UPDATE AT 1500 GMT: LISTEN TO THE FIVE SONGS HERE
After months of rumours, false alarms and leaks, RTÉ have finally revealed the five contenders for Ireland’s Eurosong 2015. They are: Alex Saint, Kat Mahon, Erika Selin, Molly Sterling and, as we already knew, Nikki Kavanagh. As expected, it has also been confirmed that the final will take place during the 27 February edition of The Late Late Show. The winner will be chosen by a mixture of public and jury votes and will represent Ireland at Eurovision in Vienna.
You can get to know the five acts below, and then read our guide on how to listen to their songs this afternoon.
Alex Saint “She’s So Fine”
Born in Zambia, Alex now lives in Belfast. He feels that “this is the year of the rap” and will perform a rap song, written by Tony Adams-Rosa. He is set to be joined by the MJs, a young female vocal group from Derry.
Kat Mahon “Anybody Got A Shoulder”
A former lead singer with All Ireland Talent Show contestants Blue Lilac, Kat also represented Longford at the international Rose of Tralee beauty pageant. She is currently participating in The Voice of Ireland. Her song is written by Charlie McGettigan, who along with Paul Harrington won Eurovision 1994 singing “Rock N Roll Kids”.
Erika Selin “Break Me Up”
The Swedish singer rose to fame in her homeland during the 2009 season of Swedish Idol. She almost sang “Kom” at Melodifestivalen 2010 but, as we all know, the song was given to girlgroup Timoteij instead. Explaining her reasons for entering the Irish selection, she said “Ireland is one of the absolute top nations in the Eurovision Song Contest”.
Molly Sterling “Playing With Numbers”
At 16, Molly is the youngest competitor in this year’s final. Her song is co-written with Greg French, the man behind Andrew Mann’s Eurosong 2012 entry.
http://youtu.be/hPE56nCoOac
Nikki Kavanagh “Memories”
A lady who needs little introduction, Nikki came second to Jedward in Eurosong 2011. We’ve known she was a finalist since Friday, when her photographer let the news slip on Instagram (OOPS!). Her latest entry is described as “current” and “edgy”.
Listen To The Songs
As we reported over the weekend, the songs will be played for the first time on RTÉ Radio 1 during the Ray D’arcy Show. The programme will be streamed live via the RTÉ Radio Player and starts at 15:00 GMT.
Eurosong Reviews and Predictions
What do y’all think? Are you disappointed that big name acts such as Liir, Mary Byrne and Ryan Dolan have been snubbed? Or are y’all glad to see some fresh faces? Let us know below.
YOU CAN FOLLOW ALL OF OUR IRELAND EUROVISION 2015 NEWS HERE.
@LucyEAPercy There are four Irish performers. All people who live in the island of Ireland are Irish and are entitled to an Irish passport. Check your facts first – Linda Martin, Dana, Brian Kennedy and Ryan Dolan are all from the North.
Great, so there are three Irish songs, a Swedish one, and a British one. Hopefully one of the Irish ones win, especially not the British one, cos there’s nothing worse than rap in Eurovision, with the one exception of Riskykidd last year.
No Alex neither this,nor any other year,is the year of the rap in Eurovision
No Sinéad Mulvey or Jedward? Yikes! 🙁
NIKKI!!!!!!!!
I am really disappointed none of them seem to good.
The only artist that seems any good is Nikki
????
I’m excited by some of this but also a little perplexed as to how so many artists/writers with previous Eurosong/Eurovision history have ended up in the final five again. Can’t we let go of the past and find somebody new?!!
Rap has never done well at Eurovision can’t imagine the viewers of the Late Late Show voting for it so I’m already dismissing that one.
I’m most excited about Erika Selin singing an “up-tempo pop song”.
Where´s Ryan Dolan?
Aww no Ryan O’Shaughnessy? Perhaps he’s a songwriter for one of these artists’ songs?
Where is Ryan Dolan? 🙁
But great that Nikki is here again.
D, I personally don’t care as much about how representative the artist is of the country because of how many of these songs go to Eurovision in English nowadays (for one thing). Moreover, I just look at it as being like a temporary work situation where the host country benefits. And televoters (in this case) do make a choice for who they want representing their country, so there’s that too. On the other hand, you have Azerbaijan from whom I’d really like to see Azeri songwriters doing something in ESC, rather than another song written by Swedes. For Ireland, this… Read more »
Alex – A Bosnian/Austrian singer took part in 2010 with a disastrous song. Having a foreign singer means nothing regarding the quality of the song, even though Swedes do generally make better songs than most other countries. Seeing a Swede in here makes me feel extremely uneasy. I always hate when artists compete for countries they have no connection to as it kinda destroys the point of Eurovision to me and makes it seem as if they just want to further their careers. I hate most rap music so I think I’m gonna be rooting for one of the three… Read more »
It brings me relief to see a Swedish singer here – not because she’s Swedish, but rather because of this: if they’re willing to consider the quality of the song regardless of where it comes from, that’s a huge step forward.