.
So fingers crossed, I just want Ireland to be in the final this year, especially because its the 60th anniversary of ESC and the 50th anniversary of Irish participation, so we need to be well represented.
@davved
You’ve said a couple of times that you’re not from Ireland. Can I ask where you are from? Just curious.
It is good, very American-like
The televoters got it absolutely right last night IMO. Nikki and Erika were the big favourites in the polls and in the betting but they were outperformed and outsung by Molly and Kat. There was nothing ‘too’ much wrong with Erika and her song but anyone could see that the other two girls were better than her.
I predict time will show that the Irish public went for the right song. Molly and Playing With Numbers have a lot going for them and I think we’ll see them in the final.
Most of the Eurovision ballads are quite generic to be honest, but not this…. Also, emotion is emotion no matter how old you are the way we experience things is different for each individual. The fact she is 16 is amazing, her voice is amazing and with the simple staging and a killer voice I believe Ireland cannot go wrong. As for last year, ‘Heartbeat” was more of a tight golden boob moment than a song /musical competitor. Sounded like the little mermaid got a nice orange tan and sang karaoke with her friends while a few Irish men jumped… Read more »
I agree with GG, this one actually excited me last night, the others were poor (Erica still had a good song but performance did not work aswell – rather like previous two years entries) and look how they did and don’t even get me sarted on that ghastly shoulder song. It was like seeing Dana in 1970 all over again.
So many people in denial over why Erika lost. Her performance was the best.. and her vocals were great.. that she supposedly singed weak is just an excuse to justify not voting for her on nationalistic grounds…
anyway, i say it again,, erika will have the last laugh when Ireland misses the final again,.
@davved
Do you really think Erika was great on the night? I’m quite surprised if you do. Before the live shows she was my favourite. Last night she dropped down to 3rd on my list.
@Nickelhatton Last night proved that the voting public are taking the show more seriously. For them, they are sick of europop that sounds great on record but is sung by an artist that is completely lacklustre on stage. The audience voted with their ears. They picked a brilliantly written/sung song that doesn’t have any gimmicks or knock offs of other songs. Ireland is bringing it back to what the competition should be about. A great performance of a well written song. I had this written off before last night. Now I’m extremely excited for how it works on the bigger… Read more »
MOLLY <3 MOLLY <3 MOLLY <3
The Erika bandwagon of haters need to get a grip! No one slanted Erika on the show at all. She didn't win bc her performance was lacklustre. Deal with it <3
Look guys, at this time last year Heartbeat was a great fave of wiwiblogs and tipped to do very well. We all know what happened to it due to poor vocals and staging. Now both Memories and Break me Up were me two faves pre live shows but both failed to hit the mark. Do we really want another Heartbeat fail? Playing with Numbers is cool and contemporary sung well and staged simply. Sure it needs some alterations but if it is given some attention and a minor revamp this could be the different one that the juries appreciate. It… Read more »
So annoyed by this choice. It should have been Erika or Kat. I didn’t like Nikki Kavanagh but felt the panelists on the Late Late Show were very harsh on her calling her screechy. Ireland need to start taking it more seriously and a good start would be doing the show outside of the late late studio. It’s far too small to accommodate any kind of decent staging.
And once again, another great song from the Emerald Isle 😀
And you can even see the nationalism in this forum.. I mean.. its a SONG CONTEST… not a IRELAND CONTEST.. vote for the song not the nationality of the singer. If ireland had done that, erika would have won.
the panel didnt help either… bringing up the nationality in every comment they made about erika.
erika was robbed,,,, end of story.
Erika will have the last laugh anyway as Ireland will not qualify.
this is not a winning song for ESC. It will most likely not even qualify for the final. The oldies in the panel almost made that boring ballad win that placed second.. seems like the Irish population has no mind of its own.. Also there were nationalism involved in the fact that Erika Selin who had the best song did not win. The only thing the panel kept on and on about was the fact that Selin was Swedish and that her song sounded Avicii… it did not. And ireland would be lucky if they ever had a sensation like… Read more »
what i would love is if RTE do what albania did and find a better song.
I am happy with the result… Performance wise it was the best song and I can see it in the final but finishing towards the bottom of the scoreboard! Having watched the selection show I was embarrassed By the ‘expert’ panel, firstly it was like a retirement day out, secondly they poked fun of erika (simply because they feared if they didn’t it Would win) there wasn’t a mention of the fact that song 1 was also not sung by an Irish national however as it didn’t pose a threat it wasn’t discussed! Thirdly they made a push for their… Read more »
I’m glad nikki didn’t win because a terrible live vocal is what killed Ireland last year, and I’m glad it wasn’t Erika because I hate when people perform for countries they aren’t from. So I guess molly was the next best choice. Thing is Ireland have such a good music industry with acts like Kodaline and Hozier becoming something special, why couldn’t they have found young artists with a similar style?? This show was piss poor. Ireland just won’t succeed until they try harder.
I’m going to say it now. Dark horse. I think this is one of those songs which is a grower for me. When people see it on the big stage I think they might go ‘Actually, this is quite good’.
Do I owe you something? I think I do…
Hope Ireland does not make the final, and zero points from the Netherlands , what a boring and dull song.
Erika Selin was robbed by this little boring kid
I don’t agree with the idea of a Swedish singer representing Ireland. However, if RTE accepted her entry, that means she was equal to everyone else. This is why the panel emphasizing Erika’s origin was outright bullying and the panel should be ashamed of it. If she made a huge effort in presenting herself in the best possible way, I think she deserved at least respect for it. RTE is silent about the treatment.
She was not my favorite (Nikki was), but she did not deserve to be treated the way she was. Shame on you, RTE!
I’m so shocked at Nikki’s performance. Was is it the same song?
Alex had a nice show.
The winner, Molly, resembles me Tori Amos. It is a decent song. She had definately the best performance that night. I’m not surprised she won. She sounds very frank. Good choice!
David stop whining you only wanted them to choose erika because you’re swedish your self
yeeeeeeeeeessssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m so happy right now! this was irelands best choice, well done
How could you f**k this one up Ireland?
Kat and Erika were sooooooo much better
This result is just dull as hell
Nothing really special. But not bad.
By the way, Molly is so pretty! Very beautiful girl… 🙂 If i was not gay myself i would definitely had a crush on her.. <3
She will do justice to Ireland with representing the country in the Diamond Vision.. 🙂
All the best to her 4 Vienna.. 🙂
What happens in Ireland stays in Ireland. The good thing is that we’re now gonna have two 16 years old participating in the second semi final and the only question is which one of them is going to make it to 17. Jokes aside, even if it’s meant to be about an unrequited love, it sounds more like a commemorative song or a song of mourning. I think Molly has some Tori Amos qualities in her and the talent is undeniable, but there is something subdued and half-baked about it.
Oh, please
A ton of the songs in semi 2 are carbon copies of Break Me Up or Memories
Those two would crash and burn if selected
Molly’s song is concise, heartfelt, and meaningful. Bashing it because it’s not traditional Eurovision fare is silly….
(I’m also wondering why citizens of Northern Ireland were allowed to vote? That seems really edgy for RTÉ)
Yes, well said Leaf. I’ve seen some people dismiss it as “just another boring ballad” but it’s actually pretty current and contemporary with an indie vibe and lyrics, and certainly not a usual Eurovision by numbers ballad. I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a young soloist playing piano in ESC before either…..this could end up being an appealing entry for the juries and televoters.
I hate people for saying horrible things about this song.
It is such a current sounding ballad, with some kinda indie/Adele vibe in it ….. I can see this qualifying so easily ….. And yup I will say it, miles better than Serbia, Malta, Cyprus and I can name a few more.
Probably in my top 5 with all the Baltic countries, well done Ireland !!!!
I expected Erika to win; but you’ll get no complaints from me with Molly. She was my #2 in case Erika failed, because this is a really good ballad. 16? I didn’t know she was that young. @Irish lad: Aye. There comes that obvious moment when a song doesn’t stand out on its own. I’ve seen a few of those. That’s why they have a big stage at ESC. Molly is going to need one hell of a set designer to utilize the stage and CGI screens to come up with something to make her, the song and the performance… Read more »
The televoters got it absolutely spot on with their top 3 of 1. Molly 2. Kat 3. Erika
Kat was surprisingly good and deserved her second place, but I think Molly had the better and more contemporary song. I think we’ll see her in the final…..she has plenty of scope for improvement between now and May.
NO NO NO IRELAND, CYPRUS AND DENMARK HAD THE BEST SONGS THIS YEAR IN PARTICIPATION BUT THEI CHOSED THE WORST OPTIONS, NO FINAL FOR IRELAND AGAIN
I AM SO HAPPY RN GO MOLLY GO!