For many English-speaking people, and for some slightly older people, Ireland is the king of Eurovision. Especially during the 90s, they were entirely unstoppable at winning the contest, and won it three times in a row. Measures about trying to stop their success were joked about. Now, they have a bit more trouble doing so well, but did well this year with Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s ‘Together’. Let’s see how much you know about their participation with this Ireland quiz.
Junior Eurovision is over, Melodifestivalen announcement is out, we are merely a month away from some of the first national finals, but there’s still time for some trivia in the weeks ahead. I hope you’ll join me.
So You Think You Know… is a series that will arrive each Wednesday, each time focusing on a new active Eurovision country. We are continuing alphabetically, Israel will be next.
How many times have Ireland won the contest as of 2018?
The most successful country in the contest, if you use most wins as your metric. Which most people do of course, but if you're a fan of obscure rating systems then you should know that Ireland are not top on most points ever received, that is either Sweden or United Kingdom, the former I believe overtook the latter recently. But let's just be normal and say Ireland are the most successful country. Well done Ireland.
Which act won Eurovision for Ireland first?
'Terminal 3', the 1984 entry by Linda Martin, talks about which airport?
Dublin only has 2 terminals, although it could have been a theoretical third one maybe? In any case, the song is about someone waiting at Heathrow for their lover to return from America, called so because the writer, Johnny Logan (perhaps you know of him) was in Terminal 3 when he thought of the song. The song ended up outperforming its number and coming 2nd!
Ireland's hostings included a very prominent interval act... Riverdance, who would go on to become internationally famous. Where was the venue where they first performed?
All of these options have been venues for Eurovision, however the correct answer Point Theatre was the venue for Ireland's three most recent hostings, including the one with Riverdance's debut.
Father Ted had an episode about Ireland in Eurovision, where the objective for the characters was to stop Ireland winning. What was their fictional song called?
How many songs with 'Love' in the title have Ireland entered since 2000 (inclusive)?
This includes 'Every Song Is A Cry For Love', 'Love?' and 'Only Love Survives'. They really went for it early on in the century. Fortunately, that last one is the only one in the current decade.
Which nation do Ireland like the best, having given them the most points over the years?
Good for neighbourly voting. The other three listed are lining up right behind the UK though.
Which record do Jedward not hold?
They hold all of those except the identical twins, believe it or not! The other twins include TWiiNs from Slovakia the same year as Jedward, and Tolmachevy Sisters more recently.
Which former Irish entrant competed on this year's X Factor?
Which recent Irish entrant has been the Irish spokesperson for the past 6 years, excluding only the year in which they were a contestant?
He's been quite a busy chap, and it's rare for countries to have such a consistency with their spokespersons. I wonder how long Nicky will continue to do it for.
If you haven’t played our previous quizzes yet, or want to take them again, find them here:
