It’s the arena that felled many a fan favourite back in the days of the Eurosong selection. However, on Friday night, Ireland’s Eurovision 2020 singer Lesley Roy emerged relatively unscathed from The Late Late Show, where she delivered the first live TV performance of “Story Of My Life”.
Lesley Roy performs “Story Of My Life” on The Late Late Show
The long-running chatshow is a notoriously difficult venue in which to perform uptempo pop numbers. Yet, despite some in-ear issues, Lesley gave us a more than competent performance of her song for Rotterdam.
We got no indication of potential staging, but Roy did prove that she’s well capable of singing the track live. She had no trouble keeping up with the beat or hitting the notes.
And even though the track is just days old, she had the entire crowd clapping along by the end.
Lesley Roy “Story Of My Life” first live performance — social media reactions
After the show had ended, we asked fans on Twitter what they thought. And, for the most part, the general opinion was mixed to positive.
it was really great for a first performance she had some in ear issues it was obvious and her vocals need to be perfected at some parts but she really got the crowd going especially with the clapping part at the bridge!
— euroeire 🇳🇱 (@euroeire) March 7, 2020
That clapping bit was amazing in the club last night. That is going to be a big special moment in Rotterdam (pending coronavirus 😂)
— Eurovision Central (@EurovisionCent) March 7, 2020
Really got the crowd involved…. I think there was some tech issues with her ear piece but she did well. Really curious to see the final staging on the night!!
— Cillian Flynn (@cillfly) March 7, 2020
Very good energy but a few technical difficulties took away from the performance a bit
— Grace🇮🇹 (@nessungradodi) March 7, 2020
I was VERY impressed with the vocals. Staging 🤷🏻♂️ but obv not the staging for the show. 8/10
— Keith (@MelCsGoldTooth) March 7, 2020
Something was clearly up. It was fine but she did seem to spend a lot of it messing with her in ears and staring off to side of camera. So whatever was happening off camera must have distracted her coz it distracted me.
— Joseph (@jlarkin246) March 7, 2020
LLS is a hideous place to introduce a song in just about every way. She seemed to be suffering from ear piece problems and didn’t know where the cameras were. Blame the LLS for that! She sounded good, will need strong backing singers for the chorus. Gave nothing away on staging.
— Davey Donnelly (@DaveyDonn) March 7, 2020
Just watched on the player. Unlike last year, she’s a confident, professional live performer. It will need a choreographed show which I’m sure is being worked on.
— Paul C (@peejaythatsme) March 7, 2020
Also, the song seems to be getting traction outside of the Eurovision fan bubble. As of Saturday morning, it was at number two on the YouTube trending chart in Ireland. It previously hit number one on Friday. Unfortunately, this momentum is not being fully capitalised as “Story Of My Life” has yet to hit any of the major music streaming or download services.
What do you think of Lesley’s performance? Are you excited to see what she brings in May? Let us know in the comments.
This will be great on the night, with staging lights and backing. It’s exactly what Eurovision needs, some life! 12 points from Switzerland ??????
Lesley is my daughter and i’m proud of her . All Mothers are proud of their kids. I wish her the very best of luck. As long as she enjoys the fun im sure it will be it a wonderful memory and a fantastic experience to keep in her heart.
Are u actually her mom lmao ahaha hahaha hi from Cork!
Yes i sure am her Mom. Ive been singing in bands since i’ve been a teenager. She got her love for music from me. It sadness me deeply she didn’t invite me to the Late Late show.
This perfomance is almost painfull. How she will perform in the biggest stage in europe if she cant on the late late show?
As stated many times, the LLS is awful for performing and acoustics.
But it’s your opinion I guess.
Louise McSharry said “We haven’t heard this style of song”. Has she never heard of Katy Perry et al?
This style of song representing Ireland obvs
She has had another live performance which I would say is leagues better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3F2l9l5iQI
She isn’t a perfect singer but she is a perfect performer.
I quiet like the clapping but so I hope that is kept for ESC as I think it adds to making the song memorable. The audience definitely seemed to enjoy it. I think she can work on her vocal control and I think the staging will enhance it.
and this is supposed to represent my country???? Words fail me. It is aggressive and nasty.
Yes, it’s very Katy Perry and technically very tricky to sing. She needs to work on that. But we do need some bops in the final. Fingers crossed for you Ireland.
Welcome back 2009!I really missed you.
oh boy, she was so pitchy and losing her voice….reminded me of Spain’s 2017 “just do it for your lover” fail.
they said this is “Euphoria” level… Mmkay
Please see a few comments below. Thanks.
ELM’s ‘Golden’ would’ve been my fav…..
Sounds like a Katy Perry song from ten years ago. It should keep the crowd bopping along. Even if she gets the inner ear pitch issues resolved, she was clearly out of breath several times. She needs to work on that.
Nothing personal against her, but like… On the level of Euphoria? That, my friends, is overhyping
The song is fun though 🙂 I am, however, yet to have heard the live performance
Please see a few comments below. Thanks.
It’s nice to have the crowd clapping along, but they always will when they’re told to do so. I think the writer and producer of the song should have built in a bit of little breathing space for the singer.
Yikes. But there’s still time to correct the issues and rejig the backing vocals to support hers.
Sorry to say I’m disappointed but not surprised by the Irish entry this year – just didn’t buy all the hype beforehand. The song really goes nowhere for the last minute and the first two minutes don’t greatly impress me either! RTÉ just tries too hard to produce something which they believe is Eurovision-friendly but this is way off the mark and just comes across as contrived – it’s such a shame as we have such a wealth of musical talent in Ireland.
At the end of the day RTE don’t want to win .. there is also many other broadcasters who don’t .. why would they tbh … costs of hosting the contest outweighs everything else .. many just compete for the sake of it
That doesn’t make sense, if they can’t afford it then why compete at all? Even more money would be saved. It’s perfectly normal to take a year or so off for that reason.
It does make sense .. if Ireland take part it’s good value television for RTE to show .. however if they win it isn’t financially viable
Okay then let’s have Dustin back for the rest of the decade
Please Ireland: Go back to your ethnic roots in 2021. this pop thing is not your thing. it could but this is just horrible.
Everytime we go ethnic we do badly outside of 1996. 2007 and 2014. Did nothing for us. Its all well and good to suggest it, but no one votes for us when we do. We tried in Jesc again this year. Didn’t even make top 10.
Wtf she must be trolling
Singer destroying her chances to qualify for 3:12 straight
Not going to qualify. Yet again.
I really wish Lesley the best and hope she enjoys her Eurovision experience.. however she should never ever got involved with RTE … a truly pathetic excuse for a national broadcaster.. Bunch of overpaid leeches and a drain of money
No. Not good.Really not good.
Charlie McGettigan & Paul Harrington’s performance from the same show is definitely worth a look for anybody who loves Eurovision nostalgia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gVsEWPZ6pA
They were brilliant. Lesley is my Daughter. I wish her the best.
I just got a flashback to Julia Samoylova singing at the Moscow Pre-Party in 2018. Cringeworthy beyond belief. Hope it was an off day for Leslie.
Sorry to say but I found the performance bad and couldn’t finish watching it.
Not good enough RTE ..another disappointing year to be an Irish Eurovision fan .. this team responsible for this are seriously deluded when they use words like banger ..
she seems like a lovely woman but this is soo flat
right? They manage to raise our hopes every year, only to…
GOOD? excuse me, it was very bad.
Looks like the song was too strong for Lesley to deliver. It appears horrendously from 2:00-2:03 and after the clapping even moreso. Unless she improves highly, Ireland has no chance to qualify because of the Jury.
Ireland will qualify for sure – Lesley Roy delivers. It is not in my top 10 but around no. 16 (at the moment).
then you did not listen to the clip
Remember the late late show is shocking for live performances, I have full belief in her for rotterdam
I really wanted to get behind my country this year but I just can’t after that abomination
Harsh.
People need to be more harsh .. the problem is RTE are not harsh enough and not raising their standard .. it’s a competition… be competitive
Ireland promised an Euphoria and is serving another disaster again.
We DIDNT promise a Euphoria. No one said it would be Euphoria. No one.
Really sick and tired seeing this comment which was taken clearly out of context.
Nobody said it was the next Euphoria. The radio DJ said Euphoria was her favorite Eurovision song. Jeez get over it people.
Not a soul said it was going to be Euphoria.
Darren, I appreciate that you level-headedly try to defend us always, but I’m sure you must also be disappointed this year too…whether it was intentional or not, this entry was hyped up and it has not delivered. Another crap year as an Irish Eurovision fan.
Will do this later
It’s better than some of our previous efforts but no it has its issues, but to be honest it’s not exactly a strong year across the board. And there is room to improve on the live and I’m hopeful for good staging. ThisIsPopBaby is pushed as our true entry this year truth be told so we really won’t see the full package until then.
It is a weak song, but it’s a weak year.
a solid song and a well-enunciated singer
That was sad to watch. Ouch.
Late late show is horrible for live performances and RTÉ know it
This has nothing to do with the song but God damn it Ireland, a country with such beautiful traditional sounds and we just don’t get a slightly ethnic track!
You know deep down that if Ireland sent an “ethnic” song that people would be labelling it dull, dated, boring etc.
We have entered “ethnic” or atleast Celtic/trad inspired in the past and it failed miserably. 2007,2014. So no way will that be happening anytime soon.
1996 worked out well, though.
Nah, I don’t want some sterotype of what people think Irish music sounds like.
I don’t see fans asking other countries to be more ethnic, just seems to be a thing with Ireland. We tried it 3 times and it didn’t work on 2 occasions …20 years after the first.
That speaks for itself I think.
I feel like Russia, Malta and Azerbaijan will all release their entries after March 9.
I like this happy song!
With dancers it would be super!
The song is amazing, but these in-ear-problems… And to be fair, it IS extremly fast. But it’s so far my number 1 of Uptempo Eurovision songs 2020. I belive in you, Lesley! It’s the story of our lives <3
Bad news is that it looked under rehearsed and she struggled with some of the high notes.
Good news is there plenty of scope for improvement. Bring the chorus down a key (it’s too high for her), make sure to have strong backing singers and it should sound fine on the night.
Didn’t sound great TBH. However, the LLS show studio is known for bad acoustics and plus that she had in-ear problems. She had good charisma, energy and got the crowd involved so I am positive all will be great on stage in Rotterdam
The kind of music in Katy Perry or P!nk’s albums in the early 2010s. Plus, she was so out of breath in the last minute.
Ouch, not a great vocal performance unfortunately. I really like this song (it’s in my top 5) but there are a lot of good vocalists this year, so she will have to up her game for sure
She’s going to be second again in the running order, isn’t she?
It could be Slovenia or Russia as well.
I’ve never seen a case where a country gets second slot twice in a row. Besides, it’s not a song they’d want in second. They prefer a slower song, so I say Slovenia and Belarus are possibilities.
An upbeat pop song in English is usually the first number, so she’ll most probably open the semifinal.
Slovenia 90 %
They do that with songs they think won’t qualify, don’t they?
The late late show somehow always makes acts sound awful through faulty ear pieces, acoustics and a difficult stage. She sounded miles better the night before in the George and wasn’t distracted at all. I definitely believe the performance will be much better by the semi final and after the party circuit. And we know a better stage is coming. It’s at least more promising than last year.
and yet it’s still not on spotify… what are they waiting for ugh
I feel your pain
But my country is so behind on stuff like this.
The song should have been put on Spotify on Thursday when it was revealed.
In this day and age most people stream on a service like Spotify. That’s where it will get its most listens.
RTÉ are numpties.
I like the song but wow the live performance is really bad.
Is there even a Wiwi jury reaction video to Ireland? I’d like to hear what the Wiwi guys think.
I was looking but it seems Ireland was skipped, went straight from Netherlands to San Marino and Bulgaria.
Sorry, that´s a bad joke. For me one of the worst songs ever from Ireland.
Damn Dustin the Turkey appeals more to you than this…..