Dustin the Turkey has expressed an interest to return to the Eurovision Song Contest, a decade after performing the song ‘Irelande Douze Pointe’ in Belgrade, Serbia. However, rather than representing Ireland once again, the puppet character has stated he would prefer performing for the United Kingdom.
In a recent article with The Irish Mirror, Dustin said:
‘I’m all grown up now. I’m 12. I would love to go and represent the UK in the Eurovision and I’ll tell you why, it’s very simple, you get straight to the final. I would love to do it with the UK. Sure, what have the UK got to lose.’
Dustin has had a chart-topping music career spanning 28 years, including six albums. Many of his songs are parodies based on contemporary chart hits such as the Spice Girls or traditional folk songs. His distinctive comic style, dubbed the ‘most subversive comedy force on Irish television’ was reflected in the lyrics to his Eurovision entry. The song acted as a pastiche of the voting procedure, including references to Ireland’s winning streak in the 1990s and a plea to countries east of the Danube river to vote for him.
Prior to the 2008 contest he was third favourite to win the 53rd edition of Eurovision Song Contest. However, despite Dustin’s feathery efforts he failed to qualify for the final, coming 15th with only 22 points.
We'd completely forgot Dustin The Turkey was 3rd favourite to win the 2008 contest! Didn't quite turn into #IrelandeDouzePointe did it… https://t.co/tVJEcsfnOt
— ESCXTRA.com (@escxtra) March 16, 2017
Reminiscing his experience at the contest, he joked:
‘When RTE came to me and said we’re going to send you off to Eurovision, cos we don’t want to win this thing, here’s ten grand in a brown envelope, I said grand – I got a two week holiday to Serbia.’
United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest
Being a member of the ‘Big 5′, the UK automatically qualifies to the final. The last time they broke into the top 10 was in 2009, with Jade Ewan’s entry “It’s my Time’.
This year SuRie represented the United Kingdom with “Storm” and finished 24th in the final.
Do you think Dustin the Turkey should return to the contest and represent the UK? Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA!
