Who will be at the London Preview Party?

Scott Fitzgerald UK entrant 1988.

London, United Kingdom - Apart from the 16 acts from this year's contest appearing at the seventh London Preview Party on Sunday 13th April, there will be two former winners of Europe's favourite Tv Show plus several former entrants from across Europe performing at the Café de Paris in the west end of London. Let's find out more about the guest line-up.

We are the winners

Headlining the guest list for the London Preview Party are Anne Marie David who won the contest in 1973 for Luxembourg with the song Tu Te Reconnaîtras, and Linda Martin who won the contest in 1992 for Ireland with the song Why Me?
Both artists have the distinction of twice appearing in the contest, Anne Marie David returned in 1979 to represent France with the song Je Suis L'Enfant Soleil, which finished in a highly respectable third place, whilst Linda Martin had previously finished a close second in 1984 for ireland with the song Terminal Three.

Watch our interview with Anne Marie David

Watch Linda Martin perform Why Me?

What if

Someone who came very close to joining that list of Eurovision winners, is Scott Fitzgerald, who finished in second place in 1988 for the United Kingdom with the song Go, finishing just one point behind Celine Dion from Switzerland.

Meet Scott Fitzgerald in our video

Flying the flag

Two other former entrants will also be appearing on the London stage, and no doubt offering their support to their fellow 2014 entrants. Sarbel who finished in seventh place in the 2007 contest for Greece with the song Yassou Maria and Marcin Mrozinski, who represented Poland in the 2010 contest with the song Legenda.

Watch Marcin Mronzinski perform Legenda

Friends in London

This is the seventh edition of the London Preview Party. It all started in 2008, and in 2010 the responsibility for the organisation was taken on by Russell Davies and Kabir Naidoo, with Roy Bennett joining the organising team in 2014, with Vasil Ivanov and Deian Yordanov taking on the website this year. They are assisted by numerous volunteers who help out in running the event, and supported by several sponsors, including escxtra.com.

In what way is the event different from Eurovision In Concert? "We like to showcase each artist, and give htem the opportunity to perform maybe two or three songs, to show their personality, and a chance to chat with the audience" says Russell Davies.
"The artists love being in the heart of London, and enjoy the intimate setting of the event" adds Russell "although this year we aim to offer a more glamorous location with the Café de Paris".
Russell does have his own favourite moment, and that was seeing Kaliopi on stage in 2012 performing Samo Ti, the song that failed to get past the pre qualifying round for F.Y.R Macedonian in 1996.
Last year the guest list included the eventual Eurovision Song Contest winner, Emmelie de Forest, as Russell recalls when she came off stage she said "I can't believe the audience was singing along to my song, they knew all the words". It was one of the sweetest moments for the team.
Will this year's Eurovision Song Contest winner be amongst the artists appearing at the London Preview Party? We will know in just one month's time on the 10th May!

Who would you like to see appear at the London Preview Party?

Ireland to be represented by Kasey Smith

Kasey Smith Winner of EuroSong 2014

 

Dublin, Ireland - Tonight it is was the turn of the most successful nation in Europe's Favourite TV Show, namely Ireland, to select their entry for the 2014 contest and they have chosen Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith with the song Heartbeat to wave the flag for them this year in Copenhagen.

On The Late, Late Show special tonight, host Ryan Tubridy presented the five songs that were in contention for EuroSong 2014, and a combination of five regional juries and televoting determined which song will represent Ireland in the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday the 8th of May.

The Participants

The songs were performed in the following order: Winner in bold.

1. Don't Hold On sung by Patricia Roe (Composed by Patricia Roe). Mentored by Valerie Roe
2. The Movie Song sung by Eoghan Quigg (Composed by Karl Broderick). Mentored by Mark Murphy.
3. Heartbeat sung by Can-linn, featuring Kasey Smith (Composed by Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren and Patrizia Helander). Mentored by Hazel Kaneswaran.
4. Be Mine sung by Andrew Mann (Composed by Cormac Battle).Mentored by Cormac Battle.
5. You Don't Remember Me sung by Laura O'Neill (Composed by Don Mescall and Lucie Silvas). Mentored by Billy McGuiness.

About the show

There were four guests on the show to offer their opinions on the songs, Louis Walsh, Eoghan McDermott, Maia Dunphy and former winner Linda Martin. At times the discussions got quite heated between the guests and the mentors. However, despite their views the decision wasn't down to them.
Former winner Johnny Logan performed a medley of all three of the winning songs with which he is associated, namely What's Another Year, Hold Me Now and Why Me? Also perfoming to mark the 20th anniversary of their win in 1994 were Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan with Rock'n'Roll Kids.

About the winner

Can-linn is a collaborative music act featuring traditional Irish instruments such as the bodhrán and fiddle, complimented by the urban-styled vocals of Kasey Smith, who rose to fame with the BT Music Award nominated girlband Wonderland in 2010 under the tutelage of Louis Walsh and Kian Egan.
Heartbeat was co-written by an experienced team of Irish and Swedish songwriters: Hazel Kaneswaran an Irish singer/songwriter who sang for Dove in 1996 and has since presented numerous TV shows and performed around the country; Jonas Gladnikoff, who wrote two successful Irish Eurovision entries including It’s For You by Niamh Kavanagh in 2010; Rasmus Palmgren, writer of the current Swedish Idol winning song; and Patrizia Helander, Swedish Idol 2007 finalist and experimental artist.
Hazel believes that Can-linn’s entry Heartbeat is a passionate song that reflects Ireland’s will to rise again as a nation and shows why we are recognised globally as makers of fine music.
She said: ‘Being a mentor in Eurosong has been a joy. I chose a great pop song with a Celtic twist as I love traditional Irish music. The name ‘Can-linn’ is derived from the Irish ‘to sing together’. I think that’s appropriate as we want to work together and bring the Eurovision home!’

What do you think of the Irish entry this year?

What's on this weekend?

 

Europe - Another busy national final weekend is straight ahead - until Sunday evening, we will get to know the Eurovision Song Contest entries of Ireland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. Check out our full schedule and the webcast options so that you don't miss anything important!

It's not quite Super Saturday, but still you will have many options to watch Eurovision Song Contest selection shows this weekend. As we wouldn't want you to miss anything important, we listed an overview of all the webcast options below.
As soon as we know the results of each respective show, we will announce them on Eurovision.tv as well as on the official Eurovision pages on Facebook, Google+, VK and Twitter.

Friday

22:35 CET: Ireland will select their entry for Copenhagen - five candidates are competing. Watch the show live on Eurovision.tv!

Saturday

19:30 CET: Decision time in Romania! Live from the beautiful city of Brașov, you can watch the final right here on Eurovision.tv and find out who of the twelve acts will carry the Romanian flag in May.
20:00 CET: Last weekend Lithuania already chose their song for Copenhagen, now it's time to find the right singer for it. Watch the show live on Eurovision.tv!
20:35 CET: Eesti Laul is also approaching its final show - tune in live on Eurovision.tv when the Estonian Eurovision entry is being chosen out of the ten acts who qualified from the national semi-finals.
20:00 CET: It's Melodifestivalen time again too - in the popular Andra Chansen show, eight acts who narrowly missed out in the four semi-finals will get another chance to proceed to the Swedish final. Watch it live on the SVT website!

Sunday

19:00 CET: Azerbaijan is ready to pick their Eurovision entry too, three singers are still in the competition. Watch the final of Böyük Səhnə live on Eurovision.tv!
20:30 CET: The second semi-final will take place in Belgium - watch it live on the een website.

Watch Ireland make their choice tonight!

Tonight it is the turn of the most successful nation in Europe's Favourite TV Show to select their entry for the 2014 contest. Ireland, which has won the Grand Prix an impressive seven times, will cho... Read more

Tonight: Estonia chooses its Eesti Laul for Denmark

Tonight, Estonia will decide the song and artist that will represent the Baltic state in Copenhagen at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in May and you can watch it with us right here on Eurovision.tv.... Read more

Lithuania: Mia, Vilija or Vaidas?

Check out the Full gallery

What show are you looking forward to the most?

Watch Ireland make their choice tonight!

The five artists in tonight's EuroSong

Dublin, Ireland - Tonight it is the turn of the most successful nation in Europe's Favourite TV Show to select their entry for the 2014 contest. Ireland, which has won the Grand Prix an impressive seven times, will choose one of the five songs competing tonight to fly the flag for the nation in Copenhagen and you can follow all the action iof EuroSong 2014 on Eurovision.tv.

On The Late, Late Show special tonight, host Ryan Tubridy will present the five songs that are in contention for EuroSong 2014, and a combination of juries and televoting will determine which song will represent Ireland in the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday the 8th of May.
Last October RTÉ nominated five mentors with proven experience in the Irish music industry and asked them each to select an act and a song which they believe has the potential to be a Eurovision Song Contest winner.

The Participants

The songs will be performed in the following order:

1. Don't Hold On sung by Patricia Roe (Composed by Patricia Roe). Mentored by Valerie Roe.
2. The Movie Song sung by Eoghan Quigg (Composed by Karl Broderick). Mentored by Mark Murphy.
3. Heartbeat sung by Can-linn, featuring Kasey Smith (Composed by Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren and Patrizia Helander). Mentored by Hazel Kaneswaran.
4. Be Mine sung by Andrew Mann (Composed by Cormac Battle).Mentored by Cormac Battle.
5. You Don't Remember Me sung by Laura O'Neill (Composed by Don Mescall and Lucie Silvas). Mentored by Billy McGuiness.

The Voting

As in previous years, Ireland’s Eurovision entry will be selected by a combination of public and regional jury vote.
You can watch the videos of the songs on the Late, Late Show EuroSong website. The programme starts at 22:35 CET and can be watched on our webplayer.

Factfile

• Ireland are the most successful nation in the Eurovision Song Contest having won seven times, in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.
• Johnny Logan is the only singer to win the contest twice, with What's Another Year in 1980 and his self composed entry, Hold Me Now in 1987. He also composed the winning song in 1992, Why Me? sung by Linda Martin.
• Dublin has hosted the contest more times that any other city, an impressive six times; in 1971, 1981, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1997.
• Ireland has qualified for the Grand Final for the last four years, thanks to (former winner )Niamh Kavanagh in 2010, Jedward in 2011 and 2012 and Ryan Dolan in 2013.
• Although they have won the contest the most times, Ireland have also come last twice, in 2007 and in 2013, though they have never yet received the dreaded 'nul points'.

Which is your favourite to represent the emerald isle tonight?

Ireland reveals their five artists and songs

Eoghan Quigg one of the Irish contenders

RTÉ today announced the five Irish acts and songs which will be competing to represent Ireland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The acts are (and in the order that they will perform on Eurosong on the 28th February): Patricia Roe, Eoghan Quigg, Can-linn, Andrew Mann and Laura O’Neill.

Last November RTÉ nominated five mentors with proven experience in the Irish music industry and asked each of them to select an act and a song which they believe has the potential to be a Eurovision winner.

The songs and singers

Valerie Roe chose her sister, a Eurosong veteran Patricia Roe and her self-penned song Don’t Hold On; Mark Murphy selected Eoghan Quigg and The Movie Song, which was written by Karl Broderick; Hazel Kaneswaran chose Can-linn, featuring Kasey Smith, to perform a song called Heartbeat which Hazel composed along with Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren and Patrizia Helander; mentor Cormac Battle wrote Be Mine for Andrew Mann to perform; and Aslan’s Billy McGuinness chose Laura O’Neill as his act and the song You Don’t Remember Me, which was composed by Don Mescall and Lucie Silvas.

First airplay

The public will get the chance to hear the five songs for the first time tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 6th February): on RTÉ 2FM from 15:00 CET Rick O’Shea will debut the songs, while Derek Mooney will give the songs their first RTÉ Radio 1 airing after 16:00 CET.

The winning act will be selected on Eurosong 2014 on The Late Late Show on Friday the 28th of February. As was the case in previous years, Ireland’s Eurovision entry will be selected by a combination of public and regional jury vote.
 

Who do you think could end up representing Ireland?

Ireland reveal their five mentors for 2014 for The Late Late Show

Logo for The Late Late Show.

 

Dublin, Ireland - RTÉ has decided to retain the same mentoring procedure that it has used since 2011 for next year's Eurovision Song Contest and has appointed five new Eurosong 2014 mentors in their search to bring Ireland a record eighth victory in Europe's Favourite Tv Show.

The Eurosong 2014 mentors are: Aslan guitarist Billy McGuinness; singer and songwriter Hazel Kaneswaran; RTÉ 2fm presenter and Kerbdog frontman Cormac Battle; band manager Valerie Roe and tour manager Mark Murphy.
RTÉ says that in the coming months the mentors "will source songs and singers who, in their view, should compete to best represent the country" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen next May.

Dates and deadlines

Mentors must submit details of their act and song to RTÉ by Friday the 3rd of January, 2014 and recorded versions of the song should be submitted to RTÉ by Monday 3rd of February, 2014.
Details of the five acts and songs will be announced in the New Year and the mentors' five chosen songs will be performed for the first time by their acts on The Late Late Show Eurosong 2014 on Friday the 28th of February.
The winner will once again be decided by a combination of public vote and regional juries.
RTÉ Eurovision Co-ordinator Michael Kealy said: "RTÉ wanted to again offer the Irish public a say in deciding who Ireland's Eurovision entry should be. We felt the last year's mentoring process was successful in delivering five strong acts which could represent Ireland. The five mentors this year represent a wide range of experience and talent and the songs and acts they choose will deliver a very thrilling and energetic Eurosong final in February.”

Quotes from the five mentors:

Billy McGuinness: "Normally I wouldn't have had the time to be involved as a mentor for Eurovision, but with Aslan on a break I feel I can commit myself to finding a great song and singer to represent Ireland."
Hazel Kaneswaran: "I am really looking forward to mentoring my act for the Eurosong. I've always loved the Eurovision Song contest ever since I fell in love with Johnny Logan as a young child! Every year the Eurovision winner is different, so it's hard to know what the public want but I'll give it my best shot."
Cormac Battle: "I thought they were joking when they asked me to be a mentor for Eurosong 2014 but on reflection I have been heavily involved in the music making process for a long time albeit in a different sphere - so why not? A brilliant song is a brilliant song no matter what. And this is one of the most exciting and challenging projects I have ever taken on. I am in it to win it."
Valerie Roe: "Music is my first love and my vision for Ireland this year is to go back to our roots with a powerful song and an exceptional singer with strong production and the inimitable artistic style that Ireland is famed for worldwide."
Mark Murphy: "I got involved to find a great song and singer to represent Ireland. I feel there is so much musical talent out there that it's the right time to get involved and find the perfect song for Eurovision."
Ireland has won the contest no fewer than seven times, and in recent years has qualified for the Grand Final every year since 2010. In 2013 they finished in 26th place in the Grand Final with the song Only Love Survives sung by Ryan Dolan.

Is the mentor system the best way for Ireland to select their entry for 2014?