Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013


Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Irish entry was selected through the national selection Eurosong 2013, organised by Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Ryan Dolan represented Ireland with the song "Only Love Survives", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and finished in 26th place in the final, only managing to achieve 5 points in total.

Before Eurovision

Eurosong 2013

In May 2012, broadcaster RTÉ confirmed that Ireland would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 held in Malmö, Sweden. Eurosong 2013 was the national final format developed by RTÉ in order to select Ireland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition was broadcast as a special edition of The Late Late Show held on 22 February 2013 and hosted by Ryan Tubridy.

Competing entries

In October, RTÉ confirmed that Ireland's song and performer would again be chosen by the Eurosong mentor process, first used in 2011. In November 2012, RTÉ announced the five mentors who would each select a song and the performer for their entry in Eurosong 2013. The mentors were:
RTÉ revealed the names and titles of the competing artists and songs on 6 February 2013. The five songs were presented on 7 February 2013 during the RTÉ Radio 1 programme Mooney.
MentorActSongLanguageWriter
Mairead FarrellKasey"Kiss Me"EnglishDrax
Shay HealyInchequin"Son Kez/The Last Time"English, TurkishHugh O'Neill, Sinead Bradley
Mark McCabeAimée Fitzpatrick"Crashing Down"EnglishRobert Grace
Niall MooneyZoe Alexis Bohorquez"Fire"EnglishLauren White Murphy, Niall Mooney, Willie Weeks
Stuart O’ConnorRyan Dolan"Only Love Survives"EnglishWez Devine, Ryan Dolan

Final

The final took place 22 February 2013. Five entries competed and the winner, "Only Love Survives" performed by Ryan Dolan, was determined by the 50/50 combination of a public vote and a regional jury vote from five regions in Ireland: Cork, Limerick, Galway, Dundalk and Dublin. Each jury region awarded 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 points to their top 5 songs, while the public vote awarded 60, 50, 40, 30 and 20 points to their top 5 songs. Two former Irish Eurovision representatives also made appearances: 1994 winner Paul Harrington accompanied Aimee Fitzpatrick on piano, and 2005 representative Donna McCaul provided backing vocals for Zoe Alexis Bohorquez.
Finnish band Lordi, winners of Eurovision 2006, also made a special appearance on the show, performing their winning song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

At Eurovision

Ireland was allocated to compete in the first semi-final on 14 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the first semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Ireland would perform 13th, following Moldova and preceding Cyprus. The Irish performance featured Dolan supported by two backing vocalists: Leanne Moore and Alison Vard Miller, two backup dancers who also played bodhrán drums: Alan McGrath and Colm Farrell, and a main drummer who used three larger mounted drums: Nick Bailey.
Ireland qualified from the first semi-final, placing 8th and scoring 54 points. At the first semi-final winners' press conference, Ireland was allocated to perform in the second half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Ireland would perform last, following Georgia. Ireland placed last in the final, scoring 5 points. It was the second time after 2007 that the country finished last in the contest.

Points awarded to Ireland

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points
5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

    • Points awarded by Ireland

    Semi-final 1

    Points awarded in the first semi-final:
    12 points
    10 points
    8 points
    7 points
    6 points
    5 points
    4 points
    3 points
    2 points
    1 point

    Final

    Points awarded in the final:
    12 points
    10 points
    8 points
    7 points
    6 points
    5 points
    4 points
    3 points
    2 points
    1 point