The news desk is the place to find information concerning upcoming Irish entries, results of the Amhran competition, and the International Song Contest in general. Check back often for updates!
Thanks to Órla Fallon's recent victory at ISC 46, Ireland has the honor and privilege of hosting the 47th International Song Contest. However, for this edition, the Irish delegation has plans for something different with regards to the host city. Due to the fact that Ireland's nearest neighbor United Kingdom came in second in the final results, the next edition of ISC will be co-hosted by Ireland and the UK, and held in the capital city of Northern Ireland, Belfast!
The Irish delegation is thrilled to have the opportunity to stage the contest in Belfast, and with the added support of the United Kingdom delegation, ISC 47 promises to be an outstanding show!
The votes of the 46th International Song Contest have been counted and revealed, and by a margin of 33 points, Órla Fallon has claimed a victory for Ireland with the song "Dancing in the Moonlight." This is the second time Ireland has won this year; the first was in March, when Lisa Kelly narrowly defeated Edyta Gorniak of Poland for the grand prix of ISC 38. In 2008, Ireland was the most successful ISC participant country to not yet have won, and a year later, Ireland have emerged victorious twice! Taio Cruz, representing neighbour country United Kingdom came second place with 137 points. Agnes, the Swedish representative, also received 137 points, but ultimately finished third on countback. Caro Emerald of the Netherlands ranked fourth, and Luca Napolitano of Italy rounded out the top five.
The Irish delegation gives its heartiest congratulations to the wonderful Órla Fallon, who represented Ireland wonderfully and gave us the opportunity to bring the International Song Contest back to the Emerald Isle early next year. Also, an enormous THANK YOU is in order, for the countries who awarded points to the Irish entry! Thanks for your support and we'll see you in ISC 47!
posted Nov 17, 2009 5:57 PM by Justin Kavanagh
The envelopes have been opened, and the 22 lucky finalists have been made known. The Irish delegation is please to announce that Órla Fallon, with the song "Dancing in the Moonlight," has advanced to the grand final of ISC 46! The Irish delegation wishes Órla the best of luck at the final in Tallin! Thank you to all the countries who voted for us in the Semi-Final!
Ireland's representatives in ISC in the year 2009.
Top row (left to right): Anúna (8th), Lisa Kelly (1st), The Walls (25th), The Script (5th), Padraig Rushe (15th)
Bottom Row (left to right): Solari (17th; no photo available), Naimee Coleman (22nd), Don Mescall (DNQ), Lisa Hannigan (5th), Órla Fallon (1st)
In 2009, I participated in ISC as head of the Irish delegation for the whole year, submitting entries for each of the ten editions. Now, I'd like to quickly review the year, its highs and lows.
After having participated in ISC 35 and ISC 36, coming in 22nd with Lucia Evans and failing to qualify with Dirty Epics, respectively, it was time for a new strategy. For ISC 37, Ireland was represented by Anúna and "Ríu Ríu." While during the voting sequence, Ireland appeared to rank 9th out of 26 countries in the final, an error in tallying the votes worked in Anúna's favour, and they finished up one on 8th place.
A national final was held to select the representative for ISC 38, and Lisa Kelly and the song "Caledonia." Lisa ranked second in the semi-finals, but came an astonishing first place in the grand final, winning out over runner-ups Poland by a single point! This victory brought the International Song Contest to Ireland for the first time.
At ISC 39 in Cork, The Walls and "Ain't Nobody" represented Ireland after winning the national final. A fate that befalls many host countries, Ireland did not score well, ranking 25th (second-last) with 42 points and were knocked back into the semi-finals for the next edition. ISC 40 was held in Skopje, and The Script and "BreakEven" were selected to bring Ireland back to the top, and they very nearly did. Leading throughout a significant portion of the voting sequence, Ireland eventually fell back into 5th place, barely missing out on automatic qualification for the next edition.
The next three editions (ISC 41, 42 and 43) yielded mediocre results for Ireland. Represented by Padraig Rushe, Solari and Naimee Coleman, Ireland managed to qualify to the final each time, but failed to crack the top ten, coming in 15th, 17th and 22nd, respectively. Ireland's 17th place finish in the semi-finals of ISC 44 failed to qualify Don Mescall to the grand final, and broke a string of seven straight final appearances. Returning to an internal selection after the string of declining results, Ireland was represented by Lisa Hannigan in ISC 45, with the song "I Don't Know." Lisa ranked second in the semi-final, and finished the grand final with a solid 5th place. Ireland built on this momentum at ISC 46, where Órla Fallon performed "Dancing in the Moonlight," bringing home Ireland's second victory.
It's time for another edition of the International Song Contest, and the Irish representative has been announced. Thirty-five-year-old Wicklow native Órla Fallon has been internally selected by the Irish delegation to participate in ISC 46 in Tallin, Estonia. Órla will compete with the song "Dancing in the Moonlight."
Ireland ranked 5th in the previous International Song Contest, where Lisa Hannigan's entry "I Don't Know" collected a total of 137 points in the final. Though this was the best result for Ireland in five editions, it wasn't enough to gain automatic entry into the final. Therefore, Órla will compete 15th in the running order of the second semi-final, with hopes of being one of the lucky eleven qualifiers.
The Irish delegation wishes Órla Fallon and all the participants of ISC 46 the very best of luck!
The 22 qualifiers from the semi-finals of ISC 45 have been announced, and Ireland is among them! Lisa Hannigan and "I Don't Know" brought Ireland back to the grand final after Don Mescall failed to qualify last edition. Performing 11th in the running order, Lisa hopes to bring Ireland back to the top of the scoreboard! Best of luck!
posted Oct 3, 2009 11:37 AM by Justin Kavanagh
The Irish delegation has taken a look at the points given and received between ISC 36 and ISC 44 to see where Ireland's points are going, and from where they're coming.
Points from Ireland
Since ISC 36, Ireland has voted in 9 semi-finals and 9 grand finals, and awarded a total of 1,044 points. The top ten recipients of Ireland's points are:
1. Italy (83 points)
2. United Kingdom (72)
3. Israel (70)
4. Serbia (63)
5. Netherlands (53)
6. FYR Macedonia (45)
6. Montenegro (45)
8. Slovakia (43)
9. France (37)
10. Norway (36)
Ireland has awarded a total of 18 "douze points" since ISC 36. The United Kingdom has received 4 of them, followed by Serbia and Israel with 3 each. If we look at total top marks (12, 10 and 8 points), of which Ireland has awarded 54, then Serbia and Italy lead the count with 6 each. The United Kingdom has received 5, and Israel, Slovakia and Netherlands have each gotten 4.
Points to Ireland
Since ISC 36, Ireland has competed in 8 semi-finals and 7 grand finals, and received a total of 1,266 points. Irish entries have received the most points from:
1. Slovakia (82 points)
2. Japan (80)
3. Iceland (66)
4. Lithuania (64)
5. Canada (57)
6. Portugal (56)
7. Belgium (53)
8. Germany (50)
9. Netherlands (49)
10. Slovenia (47)
Ireland has received a total of 17 "douze points" since ISC 36. Three of them have come from Japan, and two each from Iceland, Germany and Slovakia. If we look at total top marks (12, 10 and 8 points), of which Ireland has received 69, then Iceland and Slovakia lead the count with 6 each. Canada and Japan each gave 5, and Lithuania, United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany have each given 4.
Irish songbird Lisa Hannigan hopes to bring her native country back to the final at ISC 45 in St. Petersburg. She will perform the song "I Don't Know."
The results of Amhrán 44 have been published, and the song "One of Those Days" performed by Don Mescall has won the chance to represent the Emerald Isle in Erfurt! "One of Those Days" was the clear leader amongst the International Jury and the second-favorite of the Internal Jury, and took the lead with 18 points. The full results are listed below:
01 - "One of Those Days" - Don Mescall - 18 points
02 - "Another Day" - Karan Casey - 16 points
03 - "Addicted" - Louise Moran - 9 points
04 - "Melody of LIfe" - Lynn Hillary - 8 points
05 - "Your Love Pulled Me In" - Mickey Coleman - 7 points
06 - "Broadway" - Eleventh Note - 4 points
The Irish delegation wishes the best of luck to Don Mescall at ISC 44!
posted Aug 10, 2009 8:43 PM by Justin Kavanagh
Tonight, the big, long-awaited results show of ISC 43 was held. The 26 countries that qualified to the final were all very deserving of their places, as the quality in this edition was unprecedented. At the close of the voting, the Irish hopeful Naimee Coleman collected a grand total of 67 points, which gave her a disappointing 22nd place.
Though Ireland finished much farther down the scoreboard than anticipated, the delegation's feelings were bolstered by the fact that "Ordinary World" qualified from the second semi-final in third place! Wow, what a difference.
The Irish delegation is still seeking participants in the national final for ISC 44, the information for which can be found HERE. We hope to submit a song that can place well in both the semi-final and the grand final show next edition!
