Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) confirmed its intentions to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 on 14 September 2018.^[6] On 4 October 2018, the broadcaster opened a submission period where artists and composers "with a proven track record of success in the music industry" were able to submit their entries until 23 November 2018. In addition to the public submissions, RTÉ reserved the right to approach established artists and composers to submit entries and to match songs with different artists to the ones who submitted an entry.^[7] At the closing of the deadline, 440 entries were received and 70 entries were shortlisted in January 2019. Rumours of the Irish contestant included former One Direction member Niall Horan, Una Healy from the Saturdays and former X Factor contestant Janet Devlin; however both Horan and Delvin denied the rumours.^[8]

On 8 March 2019, RTÉ announced that they had internally selected Sarah McTernan to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv.^[9] McTernan had previously attempted to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.^[10] Along with the announcement that McTernan would represent Ireland on 8 March, name of the song to be performed by McTernan, "22", which was selected by various focus groups that featured music experts, journalists, Eurovision fans and BIMM students, was announced.^[8][11] The song was written by Janieck Devy, Marcia "Misha" Sondeijker and Roel Rats,^[10] and was released to Spotify and iTunes on 29 March.^[12]

For promotion of the entry, a music video was filmed at the Dollymount Strand in Dublin that features McTernan in a large pink coat by the sea.^[13] McTernan's first live performance of the song took place on 10 March, during the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars.^[14] She also performed at Eurovision fan events in London and Madrid.^[15] Additionally, McTernan travelled to Israel to film her introductory postcard, used in the show to introduce her entry. The postcard depicts McTernan at Eilot date orchard, riding a horse and dancing among the date trees.^[16][17]

Prior to the contest, several groups called for Ireland to boycott the contest due to Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people. The winner of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, Charlie McGettigan and the host of the 1997 contest, Carrie Crowley, were part of a group calling on Ireland to boycott the competition.^[18] Micheál Mac Donncha, who was Lord Mayor of Dublin at the time, called for a boycott of the competition, stating his belief that "the horrific ordeal of the Palestinian people needs to be highlighted",^[19] while his Sinn Féin colleague Lynn Boylan of the European Parliament wrote to RTÉ to encourage them not to participate that year.^[20] Ireland's Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney spoke against a boycott, saying that it would "polarise things even further".

In response to these calls, RTÉ stated that the contest was a non-political event, but that it would not sanction any member of staff who did not want to travel to the contest.^[21]

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 14 and 16 May and the grand final on 18 May 2019. It was held at Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel.^[22] According to Eurovision rules, all participating nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final, however, the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.^[23] On 28 January 2019, 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. Ireland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[24]

The running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 rather than through another draw; this was done to ensure a cohesive show and mitigate the possibility of similar songs being performed consecutively.^[25] Both of the semi-finals were broadcast on RTÉ2 while the final was broadcast on RTÉ One.^[26][27] The television broadcasts featured commentary by Irish television personality Marty Whelan.^[28]

On 16 May 2019, Ireland performed 2nd in the second semi final, following the entry from Armenia and preceding the entry from Moldova.^[29] The performance was themed to fit a 1950s diner and featured McTernan spinning on a bar table and drinking milkshakes.^[30] She was praised for her vocal performance.^[30]

At the end of the show, Ireland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the grand final. It was later revealed that country placed last at number 18 in the semi-final, receiving a total of 16 points: 3 points from the televoting and 13 from the juries.^[31]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. The jury judged each entry 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 was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.^[32]

Points awarded to Ireland (Semi-final 2)^[31]

Score	Televote	Jury
12 points
10 points
8 points		Italy
7 points
6 points
5 points		Moldova
4 points
3 points	United Kingdom
2 points
1 point

The following members comprised the Irish jury:^[32]

• Paddy McKenna (jury chairperson) – singer, songwriter, band lead singer, broadcaster
• Emma Reynolds – singer
• Jennifer O'Brien – music and entertainment journalist
• Aidan O'Connor – songwriter
• Ronan Hardiman – composer, songwriter

Detailed voting results from Ireland (Semi-final 2)^[31]

R/O	Country	Jury							Televote
		P. McKenna	E. Reynolds	J. O'Brien	A. O'Connor	R. Hardiman	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Armenia	16	11	4	10	7	9	2	16
02	Ireland
03	Moldova	15	13	13	14	14	16		13
04	Switzerland	8	1	2	1	6	2	10	5	6
05	Latvia	17	15	16	17	10	17		11
06	Romania	14	9	12	15	11	15		10	1
07	Denmark	7	3	17	12	9	8	3	9	2
08	Sweden	3	2	3	2	1	1	12	6	5
09	Austria	13	12	15	3	17	12		17
10	Croatia	6	8	7	13	12	10	1	12
11	Malta	5	14	10	5	8	7	4	7	4
12	Lithuania	9	17	8	7	16	13		1	12
13	Russia	12	10	9	11	5	11		4	7
14	Albania	4	16	14	16	15	14		15
15	Norway	1	7	6	4	13	4	7	2	10
16	Netherlands	2	4	1	8	4	3	8	3	8
17	North Macedonia	11	6	5	9	2	5	6	14
18	Azerbaijan	10	5	11	6	3	6	5	8	3

Detailed voting results from Ireland (Final)^[33]

R/O	Country	Jury							Televote
		P. McKenna	E. Reynolds	J. O'Brien	A. O'Connor	R. Hardiman	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	13	16	17	6	9	11		15
02	Albania	11	24	21	25	24	22		25
03	Czech Republic	23	12	20	14	10	19		16
04	Germany	3	23	11	19	16	9	2	23
05	Russia	15	7	10	16	7	8	3	6	5
06	Denmark	10	9	25	18	15	14		12
07	San Marino	24	18	26	23	22	25		22
08	North Macedonia	9	6	5	8	3	6	5	17
09	Sweden	6	2	1	2	1	1	12	9	2
10	Slovenia	25	20	23	26	25	26		19
11	Cyprus	18	17	13	9	20	18		20
12	Netherlands	2	3	2	10	4	3	8	3	8
13	Greece	26	15	24	11	23	21		26
14	Israel	22	25	18	3	18	12		18
15	Norway	1	8	6	4	14	5	6	1	12
16	United Kingdom	12	19	12	13	12	16		8	3
17	Iceland	17	10	15	12	21	17		5	6
18	Estonia	19	13	22	7	17	13		10	1
19	Belarus	14	22	16	24	19	23		21
20	Azerbaijan	5	5	7	5	2	4	7	13
21	France	16	21	8	22	11	15		14
22	Italy	7	14	9	20	8	10	1	7	4
23	Serbia	21	11	19	15	13	20		24
24	Switzerland	4	1	3	1	5	2	10	4	7
25	Australia	8	4	4	17	6	7	4	2	10
26	Spain	20	26	14	21	26	24		11