Ever since Can-Linn feat. Kasey Smith failed to qualify in Copenhagen with the hot mess that was “Heartbeat”, it’s been clear that the Irish national selection process is in desperate need of an overhaul.
Now Goss.ie is reporting that RTE are looking to axe Eurosong as part of the Late Late Show and instead make the song selection part of the next series of RTE’s talent show The Hit.
The Hit sees songwriters pitch their songs to two established singers, who then choose the song they think will be a hit, with the winner decided by public vote (and no jury!). There’s already been a Eurovision connection – both Johnny Logan and Brian Kennedy have appeared. Johnny Logan even won his episode with the contemporary rock/rap song “Prayin'”, and also reached #3 on the singles chart.
So, is The Hit the answer to RTE’s Eurovision woes? Some members of the wiwibloggs team fear the series has the potential to drag out into never-ending Lithuanian-style saga, but there’s also the chance to get a great song matched with an equally good performer. And consider this: the winner of the first series was the sentimental Irish ballad “The Last Great Love Song”, written by Gerry Fleming and performed by legendary folk singer Finbar Furey – sounding just like the sort of song that won Ireland Eurovision in the ’90s.
What do you think of moving the national selection to The Hit? Is this the path to victory in Vienna? Or would it be more of the same for Ireland?
i think it should be more like the unser song fur process that selected Lena and Roman. they are in talks with the team behind the hit. I think it should factor in the voice. It should work out like the following: The voice narrows down to 8-12 singers. From there the song writers on the hit will come into it. like on the hit, the singers will choose songs they like and perform them, with the song writers listening and giving their choice on if they want a singer performing their song or not. From there it goes to… Read more »
@Deven
Actually The Lyrics Board was an Irish show which was exported to a rake load of countries. I’ve never see the Hit because I don’t live in Ireland anymore but I’m happy that RTE are doing something different this year.
http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/rte-loses-as-lyrics-show-makes-a-mint-26252261.html
This is probably the smartest move for RTÉ. I enjoyed the format of the first season, and it was great seeing how talented Irish musicians were able to take well written songs, and have them properly produced and staged – it helped that they used a proper venue to air the live performances. On top of this being a smart option for selecting a decent song, this is RTÉ’s chance to promote and sell The Hit format to other countries – It has already been sold to the likes of The Netherlands, Norway, and Germany (Waylon even appeared on an… Read more »
But they’re also gonna need to focus on the stage direction as well. A good song doesn’t always equal success if presentation doesn’t compliment with the vocal performance at Eurovision!! Take note, UK!!
I think the Hit is the obvious solution–but not the only one. We did well with Brian Kennedy because he’s an experienced performer–gigs and on telly. Dervish tanked because they’re giggers and looked even more nervous than this year’s Irish entrant on the Eurovision stage. If we could get: Moya Brennan Andrea Corr Sinéad (in all her nutty glory) Mary Black Or any one of several other established artists who understand how to deliver to the camera and whose sound is both identifiably Irish without being obvious or trite (no more feicin’ stepdancers, mo chroi), we’ll do well. Finbar’s grand…but… Read more »
I think the hit really could be the solution to our Eurovision problems. The Netherlands sent two worldwide stars and not only went back to top 3 this year, but came back to the final after a punishing 8 years of staying in the semis. Ireland will have 10 stars (some of them known worldwide) to choose from and that could bring us back to the top of the board. However, us going back to winning won’t be as extraordinary as the Netherlands because we thought that they never had a hope because they almost never qualified for the final.… Read more »
@Darren FINALLY RTE are starting to take Eurovision seriously. This is great because there is a huge amount of public interest in Ireland and the public really want to win. RTE (in the past) didn’t. But scrapping Eurosong for the Hit is a step in the right direction.
Here is who I think will win Eurovision next year:
HUNGARY
NETHERLANDS
ITALY
IRELAND
ROMANIA
SWEDEN
NORWAY
@Darren you might be right about Ireland regaining its mojo
Our next winner , one of the following
Italy
Netherlands
Hungary
Hopefully RTE take The Hit on board as its eurovision selection show as it has the talent to find a really good song and a really good artist to sing it, as long as they aren’t all ballads, have a mix of genres RTE. Who knows, Ireland might have a rebirth of its past glories, similar to the Netherlands the past 2 years. Pretty sure Ireland will have a victory again before the decade is out anyways though, judging by statistics and the current surge in Eurovision interest there. But I think we will be heading to Italy or Netherlands… Read more »
I think that we will see younger established artists taking part in the Hit. Afterall, talent shows are aimed at families. But teenagers are most fascinated by them.
I don’t know how I feel about this. Yes, they’re taking “established singers,” but aren’t these singers specifically people who haven’t had a hit in a long time? If so, the UK tried that strategy for three straight years and it didn’t work out so well. Granted, the UK did so with internal selections. Nonetheless, it may be worth a try. They may well have a better chance of getting good live vocals, if nothing else. I do wonder, though, if some of the singers would be unwilling to do the show knowing they had to go represent Ireland at… Read more »
I would say that we will see a young, well established band or singer win the hit with a really good song: I think we will see one (or more) take part in the hit: Hozier The Coronas Kodaline Keywest By the way, I am listening to Johnny Logan’s song ”Praying”. It is literally PHENOMENAL. He might be older, but unlike Engelbert and Bonnie Tyler, he is an excellent live performer and portrays the song really well. If he went to Eurovision with a song like that. I have no doubts that it would qualify and possibly break the top… Read more »
Pick Hozier internally, RTE.
Hear me,
and take that eighth victory with Hozier!
Aww Robyn, “Heartbeat” was not that “hot mess”, that’s a bit harsh hahaha
For sure, I don’t care about what kind of format that Ireland will use to select their entry as long as they have a really great song. I think that’s the most important thing.
And btw, I agree with the idea of Kodaline representing Ireland at Eurovision, that would be cool.
Hi Harry
What kind of music does Fresh Re sing? Are they like Coldplay/A Friend in London/Softengine or One Direction?
Hi Padraig Jude, Are you well?
I won’t get my hopes up too soon. But judging by statistics, Ireland (along with the Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Italy and Romania) is likely to win within the next 5 years. 2015 could be our year, who knows?
@Deven Check out Fresh Ré, a really cool new Irish band from Co. Kildare. They’re only young but maybe in another few years… you never know! 🙂
@Deven don’t get your hopes up too soon, this is only a rumour, no official confirmation yet :\
I am glad that RTE have gotten the best of both worlds. A national final with a large stage and audience (Held in the O2 in Dublin) and focusing solely on finding the right singer and songwriter. No more JEDWARD, turkeys, out of tune Cheryl Cole lookalikes (Kasey Smith), naked blokes playing the bodhran and diddly eyed pub singers from Sligo (Dervish). Finally, we are gonna have some quality songs FOR ONCE. I REALLY HOPE to see Hozier, Keywest, Kodaline and Original Rude Boys trying to represent Ireland in 2015. Great to see RTE possibly make a comeback with this… Read more »
After me putting all that work into Eirevision …. :I
But seriously, I think this could be the way to go. We have unknown but talented songwriters write songs for big named Irish stars. Sounds good.
Great idea … I said this last year that “the hit” should be used to select the irish song ..
hopefully it will lead to a great song being chosen.