Pop and R&B artist and former Dancing with the Stars alumnus Erica-Cody has today been announced as the first hopeful bidding to bring home Eurovision glory to Ireland in the Eurovision song contest 2024.

The Eurovision 2024 contest is set to take place this May in Malmö Sweden. The host nation current equals Ireland's record of 7 competition wins, a record which was held by Ireland for 27 years, until Sweden caught up with Ireland in 2023.

Erica's bid to represent Ireland is entitled 'Love Me Like I Do'.

Five further hopefuls will be unveiled on the Ray D’Arcy show each afternoon this week, with listeners getting to hear a first play of their entries.

The six contestants will compete on The Late Late Eurosong Special to determine who will go on to represent Ireland. Further details on this show will be announced in the coming weeks.

Cody's signature eclectic styling and promotion  self-love and confidence can be heard on the new track which follows a string of singles, including 'Better Days', 'Back to Basics', and 'Queen'. The artist and music producer released her EP entitled Love and Light in 2021.

You can listen to Erica Cody's Eurovision hopeful here, along with her interview on the Ray D'arcy Show.

Sharing the news on X, the artist said '"the road to Eurosong/Sweden has just begun":

‘LOVE ME LIKE I DO’ coming Jan 23rd!

The road to Eurosong/Sweden has just begun 🇸🇪🇮🇪

Pre-Save now from the link in my bio ☘️ pic.twitter.com/vs4SRtpdAM

— Erica-Cody (@EricaCody) January 8, 2024

Ireland last won Eurovision 28 years ago in 1996.

In late 2023, RTÉ was flooded with 500 emails calling on the national broadcaster to boycott this year's Eurovision in protest of Israel's participation.

A spokesperson for RTÉ said of the email frenzy: "RTÉ has always approached the event in the spirit in which it was founded – which is a non-political contest designed to unite audiences and bring people together through a shared love of music and entertainment".