Rock 'n' Roll Kids

Last updated
"Rock 'n' Roll Kids"
Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan - Rock 'n' Roll Kids.jpg
Single by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan
B-side "Rock 'N' Roll Kids (Acoustic Mix)"
Released1994
Songwriter(s) Brendan Graham
Eurovision Song Contest 1994 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Brendan Graham
Conductor
None
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
226
Entry chronology
◄ "In Your Eyes" (1993)
"Dreamin'" (1995) ►

"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" is a song recorded by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan written by Brendan Graham. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 held in Dublin, resulting an unprecedented third consecutive time that the same country had won the contest, being Ireland's sixth overall win.

Contents

Background

Conception

"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" was written by Brendan Graham. Lyrically, the song originally had seven verses, representing various decades including the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s but on the advice of a DJ, Graham dropped the last two verses as they felt the song was too long. Graham got the inspiration for the title while attending a Fats Domino concert at Dublin's National Stadium in 1991. He entered it in 1992 and 1993 and it failed to get through both times, but was accepted in 1994. According to Graham, "I saw the song as a small song, as a conversation in the kitchen, and I wanted the listeners to be drawn into that kitchen, and into that conversation". [1]

Eurovision

On 13 March 1994, "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan competed in the national selection organised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to select its song and performer for the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition, so it became the Irish entrant — and McGettigan and Harrington the performers — for Eurovision. [2]

There was a myth among Irish media that the song was deliberately chosen not to win. As the contest rules expect the previous year's winner to host the next edition of the contest, the argument runs that RTÉ was not prepared to do this for a third consecutive year, hence the selection; this has never been proven. Even when Ireland hosted the event in 1997, Irish entrant Marc Roberts confirmed that RTÉ wanted him to go out and win it, as they had done a deal with the BBC to host it the following year in case of another Irish victory.

On 30 April 1994, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Point Theatre in Dublin hosted by RTÉ, and broadcast live throughout the continent. McGettigan and Harrington performed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" third on the evening, following Finland's "Bye Bye Baby" by CatCat and preceding Cyprus' "Ime Anthropos Ki Ego" by Evridiki. [3]

At the close of voting, it had received 226 points, placing first in a field of twenty-five, winning the contest. [4] It was the first winning song ever to be performed without orchestral accompaniment, as McGettigan's guitar and Harrington's piano were the only instruments needed. It was also the first time in the contest that a song scored over 200 points and the third consecutive win for Ireland, sixth overall. The song was succeeded as winner in 1995 "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden representing Norway. It was succeeded as Irish representative that year by "Dreamin'" by Eddie Friel.

Aftermath

In the Eurovision fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest , held on 22 October 2005 in Copenhagen, McGettigan and Jakob Sveistrup performed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" as part of the interval act. [5]

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of their victory, Harrington and McGettigan performed a gig in the Sugar Club in Dublin in 2014. Graham reminisced about the inspiration of the song while accepting his Eurovision trophy: "As I stood on the stage at the Point Depot, through the applause and the cheers, I heard a sound roll in over the Liffey Banks – the sound of a rollin', rumbling piano… and for a moment, I wasn't there. I was back in the Stadium on Bourbon Street, on that steamy Dublin night in 1991. Thank you Fats!"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1994)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [6] 42
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [7] 30
Ireland (IRMA) [8] 2

Legacy

Following three consecutive Irish victories in the ESC in 1992, 1993, and 1994, writers of the Father Ted comedy series wrote an episode entitled "A Song For Europe" jumping on the idea that RTÉ would pick a song that would lose on purpose.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurovision Song Contest 1995</span> International song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 13 May 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Mary Kennedy, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1994 contest with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. It was the third consecutive contest to be held in Ireland – the first and only time in the history of the event that a country has hosted three editions in a row – and the second consecutive edition to be held in the Point Theatre in Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurovision Song Contest 1994</span> International song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1993 contest with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country had hosted two successive editions of the contest, following the previous year's contest held in Millstreet.

Paul Harrington is an Irish musician, who, with Charlie McGettigan, won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in 1994.

Charles Joseph McGettigan is an Irish singer. He lives in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. 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. However, all of Ireland's victories were decided by juries only, in the era before public voting became the norm in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Kinds of Everything</span> 1970 song by Dana

"All Kinds of Everything" is a song recorded by Irish singer Dana written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 held in Amsterdam, resulting in the country's first ever win at the contest. The recording became an international hit.

<i>Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest</i> Television programme

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy, who was internally selected in November 2005 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. RTÉ organised the national final Eurosong 2006 to select the song that Kennedy would perform. Three songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Your Eyes (Niamh Kavanagh song)</span> 1993 song by Niamh Kavanagh

"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.

Sheeba were an all-girl pop trio popular in Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were Maxi, Marion Fossett and Frances Campbell. They are best known for representing the host nation, Ireland, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 with "Horoscopes".

"A Song for Europe" is the fifth episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 11th episode overall. It originally aired on 5 April 1996 and has since been recognised as one of the most popular episodes of the show.

Brendan Graham is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Raise Me Up" (2002), which was an international hit recorded by various artists, including Josh Groban.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Irelande Douze Pointe" written by Darren Smith, Simon Fine and Dustin the Turkey. The song was performed by children's show puppet Dustin the Turkey. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2008 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. Six songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Irelande Douze Pointe" performed by Dustin the Turkey as the Irish Eurovision entry.

After winning the 1992 and 1993 contests with female soloists, Ireland selected Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan to represent them in 1994.

Ireland was represented by Johnny Logan with the song "Hold Me Now" in the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Et Cetera" written by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling. The song was performed by Sinéad Mulvey and the band Black Daisy. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2009 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Six songs faced the votes of four regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Et Cetera" performed by Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy 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.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together", sung by Ryan O'Shaughnessy and written by O'Shaughnessy, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes. The Irish song and the singer for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal were internally selected by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). O'Shaughnessy's internal selection was announced on 31 January 2018, while "Together" was presented on 9 March 2018.

The Czech Republic participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "Lights Off" performed by the band We Are Domi. The Czech broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) organised the national final ESCZ 2022 in order to select the Czech entry for the 2022 contest. Seven entries competed in the national final and "Lights Off" performed by We Are Domi was announced as the winner on 16 December 2021 following the combination of votes from a twelve-member international jury panel, an international public vote and a Czech public vote.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song "That's Rich" performed by Brooke. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2022 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2022 contest. Six songs faced the votes of an international jury, a studio jury and a public televote which ultimately resulted in the selection of the Irish Eurovision entry.

References

  1. Lynch, Michael (2016). What's Another Year (First ed.). Dublin: Liberties Press. p. 133. ISBN   978-1-910742-43-3.
  2. "Irish Selection 1994". Eurovisionworld.
  3. "Eurovision Song Contest 1994". Eurovision Song Contest. 30 April 1994. RTÉ / EBU.
  4. "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1994 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest .
  5. "Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. 22 October 2005. DR / EBU.
  6. "Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan – Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  7. "Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan – Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  8. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Paul Harrington". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1994
Succeeded by