She sang her way to third place during the fourth season of The Voice of Ireland.

And in 2019 Sarah McTernan will literally be the voice of Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Her entry “22” is a thoroughly likeable pop song about a woman struggling to move on from her ex. The “22” lyrics” cast Sarah as the woman left behind. Looking toward the future doesn’t seem to be her strength, as she remains fixated on the number of her Mister’s house.

Last weekend Sarah took to the stage in Amsterdam at Eurovision in Concert. She had time for a catch-up with our William, so they gossiped about first loves, Sarah’s daughter, and whether “22” is a reflection on Sarah herself.

Disclaimer: Sarah’s playing a character in “22”, telling William “I see 22 and I think of you: Can you imagine someone screaming that at you?” – She ain’t no stalker!

Sarah McTernan Interview: Eurovision in Concert

Sarah and William have a chat about the number of ways “22” can be interpreted. While William highlights that the singer could be considered obsessed with her ex and potentially like a stalker, Sarah interprets the song as romantic and as a tale of first loves. The number 22 reminds Sarah’s character of her first love, which she reminisces about through “rose tinted glasses”.

“It’s romanic, it’s nice, it’s flirty, it’s fun”.

In order to engage with the lyrics of the song, Sarah finds it best to embody a character rather than reminisce about her own relationships. “I think as a performer you need to play a character, when I heard the song I found it really heard to envision myself in that state of mind – thinking of someone all the time – because I can’t think of anybody!”.

Sarah finds that the song’s optimism and idealisation of an ex is characteristic of a teenage romance. “That’s why I bring it back to my first love because it was lovely, it was really nice, it was full of romance and when you looked at them your heart lit up”.

“I’m really grounded in the sense that I know who I am”.

Sarah explains to our William that after becoming a mother, she altered her focus and became less image-conscious. She credits her energy and positivity to no longer worrying about what others think of her. “I am who I am, I’m going to be the best version of me that I can be and after that, that’s all I can do.”

Sarah will perform in the Second Semi Final in Tel Aviv. Will she have your vote? Let us know in the comments!

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Jonas J
Jonas J
4 years ago

I really like it!

Lisianthus
Lisianthus
4 years ago

This song was written for a male voice and you can hear it. Sarah sounds a lot better singing the higher notes of the song.

Darren
Darren
4 years ago

It’s not a bad song. But we aren’t qualifying this year. Our running order, our voting patterns and our competition in the semi proves that Ireland qualifying last year was unfortunately a once off.
Unless Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Norway mess up …we might slip through. But realistically I think we are DOA. But it’s fine. I can live with it.

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago
Reply to  Darren

How was last year a “once off” when Ireland also qualified in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 too?

Conor K
Conor K
4 years ago

I know it’s unlikely but I’d love us to qualify again! 🙂 It’s a sweet song and Sarah is lovely. Great representative for our country

ESCelebrate19
ESCelebrate19
4 years ago

She is a lovely person and comes across really well in this interview. I’m sure she will be picking up support from everybody that meets her to add to her votes. The staging will be the make or break to ensure people will remember the song. I would like RTE to go down a similar route to Moldova 2018 as a fun and cheeky routine suits Sarah’s song.

uribe
uribe
4 years ago
Reply to  ESCelebrate19

Something like Moldova 2006 would be fun, with a wedding dress. Moldova has wedding dresses like secret weapon anyway (2017). It works everytime, who doesn’t remember the bride?

ESCelebrate19
ESCelebrate19
4 years ago
Reply to  uribe

Actually a wedding dress would be interesting a la Krista Sirgfrids. It would suit this song if your interpretation is that it is about a person mourning a loss love.

Roger Rabbit
Roger Rabbit
4 years ago

Very catchy song love it .Ireland deserve the final this year.good luck

Phary
Phary
4 years ago

Best interview of EiC 🙂
She’s so real and down-to-earth, I love her !

Mr. Vanilla Bean
Mr. Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Honestly, they might wanna try out a lesbian couple as staging props this time. There’s no way Ireland can qualify on their song’s merits.