Donna and Joseph McCaul, also known as The McCauls, are a brother and sister musical duo who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Ukraine. They were not pre-qualified for the final, due to Ireland's result from the 2004 contest, which meant they took part in the semi-final on 19 May 2005.
Nicholas Bernard James Adam McGarry Byrne Jr. is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won some awards, becoming one of the most successful Irish boys groups of all time.
Linda Martin is a Northern Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song "Why Me?", the first of a record three consecutive wins by Ireland. She is also known within Ireland as a member of the band Chips.
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The current Irish participant broadcaster in the contest is Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once.
Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through the national final Eurosong 2006, after having previously selected the performer internally. Three songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry.
Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Love?", written by Karl Broderick, and performed by Donna and Joe. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition consisted of 17 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "Love?" performed by Donna and Joe as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.
Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "If My World Stopped Turning", written by Brian McFadden and Jonathan Shorten, and performed by Chris Doran. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition consisted of 14 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "If My World Stopped Turning" performed by Chris Doran as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.
Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "We've Got the World", written by Martin Brannigan and Keith Molloy, and performed by Mickey Joe Harte. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The broadcaster returned to the contest after a one-year absence following their relegation in 2002 as one of the bottom six entrants in 2001. The competition consisted of 20 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "We've Got the World" performed by Mickey Joe Harte as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.
Jonas Gladnikoff is a Swedish songwriter and music producer. Born in Täby, he began songwriting at an early age. Later in life he moved to Åland in Finland before eventually moving to Stockholm. He has written several songs for singers from across Europe, but is best known for writing entries for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and for various national pre-selections. He studied songwriting at the Music Production Academy Musikmakarna, graduating in 2006. He co-wrote the songs that represented Ireland in 2009, 2010 and 2014: "Et Cetera" performed by Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy, "It's for You", performed by 1993 Eurovision winning Niamh Kavanagh, and "Heartbeat" sung by Can-linn.
John and Edward Grimes, collectively known as Jedward, are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, generating a phenomenon of ironic popularity described as "the Jedward paradox". They were the seventh contestant eliminated and were managed by Louis Walsh, who was their mentor during The X Factor.
Wonderland were an Irish girl group formed by Louis Walsh and Westlife band-member Kian Egan. The band were put together after auditions were held for five females in July 2008. Its five members were Jodi Albert, Sharon Condon, Corrina Durran, Leigh Learmont, and Kasey Smith. Wonderland's debut single "Not a Love Song" was released on 25 February 2011 in Ireland and on 6 March 2011 in the United Kingdom. Their eponymous debut album was released on 6 June 2011, the same day as their second single, "Starlight". Wonderland released their third single, "Nothing Moves Me Anymore", in August 2011. The following month, it was announced the band had been dropped by their record label. The group later decided to split up.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Waterline" written by Nick Jarl and Sharon Vaughn. The song was performed by the duo Jedward, who had previously represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 where they achieved eighth place with the song "Lipstick". The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2012 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Five songs faced the votes of five regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Waterline" performed by Jedward as the Irish Eurovision entry.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Only Love Survives" written by Wez Devine and Ryan Dolan. The song was performed by Ryan Dolan. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2013 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. Five songs faced the votes of five regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Only Love Survives" performed by Ryan Dolan as the Irish Eurovision entry.
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.
Hazel Kaneswaran is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter and television personality who has been involved in the Irish music industry since 1996. Among her siblings are model Gail and singers Siva of the group The Wanted and David of the band Zoo.
Can-linn is an Irish music group that represented their country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark along with singer Kasey Smith. "Can-linn" is derived from the Irish Can linn, "Sing with us", and consists of Denice Doyle (violin), Jenni Bowden (vocals), Donna Bissett (vocals) as well as the dancers Tarik Shebani and Thomas Spratt. They performed 9th in the second semi-final on 8 May and failed to qualify for the grand final.
This article lists various songs, albums, festivals, and performances of the year 2014 in Irish music.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Playing with Numbers" written by Greg French and Molly Sterling. The song was performed by Molly Sterling. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2015 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Five songs faced the votes of five regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Playing with Numbers" performed by Molly Sterling as the Irish Eurovision entry.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sunlight" written by Nicky Byrne, Wayne Hector and Ronan Hardiman. The song was performed by Nicky Byrne, who was internally selected in January 2016 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. "Sunlight" was presented as the Irish entry during the announcement of Byrne's internal selection on 13 January 2016.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Dying to Try", sung by Brendan Murray and written by Jörgen Elofsson and James Newman. The song and the singer were internally selected by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Murray's internal selection was announced on 16 December 2016, while "Dying to Try" was presented on 10 March 2017.
