Eurovision 2016: Spotlight on Nicky Byrne (Ireland)

Ireland – The next in my Spotlight series for 2016 is Ireland and their representative Nicky Byrne. In a change to their normal selection, Nicky was picked internally by RTE  and he will be singing his song “Sunlight” in the second Semi Final on May 12th.

The Song: “Sunlight”
Music By: Nicky Byrne, Wayne Hector and Ronan Hardiman
Lyrics By: Nicky Byrne, Wayne Hector and Ronan Hardiman

About Nicky Byrne:
One of this years most known and most successful Eurovision Acts, Nicky Byrne was born in Dublin in 1978. Before becoming a singer, Nicky started off his professional life as a football player joining Leeds UTD as a Goalkeeper in 1995. In 1998 he joined what was to become one of the biggest boybands in Europe, Westlife.
In their career Westlife had thirteen UK number ones and twelve Irish Number Ones. In the UK they entered the charts at number One with their first six songs which was a huge feat at the time. As part of their fourteen year run they have worked with the likes of Diana Ross and Mariah Carey with whom they duetted with on their number one single “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)”
Since the Westlife split, Nicky has taken to presenting TV and Radio and has his own radio show on RTE One. He also took part on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 where he finished 6th with dance partner Karen Clifton.

Nicky was chosen internally by RTE in January. A surprise announcement as RTE have chosen their entries by National Selection on the Late Late Show since 2008 (Their last internal selection was 2007’s Dervish). Despite Nicky’s notoriety, Ireland are currently only 24th favourite to win in May.

Lyrics:
(Taken from Eurovision.tv)

Don’t be afraid
It’s only dark
Till the world
Turns round
Just don’t look down
If you’re afraid of
The higher ground
Hold on to me and let
Me hold on to you
We don’t look back
We let it slide out of view
And we can make it if we
Break out beyond these clouds

We’ll be standing out in the
Sunlight
We stay together
We’ll live forever in the
Sunlight
It’s now or never
You know you better
Just touch who you wanna
Kiss who you gotta
Fight like we’re winners
Love like beginners
Dance like you mean it
Sing like you feel it
Everything’s better
Standing out in the sun

Stop for a moment just
To take in the
Sights and sounds
Hold on to me and let
Me hold onto you
We don’t look back
We let it slide out of view
There’s no tomorrow
So let’s live in the here and now

We’ll be standing out in the
Sunlight
We stay together
We’ll live forever in the
Sunlight
It’s now or never
You know you better
Just touch who you wanna
Kiss who you gotta
Fight like we’re winners
Love like beginners
Dance like you mean it
Sing like you feel it
Everything’s better
Standing out in the sun

Come turn me
Inside out upside down
I’ll be your lover boy
Turn the music loud
We can join the crowd
In the sunlight
We stay together
We’ll live forever in the
Sunlight

It’s now or never
You know you better
Just touch who you wanna
Kiss who you gotta
Fight like we’re winners
Love like beginners
Dance like you mean it
Sing like you feel it
Everything’s better
Standing out in the sun

Nicky Byrne on Social Media:
Facebook: Nicky Byrne Offic.
Twitter: @nickybyrne
Official Website: http://nickybyrne.com/

Previously and to Come
Belgium	Iceland	Netherlands
Ireland	Greece	Slovenia
Czech Republic	Lithuania	Bulgaria
Latvia	United Kingdom	Norway
Australia	San Marino	Romania
Finland	Denmark	Armenia
Croatia	Switzerland	Israel
Cyprus	Azerbaijan	Hungary
Poland	FYI Macedonia	Russia
Malta	Spain	Belarus
Austria	Montenegro	Sweden
Germany	Moldova	Serbia
Estonia	Italy	Bosnia & Herzigovina
Ukraine	Albania
France	Georgia