Wild Youth Ireland Eurovision 2023 Declaration of Interest
Photo: Wild Youth

They’re an up-and-coming Dublin band with a growing back catalogue of radio and streaming hits. And now Wild Youth have declared their interest in representing Ireland at Eurovision 2023.

Wild Youth want to sing for Ireland at Eurovision 2023

It all started with a tweet. On Friday 3 June, the band’s Conor O’ Donohoe asked: “Can I write the Eurovision song for 2023 and can @bandwildyouth perform please”. In an effort to make sure that the request didn’t go unnoticed, O’Donohoe also tagged Michael Kealy — RTÉ’s Head of Delegation for Eurovision. The official band account retweeted the original post along with an Irish flag emoji. 

Fans were quick to jump on the tweets. As of the time of writing this story, O’Donohoe’s tweet has over 200 interactions. One tweeter advised “Don’t write a song “for eurovision”, people tend to have an outdated and basic view of it & songs which were not specifically written for eurovision have better results most of the time”. O’ Donohoe responded “I meant for the Eurovision entry. I wouldn’t write a song particularly for anything, I write songs I care about and love. That mean something to me”.

In a random twist, the Welsh classical singer Aled Jones, best known for “Walking In The Air”, proposed that he’d join the writing process. O’Donohoe replied saying that he was down to duet. To date, RTÉ has not publicly responded to the series of tweets. However, Michael Kealy pressed the like button on the first tweet from O’Donohoe.

It’s not uncommon for Irish performers to throw their names into the Eurovision ring during the quiet summer months. In 2021, Picture This shared their “love” of the contest as did Samantha Mumba a few years previously. Neither act ended up flying the Irish flag.

Who are Wild Youth?

Wild Youth consists of David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. Debuting in 2017, the group are known for their “sad bangers” and “catchy choruses”. They’ve racked up a number of chart, radio and streaming hits in their native Ireland. They’ve played dates across Ireland and the UK this year while also supporting Westlife and Lewis Capaldi on tour. Their best-known songs include “Champagne Butterflies”, “Next To You” and “Can’t Move On”.

Ireland at Eurovision 2023

Ireland has yet to announce its plans for Eurovision 2023. In 2022, the country returned to a national final format for the first time since 2015. The Late Late Show Eurosong special was won by Brooke with “That’s Rich”. However, despite a groundswell of fan support during rehearsals in Turin, the entry failed to qualify for the grand final. Nonetheless, the track has proven to be the most commercially successful Irish entry since 2018 and Brooke has already lined up a number of live gigs for the summer months.

What do you think of Wild Youth’s tweets? Would you like to see them represent Ireland at Eurovision 2022? Let us know in the comments.

51 Comments
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Michael crosse
Michael crosse
1 year ago

Every year I have an opinion that a song with good- great potential is not qualifying for the National song contest final because it not as well presented performance and arranged – produced than the qualifiers perhaps rte could include people that could notice a song with potential in judging panels etc

Paul
Paul
1 year ago

nah………mike hawke and the midnight express …….will represent ireland …chap is a genius

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago

Still waiting for the day Ireland sends an entry in their beautiful Irish language. Started listening to songs like Mo Ghile Mear, Amhrán na Leabhar, Amhrán Na Farraige, now I need them in ESC!!!

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
1 year ago
Reply to  esc_fl

If they go this route, what chance would Anúna have?

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago
Reply to  CookyMonzta

I forgot all about them! Just listened to their Cloudsong in Riverdance the other day, beautiful.

Michael crosse
Michael crosse
1 year ago

I hope it’s not self promotion perhaps they could call it “walking to the fair” with the aled Jones angle and traditional Irish lifestyle serious lads yere. Songs sound good it wouldn’t do ye any harm and all the good

Christopher
Christopher
1 year ago

Never heard of them. Whatever, RTE will manage to make the wrong decision.

Jamie
Jamie
1 year ago

I can tell they will flop just by looking at them. We want to see IRELAND, its culture, language, music, not some generic boy band.

Mr X
Mr X
1 year ago
Reply to  Jamie

Or some Blondie-wannabe…..

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
1 year ago

Well, they’d be better than the majority of what Ireland sends and maybe having a star player like Aled would add to the uniqueness of the track. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Karl
Karl
1 year ago

And can we have Musical Youth for the UK please? Would love to see Wild Youth and Musical Youth perform at the same Eurovision.

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
1 year ago
Reply to  Karl

Musical Youth (the remaining 2) are pushing into their 50s, yes? They’d have to come up with something entirely unique to keep the U.K. from slipping back into the bottom 6, as they’ve been off the radar for an immensely long time.

Karl
Karl
1 year ago
Reply to  CookyMonzta

Have you seen the new season of Stranger Things yet? Also, they’re playing at Reggae Fest next month.

Héctor
Héctor
1 year ago

I would love an indie pop band to represent Ireland in Eurovision, tbh. We need more of it. We also need more indie and alternative rock, and Ireland has plenty of talent in this field. They just need to step up their game. Setting up a national final in a Late Night Talking Show is certainly not the best way of doing this.

Darren
Darren
1 year ago

Another year, another NQ, another well known band/singer throwing their hat into the ring in the weeks after said NQ, then when it comes to January next year we will have the same reality show rejects, singing something “that sounds til-tocky” the sounds like it’s from Eurovision 2008 on yet another cringey Late Late Show NF. Just withdraw, it’s exhausting, predictable and embarrassing. I wouldn’t read too much into this. Last year we had Samantha Mumba saying she’d do it, year before that we had Una Healy saying she’d do it, think we even had Niall Horan at one point… Read more »

Darren
Darren
1 year ago
Reply to  Darren

“Tik-Toky”**

CyxCy
CyxCy
1 year ago

This kind of band has been out of fashion since 1996; the Irish have enough good singers not to have to do that to us.

Yush
Yush
1 year ago

In one sentence : PLEASE DON’T

Polegend Godnova
Polegend Godnova
1 year ago

they should try sending some gaelic banshee celtic stuff for once, if executed in a tasteful way it can be a huge success

Darren
Darren
1 year ago

Three words:
Kasey. Smith. 2014.

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
1 year ago
Reply to  Darren

Which wasn’t Gaelic nor tasteful

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
1 year ago
Reply to  Leendert Jan

I’m part Irish and it was Celtic and Gaelic to an extent.

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago

An entry in Irish would be so magical!

Deven O’Kearney
1 year ago

I think a problem is that we are not sending songs that we genuinely like. Look at the countries that are doing well (Ukraine, Italy, Sweden), they always send songs that they actually like. Not just those countries that did it and achieve good results, look at the UK and Spain this year, France and Finland last year, and Portugal of late. There’s really no mystery to Eurovision success. Just send songs that the public like and just watch the good results come in. We’re not doing that at the moment, and we’ve only done that three times since 2010… Read more »

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
1 year ago

I’m part Irish and me and my Irish family LOVED Brooke Scullion. It was the first time in years we’ve liked an Irish song. We need to go even further next year.

Go_A Stan
Go_A Stan
1 year ago

They give off major Lake Malawi vibes, which is good if you want a lake Malawi result. If I were Ireland I’d capitalize on their rich history of good punk rock and send a Blind channel-like

Liv
Liv
1 year ago
Reply to  Go_A Stan

You make 11th place sound like an awful result.

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
1 year ago
Reply to  Go_A Stan

At least they qualified for the final

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
1 year ago
Reply to  Go_A Stan

How about a cross between Blind Channel and Lake Malawi? Either end of the spectrum, or something in the middle, might just be the thing that gets Ireland to the final.

Kredential
Kredential
1 year ago

Nadine Coyle please. I know she’s ‘past her prime’ but she still has a great voice and with the right song to accompany her, could give Ireland their best result in years.

Darren
Darren
1 year ago
Reply to  Kredential

Anything for another “what age am I, where is my passport” fiasco upon arrival in Kyiv/Lviv/London/Manchester/Krakow 2023

Zisk
Zisk
1 year ago

I don’t know anything about this band but the song you’ve put in this article sounds like something that does average in melodifestivalen and I don’t think with Ireland it’d actually get out of a semi final most years tbh. It’s still, at the very least, more out of the dark ages than what we keep sending now.

Liv
Liv
1 year ago
Reply to  Zisk

Long Time No See is my favourite of theirs. I recommend checking that out

Zisk
Zisk
1 year ago
Reply to  Liv

Will do!

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
1 year ago

You never know, I mean S10 showed her interest by a tweet last year too, and I can’t imagine that RTÉ isn’t getting desperate by now. Their music sounds pretty fresh.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago

Fontaines D.C. would be better.

fionn
fionn
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

inhaler too!

Eurovision fan
Eurovision fan
1 year ago

I don’t know why they didn’t qualify this year, the song and staging were definetly worth the grand final. I would like them to send something more traditional and in Irish next year.

Janes
Janes
1 year ago

The definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same actions and expect a different result. Unfortunately, RTÉ keep using variations of the same old tired late late show format every year with unknown artists and generic songs. That said, Brooke was a definite step in the right direction. Other countries make more of an effort and are rewarded accordingly. The BBC sent a serious artist with a decent song this year and got a great result.

Ed89
Ed89
1 year ago

For anyone unfamiliar, have a listen to Can’t Move On. They know how to write a banger.

Liv
Liv
1 year ago

I would love it if rte sent them, song depending of course. I’m a big fan of theirs and even saw them in concert. Such great stage presence and voice. Plus, it’s been forever since Ireland sent a band despite being fairly known for having a good number of internationally successful bands. Plus, an established act being excited about going to eurovision. That’s something you don’t see a lot from irish musicians. Times are changing I hope after the recent successes of various eurovision acts, both winners and runner ups.

Hannah
Hannah
1 year ago

I would love Ireland to send them but honestly it seems like RTE are not interested and have no idea what they are doing. I watched Ireland AM where they discussed what ‘went wrong’ with Brooke (she was great) and after they were clueless about what to send next. It wouldn’t surprise me if they send Dustin the Turkey again.

Deven O’Kearney
1 year ago
Reply to  Hannah

That’s not going to happen. We won’t be sending back Dustin.

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
1 year ago
Reply to  Hannah

Too much bubble gum in that bubble-gum pop; that’s what went wrong.

apollinischesprinzip
apollinischesprinzip
1 year ago

this would be great… if they have a great song they can easily qualify

Miss Uncongeniality
Miss Uncongeniality
1 year ago

Ireland should completely change their delegation team, specially their head, Mr. Michael Kelley, he has been such a disaster

fionn
fionn
1 year ago

my theory is he’s a creativity vacuum

Thallo
Thallo
1 year ago

Eurovision isn’t his only job, he’s a creative director at RTE. Once a year Michael chooses a song (or several songs for a NF) and then goes abroad with the act to Israel, Spain and the UK for their pre-parties. Eurovision is actually a break for him, he doesn’t care about it.

Michael will be Ireland’s HoD until RTE fires him, which is HIGHLY unlikely as he’s been employed there for over +25 years. Ireland is stuck with that guy until the end of time, unfortunately. Unless that changes, expect abysmal or average results.

Hello hi
Hello hi
1 year ago

Ireland needs a new team for Eurovision first and foremost . Get rid of the incompetent HOD

Voilà monsieur
Voilà monsieur
1 year ago

Until they get rid of Michael Kealy, I have absolutely no hope for Ireland at Eurovision! Next year, a guy with a guitar called Sean will win the Late Late Show only to come 14th in its semi-final

Michael crosse
Michael crosse
1 year ago

If he’s Sean sherrard aka Johnny Logan he would be much higher placed than that