Cork singer on a Eurovision mission

THE days when Ireland got excited at the prospect of a Eurovision Song Contest win - or, indeed, of even having a decent contender in the final - are sadly long gone.

But hope springs eternal - and maybe 2022 will be the year we add to our (still) record seven victories in the annual music bash.

Fans get the chance to select the Irish entry in a special Eurosong edition of The Late Late Show on Friday, February 4, at 9.35pm. 

Among the six songs on show is one performed by a Cork singer. Patrick O’Sullivan, of Ballinlough, a West End performer, will sing One Night, One Kiss, One Promise, which was co-written by Westlife’s Nicky Byrne.

The six songs were selected from hundreds of entries received by RTÉ following a call-out for submissions last September.

They received their first play on The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 in recent weeks, and next Friday a winner will be chosen by a combination of national jury, international jury and public vote, and go on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, in May.

The other five contenders are:

Brendan Murray, of Tuam, formerly of boy band Hometown, who represented Ireland in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest and came fifth in The X Factor. He co-wrote his entry, Real Love.

Rachel Goode, also of Galway, a classically trained soprano, who sings I’m Loving Me.

Dublin singer-songwriter Janet Grogan’s, whose entry is entitled Ashes Of Yesterday. She was the longest-running contestant on the recent RTÉ show Last Singer Standing, making it to the final.

Derry singer Brooke Scullion, who was a co-writer on her entry, That’s Rich. She was a finalist of The Voice UK in 2020, mentored by Grammy award-winning coach and singer Meghan Trainor.

Sligo-based Miles Graham with Yeah We’re Gonna Get Out Of It.