In Your Eyes (Niamh Kavanagh song)

"In Your Eyes"
Single by Niamh Kavanagh
B-side	"In Your Eyes (instrumental)"
Released	1993
Label	Eureyes
Songwriter(s)	Jimmy Walsh
Eurovision Song Contest 1993 entry
Country	Ireland
Artist(s)	Niamh Kavanagh
Language	English
Composer(s)	Jimmy Walsh
Lyricist(s)	Jimmy Walsh
Conductor	Noel Kelehan
Finals performance
Final result	1st
Final points	187
Entry chronology
◄ "Why Me?" (1992)
"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) ►

"In Your Eyes" is a love ballad recorded by Irish singer Niamh Kavanagh written and composed by Jimmy Walsh. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 held in Millstreet, winning the contest.

Background

Conception

"In Your Eyes" was written and composed by Jimmy Walsh. In the song, the singer tells how, after being lonely, she has found love and heaven in her lover's arms and how it has changed her. ^[1]

In 1992, Walsh, who was based in New York, recorded a demo of the song in a studio there. One of the engineers suggested a girl singer who he knew to record it. A then-unknown Idina Menzel came in and listened to the song. She suggested a key change for the chorus as she found it rather flat. Walsh was concerned that this would make the song too difficult to sing, but Menzel insisted she could do it. She duly recorded the demo and this was sent to Niamh Kavanagh, who was recommended to Walsh as being a singer who could handle the difficult ranges within the song. Kavanagh loved it, but was unsure of wanting to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Eventually, Walsh said that he would withdraw the song if she did not do it, so she agreed to enter with it. ^[2]

Eurovision

On 14 March 1993, "In Your Eyes" performed by Kavanagh competed in the national selection organised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to select its song and performer for the 38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became the Irish entrant –and Kavanagh the performer– for Eurovision. ^[3]

Despite winning the national selection, Kavanagh found it difficult to find a record label willing to release the record due to its association with Eurovision. Eventually, she partly funded the recording herself and released it in limited numbers in Ireland under a made-up label name, Eureyes Music. ^{[4] [5]} During the run-up to the contest, she met Simon Cowell, who was present with the British entrant Sonia. He signed her up to Arista Records and the song was released internationally by them. ^{[2] [6]}

On 15 May 1993, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet hosted by RTÉ, and broadcast live throughout the continent. Kavanagh performed "In Your Eyes" fourteenth on the evening, following Sweden's "Eloise" by Arvingarna and preceding Luxembourg's "Donne-moi une chance" by Modern Times. Noel Kelehan conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Irish entry. ^[7]

At the close of voting, the song had received 187 points, first in a field of twenty-five, winning the contest. ^[8] Kavanagh had a home win, since the contest took place in Ireland due to Linda Martin's win the previous year. It was the second of Ireland's three victories in a row in the early 1990s, the third being in 1994 with "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan.

Aftermath

Kavanagh returned to the contest in 2010 with "It's for You", which came twenty-third out of twenty-five countries in the final (39 in the overall contest), with 25 points.

It was not until 2017, during a documentary on the Irish winners, that Kavanagh learned that the singer on the demo she had heard all those years ago was a young Idina Menzel, who was by then internationally famous. ^[2]

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week wrote that "the winner of the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest has lots of old-fashioned qualities – it's a good song well sung by a striking colleen". He added, "Kavanagh is a talented and gutsy singer." ^[9]

Track listing

1. "In Your Eyes" (Walsh) - 3:10
2. "In Your Eyes (instrumental)" (Walsh) - 3:09

Commercial performance

"In Your Eyes" was the best selling single in Ireland in 1993. It also reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart and was a minor hit in the Netherlands and Germany.

Weekly charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [10]	31
Germany (GfK Entertainment Charts)	83
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) [11]	27
Ireland (IRMA) [4]	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) [12]	2
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [13]	42
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [14] [6]	24

References

1. "In Your Eyes - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
2. Rokit Entertainment (12 December 2017). "Interviews with Jimmy Walsh and Niamh Kavanagh". Irish Eurovision Winners DVD.
3. "Irish Selection 1993". Eurovisionworld.
4. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Niamh Kavanagh". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
5. "Niamh Kavanagh - In Your Eyes". Discogs. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
6. "In your eyes – Niamh Kavanagh". Official Charts . Retrieved 6 December 2023.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1993". Eurovision Song Contest. 15 May 1993. RTÉ / EBU.
8. "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1993 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest .
9. Jones, Alan (5 June 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles" (PDF). Music Week . p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
10. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . 3 June 1993. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
11. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (04.06.1993 - 10.06.1993)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 9 March 2018.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
12. "Niamh Kavanagh - In Your Eyes" (in Dutch). top40.nl. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
13. "Niamh Kavanagh – In Your Eyes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
14. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 297. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.

External links

• " In Your Eyes " at Discogs (list of releases)

Preceded by "Why Me?" by Linda Martin	Eurovision Song Contest winners 1993	Succeeded by "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan