If you cast your net wide, you’re much more likely to catch some fish. And it seems that Aly Ryan — the fan favourite of Germany’s Eurovision 2019 selection — is ready to eat at the Eurovision table.
The “Wear Your Love” hitmaker has revealed on Twitter that she’s submitted songs to Ireland’s broadcaster RTÉ with the hope of becoming their Eurovision 2020 star. That follows her earlier submissions to both Switzerland and San Marino.
Writing on Twitter, she said:
Just sent a few songs to @rte Ireland for @Eurovision 2020. Did a DNA test w @Ancestry earlier this year, turns out I’m actually partly Irish, so pick me 🙋🏼♀️
Rt & like so they see it 💜— Aly Ryan ✨ (@alyryanmusic) October 17, 2019
That she wanted to learn more about her family’s history puts her on trend with Eurovision. Last spring dozens of Eurovision 2019 acts learned more about their family history with MyHeritage — the officials sponsors of the song contest in Israel. But is Irish DNA enough to qualify for the Irish internal selection?
As we reported in September, RTÉ Entertainment has partnered with RTÉ 2FM to select this year’s singer in an internal — that’s behind-closed-doors — selection. They’re searching for “contemporary Irish artists and songwriters with the talent and ambition to compete and succeed in this highly competitive environment.”
Aly isn’t an Irish citizen, nor does she have Irish residency: The German-born star lives in the United States. However, the fact that she’s of Irish descent may open the door. We’ve reached out to RTÉ to confirm if Irish DNA is enough, or if she also needs an Irish passport.
In any case, Aly meets much of the criteria they’re using, as she definitely has “experience of performing in public in front of large crowds” and the “confidence and attitude” they’re after.
Aly mentioned that she has submitted multiple songs, which would breach the rules set down by RTÉ. Their rules explicitly state: “Songwriters/composers may only submit ONE song (including co-writes) for consideration. If more than one song per composer is submitted only the first song received will be considered.”
Let’s hope her first song was her best song.
As ever, some salty social media users have thrown a bit of shade on her plans to pursue Eurovision through Ireland. But she’s already hit back, pointing out that the Irish broadcaster is sending her love.
Ppl can hate but RTV Ireland ?? the responsible network just followed me ????? pic.twitter.com/5eTJgGBnKf
— Aly Ryan ? (@alyryanmusic) October 17, 2019
The thirst for Aly to sing at Eurovision is very real, with one enthusiastic fan suggesting that Miss Ryan pursue Latvia’s selection as they don’t have nationality rules.
Have you tried Latvia yet? Their selection is open for foreigners too!
— Matthew ?? (@tchuqo) October 17, 2019
Ever since she failed to win Germany’s 2019 selection, Eurovision fans have been dreaming of a return from Aly. But she’s made it very clear that she won’t ever enter in Germany unless they reform their national selection format.
In a September tweet she explained that Germany invited her to participate this year, but that she wasn’t having it: “I told NDR the only way I would even CONSIDER IT, would be through internal selection.”
To all my @Eurovision fans, I received hundreds of messages from you guys asking me to re-apply for the German national selection.
I AM NOT. I told NDR the only way I would even CONSIDER IT, would be through internal selection & it looks like they are choosing the old process?????— Aly Ryan ? (@alyryanmusic) September 23, 2019
But Aly didn’t stop there, and went on tweeting her opinions about the German process. As you’ll recall, she placed first with 44 of the 100 members of the Eurovision Expert Panel, which comprised one-third of the overall score. The televote and jury vote ultimately pushed her down to fourth.
She claims that “votes don’t count” and “opinions aren’t acknowledged”. Things got spicy fast. She then described Germany’s selection method as a system “that lies & cheats” and claimed that Germany did not make the decision, alleging that the show was “rigged” by only a few powerful people.
We should point out that there is no hard evidence of any vote rigging or vote buying, and that no members of the professional jury have corroborated any of these claims.
Are you excited that Aly has submitted songs to Ireland? Do you think that there’s any flexibility in the definition of “Irish”? And which country is the best fit for her music — Ireland, Switzerland or San Marino? Let us know down below!
Methinks the lady doth protest too much about the German selection… If you trash the broadcaster and make unsubstantiated allegations, “You’ll never work in this town again” as the saying goes. Putting her impetuous and irreverent comments aside, there is a point to be made about the shortcomings of the revamped German vote: It gives too much power in the hands of 120 individuals which make two thirds of the total vote, i.e the 20 international jury members and the 100 Eurovision fans panel. This year they were at almost complete odds with each other regarding ‘Sister’ and that says… Read more »
Nobody important.
North Macedonia, Cyprus, Armenia wait ….3…2….1…
Yep…She wants it bad. Just hope that it doesn’t go to her head.
If it doesn’t work out, she should take at least a year off and try again in 2022 or 2023. Otherwise she’ll become another Mihai or Markus Riva, who keeps trying but is destined to NEVER get the call.
At least Mihai competed at ESC once
D’OH! I forgot about that. But that was 13 years ago…
…And since 4th was quite respectable for a contest with 37 entries, why is he so hell-bent on trying to get back in again?
I’M SCREAMING. Hopefully she is part Liechtensteiner too!
She can apply to Slovakia also
I know you guys might her as desperate, but I like her determination to get into Eurovision.
There’s determination and then there’s desperation. I liked WYL but she’s acting like it was winning material… top 10 perhaps at best. If she represents a different country it best be because she wants to represent it, not just for her ego.
I’d be happy for her to represent Ireland. She has Irish DNA and she has all of the qualities needed to be a good Eurovision participant. All she needs is a strong song with good staging, and we’ll be good. I just want Ireland to qualify next year 🙁
Maybe we’re being too harsh on her. Maybe she actually believed the fan hype a few months ago, and is just trying to give her fans what (she thinks) they want. There was lot of disappointment here when Wear Your Love lost, so I can understand if she’s now confused by the mixed signals.
She’s desperate to be chosen by any country for 2020 at this point. After the tweets about competing somewhere that chooses internally, it’s pretty clear that she is desperately trying to keep the hype around her. She should focus on self-growth beacuse her performance was far from perfect (especially the vocals at times) in ULFI. I hope she doesn’t come to my country (Latvia) to participate because at this point it’s too much, almost humiliating, and she just needs to chill tf down. She is just ruinining her chances to achieve a good result and respect from Eurofans because at… Read more »
I’m from Estonia and I’m worried that she will try here too because we accept foreign artists now lol
At this point she just shows every country that could possibly consider sending her that she cares just about HERSELF and HER performance. You’re going to ESC to represent a country. A country, not yourself. Why would Irish people root for someone who doesn’t care what country she represents?
I doubt she would be chosen as a performer but it would be interesting if one of her compositions was chosen by RTE for someone else (presumably Irish) to sing.
She would have better chances if she forms a super group with MIHAI, the Belarussian guy and blue haired Austrian girl and calls it “The New Alcazar”. Then they can sing a song co-written by Ralph Siegel and Thomas G:Son, and staged by the belgian pancake. Choreography could by SJP, and the song title could be “Never give up on Love and Peace while you Shine”.
Anyone want to take a guess on what the next country will be?
Hmm… Moldova. No reason, random guess
I’m not actually sure how I feel about this. As an Irish person, I would like my countries representatives to actually know about Ireland and atleast have set foot on this island. It annoys me so much when people represent countries without ever having set foot in the country or have absolutely no connection to the country prior to the selection. San Mario is definitely guilty of this. Granted the San Marinese music pool is much smaller than Ireland. Ireland (bad as we are at Eurovision) I think can source someone locally. They don’t even have to be Irish in… Read more »
You should be used to it. Two Dutchmen wrote 22.
Writing is different than performing. Sure half the other entries writers are Swedish.
Writing is different to performing, you’re right…it’s actually more important – it’s a song contest.
Bad as you are? Not even the Swedes won that often yet. 😉
The 90s was a different time. Nowadays it’s Sweden’s game.
It worked for Monaco in 1971 though :3
But I agree with you
Even though she was my second choice in the German NF and would have scored quite a good result in the Grand Final … Please, PLEASE stop calling her a “hitmaker”. Her song didn’t really have any impact on the charts and is long forgotten outside of our ESC bubble. Basically her so called career – which never even got off to a start – is already in ruins. That’s why she’s so desperate to grab your attention. So please don’t feed this troll. Her correct yet rude comments about Germany’s selection process are proof enough she doesn’t deserve your… Read more »
She probably realised she doesn’t have the $$$ to represent San Marino.
Oh please RTE will never choose her they’re looking for contemporary IRISH artists and having Irish DNA for me won’t cut it . If Ireland don’t choose her she’ll just move on to another country . Desperate much?
Also she submitted”a few songs ” which shows she clearly didn’t read the statement RTE made a few weeks ago clearly stating that an artist can only submit ONE song
Next thing she’ll be writing to Russia and claiming to be Putin’s long lost daughter in an attempt to represent them
She did live in Moscow for a period of time so arguably Russia would make the most sense so far, certainly more so than Switzerland, San Marino or Ireland
I just took a dna test turns out I’m 100% desperate for attention
Nailed it.
Am I the only one who appreciates Aly’s interest in the ESC? (Apart from William.)
I agree, if she wants to do it, why not? 😀
This woman is all about attention and publicity, glad I was never really into “Wear Your Love” and despite it’s so-so NF performance eurofans still went ludicrously bonkers.
Eurovision fans are too much sometimes. When somebody says they won’t go to eurovision and critisises the contest, you are bashing them, when someone really wants to go and is trying really hard to go to eurovision you are bashing them
I think what people don’t like is her desperation. It’s not a good look. She doesn’t care about the actual countries she is submitting to she is just using them to get to Eurovision.
I’m not sure if this qualifies as fangirling. I see it more as covering a meltdown of a clearly pathetic person, which can be entertaining.
You’re 100 % about everything you’ve said. Still one has to acknowledge the fact that she wouldn’t have ended up 4th out of 6 in the televoting if the German NF wouldn’t be broadcast by Das Erste. Their average viewership is about 90 years old. I guess pretending to be naked doesn’t really stick with this age group …
You can feel it coming…soon she will no longer be known as Aly Ryan, but…
A L Y
Or A N Y
as in ANY country will do.
Is she trying to become a meme?
Starting to feel some late Lys Assia vibes here …
Lys Assia is a Eurovision legend, she gets a pass
She doesn’t care about Ireland, San Marino or Switzerland, she just wants to promote herself.
Awful.
No, thanks.
To be honest, at this point I think she’s trolling. This would just be way too sad otherwise.
Ok, can you just stop writing about this irrelevant being? It’s getting ridiculous. You sometimes have a huge “crush” on some people, Saara Alto and skating on ice every 2 days…
Hahahaha
This is getting ridiculous yall.
she’s pretty much ruined herself, the eurofans detest her n she’ll get very little support from the fandom if she gets selected by someone
Omg hahahaha. I absolutely adored ‘Wear your love’ but come on why is she even telling us every single time that she has submitted songs here and there…just do it silently so you won’t get the enormous hate if neither of those countries take the offer. So annoying and amateurish.
so Aly Ryan = Female MIHAI
mihai actually got to represent his country at the eurovision, ally rhino will never
I dont care about the attention seeking but she did a dna test and silently promoting a company it in a tweet? That is bad. Do a test and you give away all the information about yourself and they are free to do whatever they want with it. I never really liked “Wear Your Love” though so its ok
Imagine her doing that last year when the official sponsor was the very annoying competing company MyHeritage.
I like “Wear Your Love”, but I am of the opinion that her behavior is not tolerable. She seems to treat countries like products! There isn’t a lot of respect towards the nations involved…
Austria is coming up next. Just wait for it 😉
She submitted a song to Switzerland, San Marino and now Ireland.
She’s so desperate to go to Rotterdam.
She’s really giving the Romanian nut job from 2006 a run for his money. I put Baileys in my coffee. Am I Irish now, too?
Who is the Romanian nut job from 2006?
the vocal legend who placed 4th at the 2006 contest and then ruined his legacy by sporting obnoxious, desperate behavior
Mihai, or should we say M I H A I. Also reminds me of Vasilije Ojdanic, a Montenegrin guy who was so desperate to participate in Eurovison he would go to any lengths to do so despite his lack of talent – including stealing other people’s music and claiming it as his own (Robyn wrote 2 articles about him) as well as lying about his talent show participation record
Ok now she’s really getting annoying
What happens if all three countries actually select her?
It will be a testament of how desperate and clueless their HoDs are. I wouldn’t put it past the Irish HoD.
“No Contestant and/or artist may compete for more than one country in the ESC in a given year.”
Source: https://eurovision.tv/about/rules (2.2.3)
Would be interesting then xD
I wonder why they don’t apply this to songwriters. The word “artist” could be interpreted to include them too. It is a song contest, after all, not a performance contest.
That would seriously harm the Swedish music industry.
This really needs to happen. I mean … We all like those slick Swedish productions, don’t we? Yet they don’t showcase anything but their respective countries despair to do good in the contest. Personally I favor the Georgian way instead: Pick some bold and risky choices to make an impact and teach Europe something about your country, even if it might all go horribly wrong.
if that’ll happen (it won’t), she’ll just pick one and sign a contract with them and just say no thx i changed my mind to the others
If she is selected by all 3, I hope they have their backups ready when she turns 2 of them down. She’ll choose the country which she thinks gives her the best chance to place highest in the contest. With Switzerland having just placed 4th, the Swiss might be at the top of her list.
In case it happened, she’d re-do her DNA test and it would turn out she’s more multi-national than … Say, oxigen.
I take it that she got a ‘no, thank you’ from San Marino then?
So, she’s tried San Marino, Switzerland, and Ireland. How many more countries could she be considered an option for? Belarus and Moldova are pretty lax about foreign competitors. Austria is another German-speaking country. That about cover it?
If Margaret can compete at Melodifestivalen…?
Then she just needs a squadron of Swedish songwriters.
Is she signed to BMG?
People forgetting her surname (Ryan) is an IRISH surname which confirms she has irish roots..
Her surname is Eigendorf (according to Wikipedia).
I didn’t forget. A Ryan hosted the contest back in 1994!
So if she fails at those countries, will she say the same about them as she said about Germany?
Eventually, she’ll run out of countries to represent
She’ll be back in time for Kazakhstan’s debut.
People forgetting her last name Ryan is an irish surname which confirms she has irish roots.
Slowly and surely, she is gonna become an iconic European singer for doing this. Just like Valentina Monetta.
And Valentina is from, and has only repped for, San Marino. Her campaigning was very clearly on their behalf, not just for herself.
Sarah McTernan also tried San Marino before representing Ireland, so there is a precedent…
Unlike Aly at least Sarah wasn’t desperate for ESC.
Jeez, how much attention does she need? ‘:-/
Yeah, she definetely has that “confidence and attitude” that RTÉ is after. Even too much of it.