Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 17 January 2011, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.^[12] Ireland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2011, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 15 March 2011 and Ireland was set to perform last in position 19, following the entry from Denmark.^[13]

In Ireland, the semi-finals were broadcast on RTÉ Two and the final was broadcast on RTÉ One with commentary by Marty Whelan.^[14] The second semi-final and final were also broadcast via radio on RTÉ Radio 1 with commentary by Shay Byrne and Zbyszek Zalinski.^[15] The Irish spokesperson, who announced the Irish votes during the final, was Derek Mooney.

Jedward took part in technical rehearsals on 4 and 8 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May. This included the jury show on 11 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Irish performance featured Jedward dressed in red sequence jackets with shoulder pads.^[16] The performance began with John Grimes performing the opening line of the song in the centre of the stage followed by Edward Grimes lying on the stage floor and performing the second line, with John later pulling Edward up and continuing the performance, which they concluded by tossing over. The LED screens displayed silhouettes of Jedward dancing in the background alternating with big red lips flashing, with the stage lighting being dominantly in red.^[17] Jedward was joined on stage by four backing vocalists: the co-composer of "Lipstick" Dan Priddy, David O'Connor, Leanne Moore and Morgan Deane.^[18]

At the end of the show, Ireland was announced as having finished in the top 10 and consequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed eighth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 68 points.^[19]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final and Ireland was drawn to perform in position 6, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Sweden.

Jedward once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Jedward performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Ireland placed eighth in the final, scoring 119 points and achieving Ireland's highest position in the contest since 2000.

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Ireland had placed sixth with the public televote and tenth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Ireland scored 78 points, while with the jury vote, Ireland scored 66 points. In the final, Ireland had placed tenth with the public televote and sixth with the jury vote. In the public vote, Ireland scored 101 points, while with the jury vote, Ireland scored 119 points.^[20][21]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

• RTÉ's official Eurovision site