Ryan O Shaughnessy Eurovision 2018 Ireland

He defied the pre-contest odds and took Ireland back to the grand final for the first time since 2013 with his atmospheric ballad “Together”.

And now Ryan O’Shaughnessy has joked that Ireland’s state broadcaster RTE were relieved he didn’t win it all.

“It was great, it was super,” he told The Herald. “I don’t think you can prepare for the bubble you find yourself in when you’re there.”

“We went from 250/1 to 7/1 with the bookies, so we had a bit of success when it comes to that kind of thing — we got through the semi-finals.”

“I think everyone was happy, and RTE were happy we didn’t win it so we don’t have to host it next year!”

Ireland’s gay dancer controversy

European voters and jury members responded well to Ryan’s on-stage performance.

At the start he stood centre stage next to a piano. As the camera panned around a woman on the piano came into focus — clarifying the “Together” singer’s love interest. We soon saw the two male dancers from his music video holding hands on a ramp. They later re-emerged, suggesting the universality of love across boundaries, including gender.

The staging was simple and pure — and it worked with the tonality of the song. Nodding to Salvador Sobral, there were no fireworks here. But there was lovely blue lighting, Ryan strumming on his guitar, an old-school street light and a park bench.

The same-sex romance proved a bit much for China’s Hunan TV, who censored the performance…and subsequently lost their right to broadcast Eurovision. Oops.

During the Semi-Final 1 qualifiers’ press conference, Ryan made the message of his song explicit.

“My intention from the start was to help people who don’t see that love is just love and there’s no difference if it’s between a man and a woman or a woman and a woman or a man and a man and I think it’s really important.”

“Not everyone is as liberal as the people in this room are. It’s an important thing I think. I’m really proud of my country for making that change a couple of years ago. We’re bringing new energy back to that topic and I’m really happy about that.”

Do you think Ireland can finally win Eurovision again in the years ahead? Where did Ryan rank in your Top 43? And did your opinions change from before the contest? Let us know down below!

Read more Ireland Eurovision news

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Nick
Nick
5 years ago

I LOVE U 🙂

Mohrant
Mohrant
5 years ago

Lel, Ireland was never going to come close to winning. The bookies just got a bit overexcited before the final since they final sent an entry that was actually able to crack the final.

The sixteenth place is a big success for them though so congratulations to Ireland for that. I think their staging helped to push them through as they managed to qualifier over several entries with better songs, but bad staging (Belgium, Macedonia and Greece to name a few).

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago
Reply to  Mohrant

The bookies were trying to find another Portugal 2017, they thought it was Lithuania. After the Grand Final’s running order announcement, they went for Ireland, since Ieva was placed 4th, and Ryan 24th.

AngieP
AngieP
5 years ago

Ireland was the country I was the most shocked when they qualified! But being in the final since 2013 and being 16 or 17th sth like that is a success when we speak about Ireland.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
5 years ago

Considering no one expected Ireland to qualify, he can be proud.

Peter M
Peter M
5 years ago

Ireland’s song was really beautiful and connected with the people at home. It finished 6th in semi-final 1, so it didn’t exactly scrape through to the final. The song fully deserved to qualify with or without the dancers.

ladygaygaybloggs
ladygaygaybloggs
5 years ago

let’s be honest they wouldn’t have qualified if they didn’t exploit the ‘gay’ theme
it’s a boring 80s irish ballad pls

James
James
5 years ago

The last time they qualified, the performer’s name was named Ryan, his song was also about love, and one of his dancers was also featured in this year’s entry.

🙂

Paul
Paul
5 years ago

Wasn’t the Chinese censorship only made known after they’d already qualified for the final?!