Introduction

Like in former years Ireland had a small and cosy national selection which is a special dedicated episode of the popular Late Late Show hosted by Ryan Tubridy on RTE. This year it had another dramatic highlight, beside of the Eurovision decision. Linda Martin, who was part of the studio guest to comment the contributions had an argument with one of the mentors, this was quite dramatic and might have ended in a real catfight. The country juries and the telespectators have determined Kasey Smith with “Heartbeat” to represent Ireland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen.

Kasey Smith is 23 years old and comes from Dublin. She has already tried to enter Eurovision with the group Wonderland and the song “Kiss Me” in 2013, but only got third; at least she was awarded by the BT Music Award. Kasey is actually part of the group Can-Linn, which is also the accompanying band for Kasey. The band is using original Irish instruments like bodhrán and fiddle. Kasey’s family are musicians from head to toes, her grandfather was a show band singer. Kasey also collected some music experiences while she was travelling to Nashville, Tennessee.

The song “Heartbeat” is a pop song with Irish influences. In the RTE show there were even Irish dancers to accompany her, but maybe that was a bit over the top. The time of Riverdance has been 20 years ago and even if it’s very Irish, the international spectators of the ESC are getting tired from too many pipes and drums. The song is solid and energetic; Kasey has a strong voice and is pretty. This would be enough to reach the Grand Final in Copenhagen. A nice and convincing stage show will help her on the walk of fame.

History

Participations: 48

Debut: 1965

Biggest success: 7x 1st place “All Kinds Of Everything” by Dana in 1970, “What’s Another Year” by Johnny Logan in 1980, “Hold Me Now” by Johnny Logan in 1987, “Why Me” by Linda Martin in 1992, “In Your Eyes” by Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, “Rock’n’Roll Kids” by Paul Harrington & Charlie Mc Gettigan in 1994, “The Voice” by Eimaer Quinn in 1996, 4x 2nd place “If I Could Choose” by Sean Dunphy in 1967, “Terminal 3” by Linda Martin in 1984, “Somewhere In Europe” by Liam Reilly in 1990 and “Mysterious Woman” by Marc Roberts in 1997, 1x 3rd place “It’s Nice To Be In Love Again” by The Swarbriggs Plus Two, 3x 4th place, 3x 5th place, 3x 6th place, 2x 7th place, 2x 8th place, 2x 9th place, 4x 10th place

For 48th time Ireland is participating in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Ireland is still the most successful countries in the ESC with seven victories since 1970. The absolute record could be achieved in the 90’s when Ireland won three times after another, and when Norway won in 1995, Ireland could win another time after that in 1996. The winning songs were: “All Kinds Of Everything” by Dana in 1970, “What's Another Year” by Johnny Logan in 1980, “Hold Me Now” by Johnny Logan in 1987, “Why Me” by Linda Martin in 1992, “In Your Eyes” by Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, “Rock 'n' Roll Kids” by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994 and “The voice” by Eimear Quinn in 1996. The other Irish record is named Johnny Logan; he won the ESC twice as a singer and once as a composer.

On the top of that there were quite good rankings, four second places one third and many more top 10 places. Since the semi finals have been introduced, Ireland made it seven times out of ten into the grand final. It also shows that traditional ballads and pop from Ireland has the highest chance to qualify. The big passion for music can particularly be found in Ireland, where music can be heard everywhere on the streets and in the local pubs.