Irish broadcaster RTÉ have confirmed that Ireland will participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which will be held in Italy. Although the broadcaster has not yet confirmed Ireland’s selection method for next year, their Head of Delegation has previously hinted at a possible return to a national final.
The news of Ireland’s participation was confirmed to ESCToday, as the list of participating countries in next year’s contest continues to grow. Following the 2021 contest in May, Michael Kealy – Ireland’s Head of Delegation – hinted in an interview with The Irish Sun that the Irish public may get a say in Ireland’s selection for Italy.
He said that he “feels it’s time we reverted to giving the public their say in what we do but we must find an effective and cost effective way of doing that”. Ireland last used a national final to select their entry in 2015. Irish pop-rock band Picture This have also said they would consider writing a Eurovision entry for Ireland in the future, as the contest continues to become “cool again”.
Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
After previously being selected to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2020, Lesley Roy returned to represent the seven-time winning country in Rotterdam this year. Her song in 2020 was the upbeat, bubblegum pop-inspired entry “Story of My Life” which was due to be performed seventh in the first semi-final.
A year on, Lesley took to the stage – again, performing in slot number 7 in the first semi-final, with “Maps”. Despite its popularity amongst the Twitter fandom before the contest, Ireland failed to qualify from the semi-final. The song scored just 20 points and therefore finished in last place.
Are you looking forward to hearing Ireland’s entry next year? Do you hope to see the return of a national final?
Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.