Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Heartbeat" written by Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren, Patrizia Helander and Hazel Kaneswaran. The song was performed by Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2014 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Five songs faced the votes of five regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Heartbeat" performed by Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith as the Irish Eurovision entry.
Ireland was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2014. Performing during the show in position 9, "Heartbeat" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed twelfth out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 35 points.
Prior to the 2014 contest, Ireland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-seven times since its first entry in 1965. Ireland has won the contest a record seven times in total. The country's first win came in 1970, with then-18-year-old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In 2011 and 2012, Jedward represented the nation for two consecutive years, managing to qualify to the final both times and achieve Ireland's highest position in the contest since 2000, placing eighth in 2011 with the song "Lipstick". The Irish entry in 2013, "Only Love Survives" performed by Ryan Dolan, managed to qualify to the final but placed last.
The Irish national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), broadcasts the event within Ireland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTÉ confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2013.[1][2] From 2008 to 2013, RTÉ had set up the national final Eurosong to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ireland, with both the public and regional jury groups involved in the selection. For the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, RTÉ announced on 31 October 2014 the organisation of Eurosong 2014 to choose the artist and song to represent Ireland at the contest.[3]
Before Eurovision
Eurosong 2014
Eurosong 2014 was the national final format developed by RTÉ in order to select Ireland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The competition was held on 28 February 2014 at the Studio 4 of RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Ryan Tubridy and broadcast on RTÉ One during a special edition of The Late Late Show. The show was also broadcast online via RTÉ's official website rte.ie and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[4] The national final was watched by 686,000 viewers in Ireland with a market share of 50%.[5]
Competing entries
On 31 October 2013, RTÉ revealed the five music industry professionals that were invited to each select and mentor an entry for the competition: guitarist for Irish rock-band AslanBilly McGuinness, RTÉ 2fm presenter and lead singer of KerbdogCormac Battle, singer-songwriter Hazel Kaneswaran, tour manager Mark Murphy and band manager Valerie Roe.[6] The mentors had until 3 January 2014 to submit details of their selected artist and song, and until 3 February 2014 to submit the recorded versions of the songs for the competition.[7] The five finalists were announced on 5 February 2014, while their songs were presented on 6 February 2014 during Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1.[8]
The national final took place on 28 February 2014 and featured guest performances from former contest winners Johnny Logan, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan as well as commentary from a panel that consisted of music manager Louis Walsh, presenter Eoghan McDermott, producer Maia Dunphy, and singer and former contest winner Linda Martin. Following the 50/50 combination of votes from five regional juries and public televoting, "Heartbeat" performed by Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith was selected as the winner.[9]
Can-linn and Kasey Smith presenting themselves and "Heartbeat" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 20 January 2014, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2014, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[10]
Once all the competing songs for the 2014 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Ireland was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Finland and before the entry from Belarus.[11]
In Ireland, the semi-finals were broadcast on RTÉ2 and the final was broadcast on RTÉ One with commentary by Marty Whelan.[12] The second semi-final and final were also broadcast via radio on RTÉ Radio 1 with commentary by Shay Byrne and Zbyszek Zalinski.[13] The Irish spokesperson, who announced the Irish votes during the final, was Nicky Byrne.[14]
Final
Kasey Smith during a rehearsal before the second semi-final
Can-linn and Kasey Smith took in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 3 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 7 and 8 May. This included the jury show on 7 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[15]
The Irish performance featured Kasey Smith performing with the members of Can-linn which included two dancers, Thomas Spratt and Tarik Shebani, and two backing vocalists, Jenny Bowden and Donna Bissett. The performers were joined on stage by violinist Denice Doyle. The stage colours were red, yellow and orange with Celtic inspired shapes and patterns against a backdrop that transitioned from dark seas with lightning bolts to an orange sky with green water. The dress Kasey Smith wore was designed by Kathy de Stafford with a neckpiece designed by Oliver Doherty Duncan.[16][17]
At the end of the show, Ireland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed twelfth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 35 points.
Voting
Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.
Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Ireland had placed tenth with the public televote and fourteenth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Ireland scored 47 points, while with the jury vote, Ireland scored 33 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:
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