Malmö 2013: We’ve Arrived!

Malmö 2013 – We may be a couple of days late, but Eurovision Times has finally arrived in Malmö! We’ve successfully acquired our press accreditation, worked out the bus routes, found all the Irish pubs, and started meeting up with the delegations. See who we’ve caught up with so far in the first few hours and what our first impressions are in photos from our first evening in Malmö…

Ireland: Can Ryan Dolan make it Eight Wins?

Ireland – The Emerald Isle still holds the record for the most number of wins in the Eurovision Song Contest with seven. Can this year’s representative, Ryan Dolan, make it an eighth? He has a high profile act to follow after Jedward’s previous two excursions. Ryan is today’s second featured artist of the day. Read on to find out more about him and what his chances are in Malmö.

Bonnie Tyler and Ryan Dolan Performances

United Kingdom & Ireland – Last night saw both the UK’s and Ireland’s artists perform on big national TV shows in their respective countries. First up was Bonnie Tyler on the Graham Norton show in London, and then Ryan Dolan on the Late Late Show in Dublin. You can watch Bonnie’s performance here. Ryan can be seen on the RTE player here (1 minute in).

Ireland: Ryan Dolan Visits Russia

Ireland – This year’s Irish representative, Ryan Dolan, has today flown to Russia for some pre-Eurovision promotion. On Sunday evening he will make a guest appearance at the concert of Lena Katina(ex T.a.T.u.) in the gay club Central Station.  He will then will appear at the Russian party at the Capitoliy shopping centre at 15.00 local time on Sunday. The event will be streamed live here.

Ireland: Ryan Dolan Wants YOU in his Video!

Ireland – Ryan Dolan, Ireland’s representative this year, is looking for people to star in his new video of ‘Only Love Survives’. To take part, send a 5 second video of yourself making the heart symbol and saying “Be Love“. You should try to make your entry as interesting as possible by taking the video in front of a flag or famous landmark in your country. 

OGAE Ireland Award The Netherlands 12 Points!

OGAE – The Irish OGAE members this weekend held their annual party and voted for their favourite act. The act with the most votes, as voted by OGAE Ireland for 2013 was The Netherland’s Anouk, singing ‘Birds‘.  Current competition favourite Denmark came a close second. Check out the full results here.

Ireland: National Final Tonight!

Ireland – It’s the national final of Ireland tonight and we see Aimee, Zoë Alexis Bohorquez, Ryan Dolan, Inchequin and Kasey go head to head to win the ticket to Malmö. The final will be live on The Late Late Show tonight on RTÉ One from 22:35 (CET).Special guests for the show are former Finnish Eurovision winners Lordi who will perform Hard Rock Hallelujah‘.

Ireland: Full Songs Online! Vote Now for Your Favourite!

Ireland – The national broadcaster of Ireland, RTE, today premiered the 5 Eurosong finalist songs on Radio 1, and 4 of the artists have released their official videos. The songs will go head to head on 22nd January with the winning song being decided by a split jury / televote. Check out the songs and tell us which is your favourite in our poll.

Ireland: Eurosong Participants Revealed

Ireland – RTE have today revealed the 5 artists that will compete in Ireland’s national Eurosong competition on 22nd February. The last two years have seen Jedward easily beat off competition, but this year Ireland will have a new act representing them…

Ireland: Best of Eurovision Tour to go Overseas

Ireland – Last year saw a successful tour of former Irish Eurovision winners around Ireland. They now intend to take the tour further. Savee Entertainment has announced that due to the phenomenal success of the BEST OF EUROVISION show in 2012, they are delighted to announce that the show will tour again in Autumn 2013 in venues across Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe.

Rumour: Irish Eurosong Excitement Mounts

Ireland – Irish broadcaster RTE will not be confirming acts and songs until 2 weeks before their national final, Eurosong on 22nd February 2013, but the rumour mill has gone into overdrive with possibly all 5 names leaked. Information coming out of RTE and EurovisionIreland hints that 4 of the 5 acts will be female singers. Surprisingly, one of the previous favourites, Leanne Moore is not named after all.

Ireland: Eurosong will be Mentored in February

Ireland – Irish broadcaster RTE today confirmed that their national final, Eurosong, will take place on February 22nd 2013 as part of “The Late Late Show”. As for the last two years, 5 acts will be ‘mentored’ for the contest. It’s rumoured that one of the mentors will be an ex-Eurovision winner. Will it be Linda Martin again after last year’s failure with Jedward? Johnny Logan? Dana or Niamh Kavanagh?  Put it in your diary.

James Mitchell TV: Georgia 2012 Review

 James Mitchell TV – Hello readers! It’s super rainy in Ireland today… SURPRISE! (Please sense my tone) The next review is of Georgia’s ABOMINATION: “I’m a Joker”:
Please be sure to leave your opinions below!

Gossip: Jedward Get Naked

  Gossip – The twins of Jedward are trying to stay in the headlines. They recently celebrated their 650,000 follower on twitter by posting a picture showing them topless and apparently fresh out of the shower. Their new song “Young Love” is currently entering the charts in the lower ranks of a few European countries. Here is the picture from planet Jedward’s twitter page:

Jedward: Eurovision Return for Any Country

  Ireland – The hyperactive twins of Jedward do apparently not have enough of Eurovision. The brothers Grimes represented Ireland in 2011 and 2012. Their participation this year ended in an underwhelming 19th place. Nevertheless, they want to return to the Eurovision stage as early as next year. However, this time they may not represent their native country, but a different European nation. John told the newspaper Daily Star that they may fly the flag for another

Ireland: RTÉ Spends 254.000€ on Eurovision

  Ireland – The Irish newspaper “Mirror” has reported that the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ has spent a total of 254.000€ on its participation in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The channel has to face criticism for the expenses as it has financial difficulties and a big debt. 70.000€ were spent for the participation fee to the EBU, while the Irish delegation needed 76.000€ for accommodation and nutrition.

Ireland: Odds Are For Leanne Moore For Eurovision 2013

  Ireland – Only one month after the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 has come to an end, booking websites have already turned to the next edition. At Paddy Power, user can bet on who will represent Ireland in 2013 in Sweden. The winner at the moment is Leanne Moore. She won the casting show “You’re A Star” shortly after it ceased to be the Irish national final. Moore then tried to represent Ireland in 2010 with the song “Does Heaven need much more?”, but only came 4th in the national final.

Jury Votes of Ireland and Belgium Revealed

  Belgium/Ireland – The official German Eurovision website eurovision.de has contacted all 41  national broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest to ask them for the results of their jury voting. Today the website revealed how both the Irish and the Belgian jury voted in the first semi-final and the grand final. Here is the result:

Ireland: Jedward Won’t Return To Eurovision

  Ireland – After their disappointing result in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Jedward have affirmed that they will not return to the Eurovision Song Contest. The twins told the Mirror: “I think we’ll leave it to somebody else to do it next year. We’ll leave it to a new artist out there who is undiscovered,” John said.

United Kingdom: Englebert hosts Sabina and Jedward

United Kingdom – The BBC today hosted a press event which saw Englebert Humperdinck get together with Azerbaijan’s Sabina, and then Ireland’s Jedward. ‘The Hump’ chatted to the Irish twins about their trademark hair and wore a jedhead. Eurovision Times was there to capture the moment ‘Jenglebert’ was born. Watch the video now.

Eurovision 2012: Big 4 for Open Air Concert

Eurovision 2012 – Good morning from sunny Baku! It’s semifinal 1 day but acts that are not involved are busy doing other things in the beautiful city of Baku. The Eurovillage is hosting lots of musical events, and there are DJs and live acts keeping the party going there on the promenade each day until late. Most of the Big 5 will  perform there tomorrow! Read on for the schedule.

Eurovision 2012: Today’s Rehearsals SF1

Eurovision 2012 – Today saw the resumption of rehearsals by acts in both semifinals. Russia kicked off this morning. They got a huge round of applause in the press conference where journalists were watching on the big screen. They’d also brought a large cut out of themselves where you could put your face in and be a granny!

Eurovision 2012: Second Day of Rehearsals Completed

Eurovision 2012 – Another day’s rehearsals have taken place at the Crystal Hall and reports coming through from Baku say the Russian grannies put on a good first performance, and Ireland had a nice fountain. Israel, San Marino, Cyprus, Hungary, Denmark, Austria and Moldova have also rehearsed. Pasha for Moldova got a bit racy.

Ireland: Linda Martin Looks at Eurovisions Past and Future

Ireland – Eurovision often welcomes back former entrants. This year sees Linda Martin involved again as a mentor of the Irish entry. Linda narrowly lost in 1984 but went on to win in 1992. She has just been interviewed talking about some of her memories from former Song Contests, and she looks ahead to Baku 2012. See what she’s got to say about some of this year’s entries and how she misses the orchestra.

Ireland: Jedward Show Off Eurovision Tattoos

Ireland – Irish hopefuls, Jedward, today revealed they’d had Eurovision tattoos… but are they real or is it just a publicity stunt? Revealing the Eurovision logo tattoos in a video on Muzu.tv, John Grimes opted for his tattoo on his right arm, whilst younger twin, Edward Grimes, had his completed on the back of his neck. Have the terrible two really been permanently inked in honour of their love of Eurovision?

Ireland: Watch Jedward’s ‘Waterline’ Video

Ireland – Another video that was released this week is Jedward‘s ‘Waterline‘ video. It is made up of video footage from their national final, and includes rehearsals, the performance on the night, backstage footage and celebrating with fans. This apparently will not be their official video for the song, but is the official video for Eurovision.

Ireland: Jedward to Represent Ireland for Second Year Running

Ireland – Dublin’s Eurosong has sent the Jedward twins back to Eurovision for the second year running. After finishing 8th last year in Dusseldorf with ‘Lipstick‘ the Dublin duo easily won the Irish national final again this year. They will perform the pop song ‘Waterline’ in Baku, which was written by Nick Jarl and Sharon Vaughan.

Ireland: Eurosong Final Songs Online

Ireland – National broadcaster RTE have finally revealed the five songs that will compete in the Eurosong final on the Late Late Eurovision Special show on in Dublin 24th February.The five songs were played on the Derek Mooney show, which began with a look back at Ireland’s success in the contest over the years. You can hear the whole show on the RTE website.

Ireland: Jedward Enlist Westlife Writer’s Help

  Ireland – The Irish Independent  has today revealed more details about the zany twins’ entry for Eurovision this year. The newspaper exclusively announced this morning that pop duo Jedward have enlisted the help of a top Westlife songwriter. Swede Nick Jarl has written tracks for the last four albums by the million- selling Irish boyband and now he has contributed a new song “Waterline” for the twins.