The 2013 edition of the Late Late Show Eurosong special will be taking place on Friday, 22nd February 2013 and will be hosted by Ryan Turbidy on RTE 1. This has been the setting for the national final for the past couple of years, excluding the 2008 process which took place in a more formal environment hosted within The Helix, which nows plays as the venue for The Voice of Ireland. John and Edwards, more commonly known as Jedward have represented Ireland for the past two years, with Lipstick and Waterline, qualifying to the final and achieving an eighth and twentieth place respectively. The profile of the competition in Ireland is on the rise and major stars in the industry have already started to voice their support from the competing artists.

British X Factor Judge, Louis Walsh who is the manager of Ronan Keating and Boyzone whilst having headed the careers of Girls Aloud, Samantha Mumba and Westlife, has publicly gone onto support Kasey with the track Kiss Me There. This is not a total surprise considering that Kasey was one of the vocalists in the band Wonderland managed by the aforementioned Louis Walsh in unison with Kian Egan, former member of Westlife who is now a mentor of The Voice of Ireland. In the past two years, Louis Walsh, manager of the group Jedward was very much outspoken about the Eurovision Song Contest and it is quite intriguing to see that his involvement from the days of Johnny Logan and Linda Martin hasn't really dwindled.

Michelle Heaton, one of the performers within the successful British group, Liberty X has also spoken out about the Irish Eurosong special, in favour of none other than Zoe Alexis Bohorquez who will be taking part with the track Fire co-written between Niall Mooney, Lauren White and Willie Weeks. The song, which is being said to be one of the favourites has attracted the support of the star, as she currently participants in the show known as The Big Reunion airing on ITV2 where the nineties girlbands and boybands have come together for another hurrah so to speak. With experienced, Niall Mooney behind her, Zoe might be a shoe in for the position, and people will be able to buy the song on iTunes soon enough. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all the latest.

Source: Eurovision Ireland

The Late Late Show Eurosong 2013 will be taking place in a couple of weeks and preparations are well underway at RTÉ who revealed the competing entries in the past couple of hours. Critics have commented extremely positively with regards to the presented material and believe that Ireland could get into the final for the fourth consecutive year following the success achieved by Niamh Kavanagh with It's For You in 2010, and Jedward with Lipstick and Waterline in 2011 and 2012 respectively. One of the entries in the selection process entitled Fire performed by Zoe Alexis will have quite the team around her, as revealed to the Irish media earlier today.

Former Eurovision Song Contest representative; Donna McCaul who just happens to be the partner of songwriter; Lauren White, and last years' second runner-up in the Eurosong competition with the track Mercy will be one of the three female backing vocalists on the team alongside Nikki Kavanagh who competed to represent the country back in 2011 finishing in the first runner-up position with Falling. It is also worth pointing out that in 2011, Donna McCaul was a backing vocalist for Janvil in his performance of Topsy Turvy with the track being co-written by Niall Mooney, the composer of the track Fire and mentor of Zoe Bohorquez. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news about Ireland in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

Source: Eurovision Ireland

In a press release published yesterday by RTÉ, the broadcaster responsible for the participation of Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest, the five acts competing to represent the nation were made knowledgable to the public but nevertheless, the entries were presented earlier this afternoon on The Mooney Show which airs on RTÉ Radio 1. The most intriguing element to the tracks is that only one stands out from the rest and the reason being that it is a ballad, rather than a pop/dance track, an element which is found in three of the five entries presented.

For the past two years, Ireland have been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest by the group Jedward managed by Louis Walsh and it seems that the manager might have a slight involvement this year considering that Kasey was part of the girlband Wonderland which was managed by Louis Walsh and Kim Egan of Westlife. Nevertheless, the focus of the selection seems to be varied and whilst the people might be in general consensus that Ireland will do well, they might not have the track to achieve victory. You can listen to the songs just below.

Son Kez / The Last Time - Inchequin (Hugh O'Neill / Sinead Bradley)

Crashing Down - Aimée Fitzpatrick (Robert Grace)

Fire - Zoe Alexis Bohorquez (Niall Mooney / Lauren White / Willie Weeks)

One Love Survives - Ryan Dolan (Wez Devina / Ryan Dolan)

Kiss Me There - Kasey (Drax)

The Late Late Show Eurosong 2013 will be taking place on the 22nd February 2013 at 21:00 CET and considering the way that things have been organised in the past two years, it will most likely be a showcase of discussion and music with a panel of critics speaking their mind on the entries in front of the contestants whilst a regional jury and a public tele-vote will decide on the winner. escflashmalta.com will continue bringing you the latest news and will be covering the selection process live, so we hope that you stay tuned.

Source: ESC Ireland, RTÉ

RTÉ, the public broadcaster in Ireland and member of the European Broadcasting Union is a prominent figure at the esteemed Eurovision Song Contest, holding the record for most victories, currently tallying at seven. For the past two years, through multi-entry national selections, Jedward were selected as representatives with the tracks Lipstick and Waterline which both took the nation to the final instilling a sense of pride whilst garnering support from a younger demographic. The acts that will be taking part in this years' Eurosong have just been announced in an official press release with some amendments from the originally planned release.

Mairead Farrell, one of the members was looking forward to working with Melanie McCabe but a late withdrawal had to take place due to other commitments. Nevertheless, she managed to find an act as a replacement and is said to be quite happy with the choice. The others mentors to have been included in the selection process are songwriters; Niall Mooney and Shay Healy, both of whom have already been to the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as Stuart O'Connor known for his work as a choreography with Jedward and last but not least, a disc jockey by the name of Mark McCabe. The selections seem to include a rather fresh approach in a bid to keep the younger demographic intact.

• Kiss Me There - Kasey (Drax)
• Son Kez / The Last Time - Inchequin (Hugh O'Neill / Sinead Bradley)
• Crashing Down - Aimée Fitzpatrick (Robert Grace)
• Fire - Zoe Alexis Bohorquez (Niall Mooney / Lauren White / Willie Weeks)
• One Love Survives - Ryan Dolan (Wez Devina / Ryan Dolan)

The five entries will be presented tomorrow afternoon on The Mooney Show which airs on  RTÉ Radio from 1pm to 3pm (Irish Time). The Eurosong 2013 selection taking place on The Late Late Show will air on Friday, 22nd February. The result will be decided through a mixture of tele-voting and jury voting. The winner in Ireland will be heading to the Eurovision Song Contest and hoping to continue the successful trend of the past three years and see the nation into the final. The task begins within the second part of the first semi-final. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news.

Source: RTÉ 

On the night of the 22nd February, Ireland will be hosting their national selection known as The Late Late Show Eurosong special and following the success of the previous two years thanks to the brotherly duo, more commonly known as Jedward, it seems that RTÉ, the broadcaster has thought best to keep their mentor system in place for another year calling upon the likes of Mairead Farrell, Shay Healy, Mark McCabe, Niall Mooney and Stuart O'Connor to take the reins in their own hands, select the participants and also the tracks which they will ultimately perform to try and represent Ireland in the upcoming edition of the Eurovision Song Contest which will be taking place in Malmö, Sweden. Earlier this week, escflashmalta.com exclusively revealed that Melanie McCabe had been selected as one of the participants and late last night, through Eurovision Ireland, it was revealed that seventeen year old Aimée will also be joining the line-up.

It seems that Mark McCabe is the mentor for Aimée, who despite her young age is known to be an accomplished dancer and choreographer whilst also being an extremely talented singer/songwriter signed to a small indie label known as E.N.D Music. Amongst her performers, one has to denote that she has managed to perform with Jedward, who represented Ireland in the past two years and came to fame following their venture on the British version of the X Factor where they were mentored by Irish Manager; Louis Walsh. The line-up is coming up quite nicely and it is believed that mentor; Niall Mooney has also decided on his act, another female by the name of Zoë Bohorquez who is also an accomplished dancer, and a model whilst being a vocal performer. It is reported that her track will be uptempo and therefore in contrast to what is expected from both Melanie McCabe and Aimée. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news about Ireland in the this years' Eurovision Song Contest. 

RTÉ, the Irish broadcaster responsible for the participation of the country at the Eurovision Song Contest has proudly renewed interest in the event following consecutive disappointing results by virtue of picking up a number of selected individuals, coined them as mentors and give them the opportunity to present their own act and entry with a public and regional jury vote representing the final result seeing to the selection of Jedward on both occasions, in 2011 with Lipstick which finished in eighth place in Dusseldorf. Germany and then in 2012 with with Waterline which despite qualification, could only managed twentieth in Baku, Azerbaijan. We have been in contact with several of our main sources about the upcoming selection process in Ireland and it seems that the line-up will be predominantly female, with the possibility of only one male, although the negotiations are still underway for about two mentors. 

Zoe Bohorquez is the first name which is seemingly confirmed and it seems that her mentor will be none other than Niall Mooney who is known in the Eurovision Song Contest for having co-written the tracks; Et Cetera in 2009 and It's for You in 2010. In the meantime, it is worth noting that his material has been competing all around the continent including in Malta where his track Topsy Turvy performed by Janvil managed to finish in the tenth place during the 2011 edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest. In the meantime, according to a number of insiders, escflashmalta.com can exclusively confirm that Melanie McCabe who has achieved notoriety through the British version of the X Factor is a sure thing and thus confirmed to be competing in the Late Late Eurosong 2013 special which will see someone head to the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ireland. 

The other acts which are apparently in negotiations but gearing up to take up their role as contestants are Leanne Moore who is fourth favourite according to the recent betting odds and Rebecca Creighton who was also on the X Factor, having reached the live stages as part of a girlband leaving in the first couple of weeks. The latter is also seemingly confirmed but we have not received a complete green light on her participation. Thus it leaves, one spot to a male and our bet seems to be between Shane Filan, Damian McGinty or AJ Lewis who have three completely different types of vocals. escflashmalta.com is closely following the Irish selection this time round and will be ready to bring you all the latest coverage so make sure to stay tuned for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available or rather, as soon as it is unveiled exclusively.

Source: escflashmalta.com

RTÉ, the Irish broadcaster responsible for the participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has always seen the competition from a positive point of view and considering that their most recent results have been rather well, renewed interest in the people has also been noted. The brotherly duo known as Jedward were selected through a public and a jury for the past two years, first time round with the track Lipstick which finished in eight place and second time round with the song Waterline which could only manage twentieth place. Nevertheless, qualification from the semi-final has been achieved for the past three years and the selection process featuring five notable mentors will be used in 2013 as they hope that their successful streak does indeed continue.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the mentors for the 2013 edition of the Late Late Show Eurosong special will be none other than Mairéad Farrell, Shay Healy, Mark McCabe, Niall Mooney and Stuart O’Connor. Each individual brings a vast amount of experience on board whether through radio, production or songwriting. There have been a number of names mentioned thus far although some are pretty unlikely at this point in time due to other commitments in music. Amongst those which are heavily tipped to be joining the list are none other than Leanne Moore and Rebecca Creighton who backed Jedward in the past two years at the Eurovision Song Contest, Sharon Condon, a former member of the girlband known as Wonderland and former runner-up Nikki Kavanagh who seems to be showing interest once more. Outsiders for the showcase are seemingly former Westlife members; Shane Filan and Mark Feehily whilst the strong rumours surrounding Shayne Ward have also died down because of his commitments to Dancing on Ice. The revelation of the artists will be made in the next couple of weeks so make sure to stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news from Ireland as they try to conquer the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

Source: escXtra, Paddy Power

The European Broadcasting Union has been pretty adamant about putting off rumours of a mass withdrawal from the upcoming edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and therefore succumbed to releasing the list of participating nations quite early due to the international media coverage which might have had a negative impact on the competition especially noting that Malmö is making several adjustments in order to accommodate a different type of show than what many have seen in recent years. The financial situation around the continent has not been a help and three of the four withdrawals; Bosnia & Herzegovina, Portugal and Slovakia have singled out this decision as the factor behind their pulling out with Turkey on the other hand believing that the recent amendments of the regulations at the event have somewhat put them in a disadvantaged position hence their disappointing results.

The Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest at the European Broadcasting Union, Jon Ola Sand is quite upbeat about the number of participating countries believing that despite the economic situation, public broadcasters are very much committed to the traditional element that the contest has created over time. In fact, since the semi-final system was introduced back in 2004, there have always been between 36 and 43 participating nations and the 39 that will take part in 2013 are similar to the amount that took part in 2010 when the competition was also held in a Scandinavian nation with Oslo, the capital city of Norway playing the role of host. Losing three countries to economic reasons was quite disappointing but nevertheless, Sand is quite 'surprised' by the decision of Turkey noting that they 'never formally objected' the rules as regulations which were brought in back in 2009, a year in which Turkey finished in fourth place.

• Albania (RTSH)
• Austria (ORF)
• Armenia (AMPTV)
• Belarus (Ictimai TV)
• Belarus (BTRC)
• Belgium (RTBF)
• Bulgaria (BNT)
• Croatia (HRT)
• Cyprus (CyBC)
• Denmark (DR)
• Estonia (ERR)
• Finland (YLE)
• France (France 3)
• Georgia (GPB)
• Germany (NDR)
• Greece (ERT)
• Hungary (MTV)
• Iceland (RÚV)
• Ireland (RTÉ)
• Israel (IBA)
• Italy (RAI)
• Latvia (LTV)
• Lithuania (LRT)
• FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
• Malta (PBS)
• Moldova (TRM)
• Montenegro (RTCG)
• The Netherlands (TROS)
• Norway (NRK)
• Romania (TVR)
• Russia (C1R)
• San Marino (SMTV)
• Serbia (RTS)
• Slovenia (RTV SLO)
• Spain (TVE)
• Sweden (SVT)
• Switzerland (SRG SSR)
• Ukraine (NTU)
• United Kingdom (BBC)

As you can see, the leading European broadcasters including the Big Five featuring; the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy return for yet another competition noting that their results are improving especially with regards to three in particular. Some countries have already revealed their entries noting that national finals have already taken place in Belarus, Switzerland, Belgium and Lithuania whilst artists have been chosen for The Netherlands, Spain and Montenegro. Despite less countries than last year, the song quality thus far looks to be quite intriguing and this could be a strong edition for the Eurovision Song Contest with Sweden surely organising it to the best ability and letting it known that whoever did not want to participate would have missed out on a great opportunity. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available.

Source: Eurovision.tv

The Irish music industry has never been demeaning in any manner and therefore, it has well reflected at the Eurovision Song Contest on several occasions noting that their past three entries being It's For You by Niamh Kavanagh in 2010, Lipstick and Waterline by Jedward in 2011 and 2012 respectively saw them make it through to the final and in one particular instance, even reach the top ten for the very first since since Every Song is a Cry for Love was performed by Brian Kennedy on behalf of The Emerald Isle in 2006. Several names are being rumoured at the moment with the mentor system still in place and in recent days, one of the artists who seems to have been contacted was none other than Shane Filan, the lead performer of the recently disbanded Westlife whom many will recall to have released ten studio albums and two compilations.

The popular group was signed to Syco Music for a relatively long period of time under the management of Simon Cowell, the mastermind behind the X Factor and Got Talent franchises as well as Louis Walsh who is a judge on the British Version of the X Factor and has worked with the likes of Boyzone, Girls Aloud, Jedward and Mary Byrne. In fact, the same Walsh pushed Jedward into doing the Eurovision Song Contest having mentored acts such as Johnny Logan and Linda Martin who scored victories at the renowned showcase in 1980, 1987 and 1992 respectively. Nevertheless, Shane Filan who is currently at 9/2 on a leading betting website known as Paddy Power had publicly declined his participation through social networking website; Twitter by virtue of stating 'guys the rumours today about me representing Ireland at the Eurovision are not true .. best of luck to whoever does'. This has been an intriguing tactic noting that Pastora Soler declined her participation this year when asked whether she would be representing Spain as did Anouk when asked whether she would represent The Netherlands next year. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news.

Source: Shane Filan Twitter

As national broadcasters around Europe unveil the entries for the 2013 Eurovision selections, there is likely to be little or no news from the contest’s most successful country until early in the new year.  At the start of November, Irish broadcaster RTÉ confirmed its intention to be in Malmo and that it would use the same selection process as it has used in the last two years. Once again five mentors will seek out songs and performers to compete in a Eurosong special edition of “The Late Late Show”, Ireland’s most successful chat show. On Friday February 22nd, the Irish Eurovision entry will be chosen by a 50/50 mix of regional juries and a public tele-vote. 

With former Eurovision reference group member Julian Vignoles leaving RTÉ after being Ireland’s Mr.Eurovision for ten years. The Irish campaign for 2013 will be headed by Michael Kealy, who was previously the Irish Head of Delegation for the ill-fated entry in Belgrade in 2008.  The decision to stick with the same selection formula has received a mixed reaction with Irish fans as many question whether the Eurosong show would be better taken away from “The Late Late Show” audience and given its own earlier slot in the schedule, with a potentially younger audience. One thing that is likely to be different about this year’s Irish selection is that it is unlikely to feature Jedward.

While many may have questioned if the popular duo would be suitable for Eurovision, back in 2011, there is little doubt that the twins have brought a new generation of Irish music fans to the contest and the television ratings in Ireland for the last two years have been amongst the highest ever achieved by the contest, since Ireland first entered the event back in 1965. Higher ratings have also resulted in more chart success, with Jedward’s Irish entry “Lipstick” reaching #1 in 2011 and following its victory in Baku, “Euphoria” by Loreen repeated the feat in May 2012, making it the first non-Irish Eurovision chart-topper for 30 years.

Despite the high profile that has returned to the contest in Ireland, RTÉ struggled to find five suitable mentors for 2013. Two mentors who were originally on RTÉ’s shortlist withdrew, with 1993 Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh and Riverdance producer John McColgan not being able to give sufficient time to the process. Nevertheless, the five people who have now accepted the challenge and they offer an interesting and varied view of the contest.

Mairead Farrell is a well-known television and radio personality and a self-confessed longterm Eurovision fan and she is the only female mentor. She has attended several contests as part of the Today FM team, headed by Ray D’Arcy and was part of “The Late Late Show” Eurosong panel in 2011, where she was openly hostile to the prospects of Jedward at Eurovision. Without a demonstrated musical pedigree, it is believed that Mairead is working with a non-Irish songwriting team, but the performer of her song is likely to be Irish.

Shay Healy by contrast is an old style singer, songwriter and journalist.  Originally Shay gained attention for writing mainly comedy material, but it was the deeply personal song “What Another Year” that he is best known. The song sung by Johnny Logan, won the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest and became a Worldwide hit, still earning Shay significant royalties.  Shay is a well known face on Irish television, most famously for the “Nighthawks” show, but music remains his first love and it is believed that Shay , who has been fighting Parkinson’s Disease for several years, will write his own song for the Eurosong selection.

Mark McCabe is another mentor with a background in music and broadcasting. Mark who first came to national attention over twenty years ago has at various times been a radio station manager, music producer, DJ, singer and songwriter. Mark’s famous cover version of “Maniac” from “Footloose” is one of the most successful records in the history of the Irish chart, spending ten weeks at number one in 2000. With a background in songwriting and dance music, the expectation is of an uptempo song.

Niall Mooney is no stranger to Eurovision fans, having co-written “Et Cetera” and “It’s For You”, the Irish entries in 2009 and 2010. Niall has worked with several Irish and Swedish songwriters and has also reached the national finals in places like Malta and Lithuania. It is believed that the Galway based songwriter is working with young Irish songwriting and singing talent for his 2013 entry and rumours suggest a contemporary uptempo song with a female vocalist.

Stuart O'Connor may be the least familiar name in the mentors list but he is the man with the most recent experience of the Eurovision Song Contest. Stuart has been working with Jedward for the past couple of years and he is the man behind their stage shows and choreography. Well none as something of a perfectionist, Stuart’s Eurosong entry is likely to be the most polished of the five Eurosong finalists and it is believed that Stuart has also been working with songwriters from several countries to choose the perfect song.

All of the mentors are playing their cards close to their chests on singers and it is known that some acts have been approached by at least two mentors. Two singers that many are hoping to see at Eurovision are Limerick’s Leanne Moore and Dubliner Rebecca Creighton.

Leanne Moore burst onto the Irish music scene in 2008, when she won the final series of “You’re A Star”. Since then, she has topped the Irish singles chart, become an entertainment columnist and provided backing vocals for Jedward in Dusseldorf and in Baku. Leanne previously competed in Eurosong in 2010 and is known to be very keen on representing Ireland at Eurovision, in her own right.

Rebecca Creighton also came to public attention through a television casting show, the U.K.’s “X Factor” where she was part of the all-girl group “Belle Amie” that reached the live shows in 2010. Rebecca left he group earlier this year, to pursue a solo career and she has been targeted by a couple of the Eurosong mentors.

Other much less likely names in the frame are former Eurosong finalists Nikki Kavanagh and Donna McCaul, Pat Byrne who won the Irish version of The Voice, Lucia Evans, another former You’re A Star winner and the Derry born Damian McGinty who has starred in the television series Glee. The singers and songs will be revealed in January, as Ireland hope to make it to the Eurovision final for the fourth time in a row in 2013. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news about the 2013 edition of the competition which is taking place in Malmo, Sweden.

Source: Keith Mills