Ireland flops in Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest, held in Turkey at the weekend, has came under massive Irish fire with Chris Doran's effort taking the title of Second Worst-ever Irish Eurovision entry.

Awarded a total of seven points - all from the UK – the performance stands as a thorn in Ireland's rosey record of seven Eurovision triumphs.

While many public critics would argue that the song was prima facie crap, those in the Irish delegation are claiming that it's the contest itself that's flawed.

Speaking to the Irish Independent as he arrived in Dublin Airport yesterday, Chris Doran suggested that the voting was less about the song and more about political favoritism. "It was definitely all about politics - big time," he told the Independent.

Meanwhile, Phil "Mr. Eurovision" Coulter, who was also in Turkey at the weekend, told the Independent that Eurovision was now more a spectacle than a song contest: "I wonder if anyone here could whistle the tune that won," he said. Coulter, who was a panelist on RTE's You're A Star, added that Ireland would need to go back to the drawing board next year.

The Independent story, lamenting "our tried-and-tested formula of simple ballads", could well be a case of sour grape emissions, but the inadequacy of You're A Star as a selection process would seem to be a common point of criticism.

John Clarke, the head of 2FM, says that the selection process needs to support the changing nature of the Eurovision itself.

"Finally the word song has gone out of the Eurovision Song Contest. It's now more about the show," he said speaking with hotpress.com earlier today. "I think what has really happened this year is instead of having a song contest you literally have thirty-two individual interval acts."

"Eurovision has come into the MTV age," continued Clarke. "What Eurovision is first of all is a big show that benefits ratings for TV companies. The raw material happened to be a song initially but now it's all about what makes a better show.

"The impact of the visual and the audio will decide what’s good and bad," he continues. "We're talking about who choreographs best and who has the best. You've got three minutes to make an impact and sell the package.

And while the visual element was decidedly lacking in Ireland's entry, the Bryan McFadden-penned song is still making its impact in the Irish record shops.

Clarke is somewhat dubious about the merits of the Bryan McFadden-penned 'If the World Stopped Turning', but he does not deny its place on the 2FM playlist.

"It's a pleasant enough song," he says with hesitation. "We were playing it purely because it's been number 1 for the last 3 weeks so obviously people bought it. If people like it I'll go along with their view of it but it's not my type of music personally. It means nothing. It's yet another ballad and that’s it."

Asked if the McFadden link was perhaps behind the charting power of the teenage market, Clarke remarked, "I think the popularity of the television program drove it up the charts. It's the same as with all the reality television shows, and You're A Star was a reality show."

Not so, says Kevin Linehan, who as the Commissioning Editor of Music at RTE, who stands by the relevance of You're A Star for the Eurovision selection process.

"I don’t see it as a reality show," he said speaking to hotpress.com. "I see it more as a talent show to give young talent an opportunity and to get experience in performing in live venues and on live television. I don’t think that previous Eurovision entrants had the same valuable opportunities to perform live."

Echoing a prevailing consensus of the music industry – which includes the aforementioned panelist, Phil Coulter - John Clarke believes that You're A Star needs to be revamped.

"It's dead in the water," he states. "It was a benefit to RTE television across two years and It was good television, but if you remain true to the Eurovision being a song contest it should be to find a song that represents the best you can send on a given year. Because television is so visual and its going right across Europe into so many different cultures, it's now all about the television presentation."

Linehan, who was attending the extravaganza in Turkey, said that Doran and his backing group Final Four "did our country proud with their performance".

"It was a big ballad in the tradition of most of the winning songs from Ireland have been and there were a lot of other songs with strong ballads, for example Greece, who came third.

"Overall, with the influx of Eastern European countries there seemed to be more production in terms of the staging of songs. That wouldn’t have suited our song as a ballad but it certainly would have an impact in reviewing our overall participation and how we consider it next year. There is now clearly room for more production and dance choreography."

Clarke makes the point that the You're A Star selection process needs to be less about the 'talent show' and more about the final product.

"The songs that were going to represent the country were introduced two or three weeks before the end of the show," he points out. "For thirteen weeks, You're A Star had nothing to do with the Eurovision Song Contest. It is a talent show. Maybe if we were to revisit the six songs, maybe one of those songs was actually better than Doran's but the individual who was chosen to sing it didn’t do it justice."

Linehan, meanwhile, had these final comments about the song selection process:

"In terms of the selection of songs, it's done as a separate process to You're A Star. The panel comprises of myself, Phil Coulter and two other RTE personnel. Contrary to what has been said elsewhere, Louis Walsh is not involved in the selection of the songs."