WE USED to be the belle of the Eurovision ball but, in recent years, Ireland has become the Cinderella of the contest, being sent home before the party has even begun.
RTÉ is hoping this will change, however, thanks to a few modifications in the Eurosong format, announced yesterday.
The station is inviting songwriters and performers to submit a song to represent Ireland in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Oslo next May. Entrants can put forward their own performer, but this year the judging panel will make the final decision in matching performer and song.
"We have previously come across good songs to which the performer is not ideally suited, or some great performers let down by a song that doesn't showcase their ability to the full," says long-time panel judge and previous Eurovision winner Linda Martin. Allowing the panel the final say on pairing the song with the performer, Martin believes, will maximise our chances of putting forward a winning entry.
Ireland's entry for Eurovision 2010 will be chosen from five songs to be performed on a Late Late ShowEurosong 2010 special to be aired in March. The judging panel remains unchanged from last year, and comprises Martin, who won in Malmo in 1992 with the Johnny Logan-penned Why Me?, broadcaster Larry Gogan, Universal Music Ireland managing director Mark Crossingham, impresario and choreographer Julian Benson, and head of the Official Eurovision Fan Club of Ireland, Diarmuid Furlong.
A change in the Eurovision voting system may also help. At this year's finals in Moscow, the winner - Norway's Alexander Rybak with Fairytale- was chosen via televotes and jury votes, which reduced so-called "bloc voting".
