In 2020 she told us the story of her life. Now, Ireland’s Lesley Roy is set to take us on a new journey with “Maps” — her song for Eurovision 2021.
Lesley Roy releases “Maps”
“Maps” received ts world premiere on RTÉ’s Breakfast with Doireann & Eoghan at 8:35 GMT/ 9:35 CET. The music video followed shortly after, debuting on the official Eurovision YouTube channel at 9:00 GMT / 10:00 CET.
“Maps” is written and produced by Lesley, along with Eurovision producer Lukas Hallgren (“She Got Me”), Philip Strand (producer/songwriter Normandie, Deepend), and Emelie Eriksson. The music video was directed by Ais Brady and shot in the Wicklow mountains.
Later in the day, Lesley will perform the song for the first time on The Late Late Show as part of a Eurovision special. The programme starts at 21:35 GMT / 22:35 CET and will also feature past winners Niamh Kavanagh, Linda Martin, Charlie McGettigan and Paul Harrington.
Lesley Roy “Maps” (Music Video)
In the official press release, Lesley Roy says: “I’m thrilled to see through this project and represent Ireland at Eurovision 2021 with “Maps”. I’m so happy with the song and so passionate about it and Eurovision. I’m working each day towards representing Ireland in whatever version of Eurovision goes ahead in May. It’s a true honour and I want to have the best time I possibly can on the stage for Ireland. This has been a year in the making and I’m thrilled to finally get it out there for everyone to hear. “Maps” was specifically written for Eurovision. It’s heartfelt, it’s uplifting, and I hope people love it.”
Ireland’s Head of Delegation, Michael Kealy adds: “I’m really excited about the release of Lesley’s song, “Maps”, today. It was unfortunate that she didn’t get the opportunity to compete in Eurovision last year, but I’m delighted that we are back with a song we feel is even better. Lesley is absolutely focussed on getting to perform on stage in Rotterdam, and I believe that this song is going to do really well with Eurovision fans worldwide.”
Lesley Roy on “Maps”
Our full 30-minute interview with Lesley Roy will be published on YouTube after her appearance on The Late Late Show.
What do you think of “Maps”? Let us know in the comments below.
Follow all of our Ireland Eurovision 2021 news.
Photo: RTE / Ruth Medjber
the best song for years
Some engineer has forget to lower the autotune levels here….
Anthemic and it builds nicely but feels over produced and lacking a human touch, so it’s heartening to see the comments below that suggest the live performance is better, with much clearer vocals, as apart from the rather bleached quality of the recorded version it’s a strong song.
I’ve seen the live performance. Wow! I was worried about The Late Late Show performance as traditionally it’s a disaster with sound/staging etc but this rooftop performance was epic. The lyrics were much more audible than in the video and this had a greater impact. I have high hopes for Rotterdam for Lesley.
I still love the song but I’m unsure if she was singing live for most of it. I dunno I could be wrong but the vocals sounded way too similar to the record.
There was miming but she was on a roof in freezing Dublin LOL! The lyrics were much clearer in this performance. There have been critics about enunciation from the video and I agree that every word is not easy to hear in the video but tonight I could hear every word clearly. Last Year’s Late Late show performance of SOML was poor- this was a million times better.
Wow, this is a very nice entry! It feels more personal and original that her entry last year, and indeed quite anthemic. Hope she can translate this to the stage!
Im excited …. to be able to say …. our entry is great !!!!! it has been a while !
Best song chosen so far
Without any doubt one of the better entries at the moment. And a lot better than her song of last year. So well done Ireland!
It,is,a,good,song,pacyrhythmic,melodic,good,enough,to,qualify,I,don’t,know,if,it’s,good,enough,to,win
I like it a lot, it deserves to qualify at least.
One of the best entries this year .
Much better than last year
Not bad, but too much autotune voice. She seems nice…Dont want to say much about song unless hearing live version. Doubt it will sound like this a live. And its silly to compare entries so far as some of the song we heard live and some only trough studio version (and video)… very often we hype songs which are perfect for MTV and then when rehersal starts that doesnt sound soo good anymore. France and Croatia still my TOP favorites. Czech growing on me. Lithuania is excellent and charismatic. Ukraine, Albania and Finland great competitors. Ireland so far so good.… Read more »
I was annoyed with Story Of My Life, but Maps is actually pretty nice. Come through, Ireland! Well done.
I think this is quite good…anthemic and radio friendly…it also feels like there’s nothing like this picked so far…a bit of Smith & Thell energy to this…a good staging and this could give Only Teardrops vibes or it can fall into ManuElla Blue & Red territory with the wrong approach
Well the song is better than blue and red for sure. I really hated that song
Sorry, but I have to vote a little bit lower…. It´s not more than average.
Why have you given Cyprus 0? There are very few songs that are zero.
I used to rank Cyprus last, but I’ve placed a little higher up since then. That is probably too harsh, but they may not like the song. We All like different tastes and sometimes what we like and don’t like aren’t always going to align. I learned that lesson when I realized I went too far expressing my Opinion over el Diablo in a very toxic way and I just had to step back. I’ve taken more of a curious attitude toward top lists to see where songs align and not take it personally if my tastes don’t match up.… Read more »
I have no issue with any rankings. In the grand scheme of things, they don’t really matter or have any influence. My question was more a curious one about a score and a score of 0. Israel is my least favourite song that has been released so far due to my personal taste but I don’t score it zero as there are features of the song that are worthy of marks.
Something fresh and elaborated out of the cheap poppy times we are living in the contest, I like it. Direct to my top 3
1. France
2. Spain
3. Ireland
4. Lithuania
5. Finland
6. Albania
7. Croatia
8. Czech Republic
9. Israel
10. Ukraine
11. Germany
12. Norway
Even though my top is different, you surely have taste.
oh dear all, SF 1 already really give me nightmares. Nearly every country can qualify and so far the most songs are really good from SF1. It will be a hard round to qualify.
Really pleased with this – interesting take on freedom in lockdown too. Hope the studio version works and the orchestration is cut back a bit. Video great and Co. Wicklow (where I am lucky enough to live!) looks wonderful. Go n-éirí leat.
A decent radio friendly song. I like it more than Story Of My Life, however it needs a really memorable staging in order to not get lost. Semi 1 is believed to be a blood bath so maybe it’s gonna have a hard time qualifying, but comparing it to the songs that’ve been released so far it is definitely no worse than the most of them
Good luck Ireland!
Well they’re having more semifinal what songs released, I still think it’s too early to make guesses about who qualify or not.
i didn’t know i needed a song about going back home when I’ve been stuck there for months, but i sincerely enjoyed it. her voice somehow moves me and she appears to be really down to earth. my only critique: the instrumentation during the first verse is too stressful for my taste.
And I think for those who are unable to see loved ones in other places this gives a positive energy to hope and looking forward to the future
Good job Lesley! I really enjoyed this and most people on first listen will enjoy it and the televoters will be full of first listeners. The staging just needs to be memorable to make people vote. I think this entry will put Ireland back in the final.Last year there were big staging plans with This is Pop Baby so hopefully the staging this year will also be a big part of the planned package and that it will be on point and elevate the performance.
This is good but feel something is lacking not sure this is memorable enough for eurovision. Not convinced this will sound that great live. Sounds like it could be hard to replicate the recorded version live vocally. However they are allowed”help” with backing vocals this year which I think will benefit this song.
I really enjoy this one! Lesley is such a sweet and wonderful person and I am so happy she got a second chance at Eurovision. You can tell she worked hard on this song all year and honestly, she deserves all the praise!
I mean it’s okay I guess, but I’m going to state an unpopular opinion here and just say that I liked last year’s better and I’m not as impressed as I hoped i’d be
Wow thats one noisy song…. Its way way way way overproduced and it never changes pace… It’s constant full on speed from beginning to end, so stressful for my brain. Also, there is not much of a melody to grasp a hold of here… I am very sad actually. I really hoped Ireland would manage to elevate from last years entry, but they really didnt. I have no idea how this will be staged….
Upgrade your brain then.
LOL!
I agree with you on the production, it’s just too much. The vocals could have done with a little less autotune as well. But the melody is quite catchy, the chorus is instantly hummable. All in all it’s not a bad song, not a winner obviously but it might just get them to the final.
She sang it live a few minutes ago if you want to check that out 🙂
I saw that, unfortunately that performance was heavily autotuned as well…
I love this song. Its the best so far. 9/10
It’s very beautiful, it makes me happy and it is high on my list right now. That said, it is also forgettable, so it may struggle with qualifying. But I certainly hope it does!
It’s one of their better entries for the last few years along with ‘Together’, it’s not the winner but if she pulls the staging right she shouldnt have issues to qualify. Quite well done Ireland!
This sounds like a Junior Eurovision opening, especially in the beginning, which is a good thing!
I really really like this song. By far the best song from Ireland for a very long time. I was dubious whether Ireland would qualify last year, this has to go through to the final surely. What a nice surprise!
I actually really like this and for Ireland it’s a pretty decent entry, hope it qualifies but I feel this will need a good staging to elevate it just that much more.
the fact that it’s 5th already on ‘my eurovision scoreboard,’ is scary and telling me ireland’s gonna qualify…and somebody’s gonna get robbed-
There are no guaranteed qualifiers from the semis and if this qualifies its on merit and not robbing another entrant.
I’m on middle ground on this one. It’s a good track, with the driving drums and the strong “directional” message. I feel “ok” with it, if that makes sense. I like the song, but I don’t adore it. So, middling.
I didn’t expected that. It’s a solid song, very anthemic, good feeling and authentic. Lesley Roy stays true to her music style and that’s a good sign. “Story of my Life” worked for me very well and when I first heard “Maps” I could remember the chorus immediatly which is a good sign. It has that poppy sing-along-vibe and – even if it’s a modern-pop-song painted by numbers – stands out in relation to the other acts. As many mentioned the staging is the key at this point, but I’m very hopeful, Lesley is a positive person, has a good… Read more »
I really like this one. After one listen it is my second favourite so far behind Ukraine. Things might change though after listening to it a few times more.
Uncannily I once again agree with most of that. An improvement on last year, but. Of all the entries I have heard so far I would be allocating 2nd berth to France – sorry!
Thats the problem when people in Europe should woting they woting for a contry and not to the song
Probably have to get in the queue behind Sweden!
This is such an anthem!!! Definitely my number one. People will be able to connect to it as there are so many people missing loved ones who can’t travel home because of the pandemic.
Wasn’t a fan last year, ain’t much either this year. Will be hard to qualify.
This is such an Anthem!!! Deffo my number one.
People will be able to connect to it as there are so many people missing loved ones who can’t travel home because of the pandemic.
This is really good. I wasn’t a fan of “Story of My Life” but “Maps” is great. God job Leslie! Go Ireland!
It would be perfect for the SF or GF show opening, somehow it gives me vibes of ESC Austria (2015) postcards music and in a good way. Lovely singing and lyrics.
Yes Lesley! This is how to bring back an artist with a similar flavour to last year’s entry but with an elevated song (the Roop did this as well)! Can’t wait to see it live but I agree to be a shoo in for the final the staging needs to be on point!
It’s really nice.
The less positive thing is that It’s not a very memorable song and because of that the staging must be on point.
I’m so proud of Ireland <3 ! I really want to see Lesley in the final 🙂
I kind of really like it, but nervious for her live performance. Esc is 20% song 80% performance.
With a good performance this is a solid pop song with an Irish flavour to the instrumental and a nostalgic ode to poprock. It deserves to make the final ONLY if its sold well live, if not Ireland needs to go back to square one for 2022 and select a good vocalist FIRST then write the song for their voice.
Love it, she just has to work on pronunciation. It isn’t clear enough and the music is a bit louder than her voice
Made the exact same comment on YouTube
Better than last years entry? Yes.
Great song? No.
How tastes differ, I’d say quite the opposite to both.
Ireland 6/10
THIS is the pop-anthem we needed! I just wish there were more Irish elements to the song.
Oh yeah !!! I think the same ! Always loved irish folk éléments in their entries and miss them
This is a good song ! Might do decently in May 🙂 it’s stuck in my head right now