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Posted by: Ryan. Nov 25 2016, 10:26 PM

Ireland

Brendan Murray - Dying To Try

Posted by: Ryan. Nov 25 2016, 10:26 PM

Ireland have been pretty much silent since their internal selection of Nicky Byrne turned into another disaster for RTE, the very generic "Sunlight" being outshone by the more modern (and just better) Donny Montell performing just a couple of slots after him. That said, even performing last in the semi wouldn't have seen him quality - it was way too bland.

RTE's only comment about 2017 is that they are reviewing their selection process with a decision to arrive in due course. I feel like they may try to go internal again, and country singer Nathan Carter was a solid rumour in the late summer but I'm not sure he'll take the risk considering he seems to be one of Ireland's most high profile artists.

One artist who I think would be up for it, and has timed her album release perfectly is Una Healy. A backing singer for John Kennedy in Athens, she has experience of the Eurovision bubble and her folky/country sound would suit Ireland perfectly and she is a solid performer. Zena Donnelly's similar sort of sound saw Ireland perform above all expectations to finish top 10 in Junior Eurovision last weekend. Perhaps Una is hoping she will have success as a Radio 2 style artist, but I can't quite see her taking off and Eurovision may be a platform she needs either in 2017 or 2018. She is also popular at RTE, being a coach on the Voice which I presume airs on RTE - do Ireland have any other big channels?

Posted by: Ryan. Dec 16 2016, 02:14 PM

Lead singer of Hometown has been chosen to represent Ireland by Louis Walsh apparently, announcement tonight!

Posted by: J▲hq Dec 16 2016, 04:59 PM

I quite liked a couple of songs they did but I wouldn't have a clue who the lead singer is. I might end up liking it but gut feeling is that it will go down as well as Nicky.

Posted by: AdamAloud Dec 16 2016, 07:28 PM

Brendan Murray confirmed by RTE.

Posted by: JosephCarey Dec 16 2016, 07:50 PM

Oh I love his voice! I don't think he was the lead singer in most songs but he took lead in this song, my favourite of theirs, he has a more unique voice than the rest:



(he's top left in the picture)

Guaranteed to be a Buzzjack fave I'm sure :')

Posted by: LexC Dec 16 2016, 07:59 PM

Joseph you are SO PREDICTABLE!

Posted by: J▲hq Dec 16 2016, 10:24 PM

Definitely the right choice from the band as far as my tastes are concerned too x

Surprised they've settled on him before actually having a song though. Louis Walsh appealing for a ballad in the vein of Adele, Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith

Posted by: Ryan. Dec 17 2016, 08:44 PM

Despite the negative Eurofan reaction, I think this is their most promising selection name-wise since Jedward at the very least. They could go two ways with him, give him a more modern version of Nicky's song (basically I've Been Waiting For This Night) as his youthfulness will play to his advantage. On the other hand they could go Tom Dice which I think would be the best option. Give him a nice acoustic little ditty and that will give them a good chance of going to the final - those types of songs always seem to stand out and do so as a result.

Nicky Byrne was always a hasbeen with a notoriously weak voice, Kasey Smith had proved her weak vocals in a previous national selection and Ryan Dolan was nowhere near the best in his national final. Brendan should be a good enough singer with at least a bit of experience in recent chart music. Something like their Kodaline-written debut single would be perfect for Brendan to have as a solo song, that's the sound they should be aiming for.

Posted by: Ryan. Dec 18 2016, 12:36 AM

I've watched a few videos of him now, he definitely does have a unique voice. It's quite high-pitched, it reminds me of a slightly less quirky Janet Devlin. He definitely needs an acoustic guitar based song, his voice and look is so youthful that even something not amazingly exciting song-wise will be enough to pull in enough votes to qualify. I'm thinking Paradise Oskar from 2011 who was very youthful, more so than Tom Dice.

Posted by: Ryan. Jan 24 2017, 02:47 PM

Rumours suggest Leah McFall may have written his entry! *.*

Posted by: AdamAloud Jan 24 2017, 03:27 PM

Ireland are probably my least favourite country at Eurovision (says it all when Jedward is their best entry this decade), so I'm not confident of this whoever writes it.

Posted by: pippa Jan 31 2017, 09:38 PM

His voice has similarities of Passenger, there is a quirkiness to it. That said, the song will really have to match his voice or it will be disastrous.

Posted by: ___∆___ Jan 31 2017, 11:06 PM

Can't wait to hear this as I loved 'Hometown'.

Pretty sure the fact they didn't break the UK kind of made Louis give up on them as a band despite the fact they achieved 2 #1's in Ireland and a Top 5 album.

Posted by: Martyn Feb 1 2017, 07:32 AM

QUOTE(___∆___ @ Jan 31 2017, 11:06 PM)

Posted by: ___∆___ Feb 1 2017, 02:06 PM

QUOTE(Martyn @ Feb 1 2017, 07:32 AM)

Posted by: pippa Feb 1 2017, 05:11 PM

I was surprised by how much Hometown flopped in the UK. There was a gap in the market and still is and i thought they would have broke through but the single was a complete flop.

Posted by: Ryan. Mar 10 2017, 12:22 PM

This is called Dying To Try and has premiered on Irish radio this morning

Posted by: Ryan. Mar 10 2017, 01:47 PM

It's nice but nothing more, best bit is the X Factor Winners Single part towards the end. It's at least a bit more modern and less cheesy than Sunlight but I think it's facing an uphill battle to qualify. His youthful voice could play to his advantage however!

Posted by: Cameron Mar 10 2017, 02:08 PM

Are Ireland even trying now? Molly Sterling still deserved to qualify

Posted by: Iz~ Mar 10 2017, 02:55 PM

They're clearly going for a run of popping out the least interesting possible pieces of music. There is nothing about this that makes me want to hear it ever again.

Posted by: Cal Mar 10 2017, 07:49 PM

This is fine but it's never going to qualify. Only perk is I know the guy with the curly hair in the vid. He's on Red Rock.

QUOTE(Cameron @ Mar 10 2017, 02:08 PM)

Molly Sterling still deserved to qualify

Posted by: Ryan. Mar 11 2017, 05:56 PM

Official music video:

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever Mar 12 2017, 10:51 PM

When was the winning song picked, i thought they would have 4-5 songs performed by him and the public pick the winner? Did they just select this internally??

Its ok, the second half is better than the first but another year where we probably wont qualify. Really disappointed with the outcome of this.

Posted by: Conderella Mar 13 2017, 05:39 AM

This is boring as f*** and I'm not going to pretend to give it more attention than it deserves which is very close to zero.

Posted by: pippa Mar 14 2017, 03:03 PM

Very dull song,its so forgettable.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever Mar 15 2017, 02:39 AM

Similar to the Uk entry this year i find this boring. I like ballads but these dont really go anywhere although the Uk song is stronger than ours.

I cant see us qualifying this year at all,its prob our worst entry in a while and i expected so much more. I agree what others have said about Molly Sterling, she should have qualified as its a lovely song but i do think the awful staging on the night didnt help.

Posted by: NocheLuna Mar 15 2017, 12:23 PM

Its a bit too forgettable too really stand out :-/

Posted by: Umi Mar 15 2017, 01:59 PM

It's depressing how similar the commentary for the Irish entry is year after year.

Posted by: David Mar 16 2017, 07:07 PM

Can't remember which semi final this in, or which half, or who its competition is, but this has last place sewn up with the juries and public. Absolutely abysmal.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever Apr 2 2017, 04:20 PM

I agree this will tank in the semi, its a case of how bad it does, the only thing i will find interesting is Louis Walshes reaction when it does bomb, i really cant figure out how anyone could even think this would do anything, its safely our worst ever entry.

I was listening to Sinaed Mulvey etcetera early today i always liked this and really think it was robbed when it didnt qualify, that really should have qualified and likewise although to a lesser extent Molly Sterling 2 years ago.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 8 2017, 12:05 AM

Not that i think our song will come higher than 15th in its semi but its a very bad sign when our 1994 winner is charting higher on itunes than our current entry.

Posted by: pippa May 8 2017, 03:35 PM

It is understandable as the song is awful. I don't think he has a great voice either. If the country its representing does not get behind the song it is likely other countries wont either.

Posted by: Jerick May 9 2017, 11:54 AM

http://m.independent.ie/entertainment/music/music-news/eurovision-juror-replaced-due-to-breach-of-rules-following-comments-about-irelands-entry-35693101.html

I think it's weird no one learned from the Wiktoria situation last year.

Posted by: pippa May 9 2017, 02:31 PM

You would think he would know better than speaking out when he knows the rules. It is not really a surprise what he said about the song as that appears to be a universal viewpoint.

Posted by: ScottyEm May 9 2017, 04:25 PM

I've not heard a song more woeful and dire this year. It's putrid. Defo my 42nd this year, no mean feat given there is also Croatia in the mix.

Posted by: pippa May 9 2017, 07:39 PM

The song has Simon Cowell and X Factor winning song all over it, i am more referring to the awful winners single by Louisa Johnson only, this has managed to be worse.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 10 2017, 02:35 AM

I really think we could come last in our semi as it's probably our worst entry ever.

Posted by: Jason May 10 2017, 09:07 PM

So, am I the only one who likes this song really?
The song has commercial appeal, I like his childish voice and I can see people around Europe voting for him. Let's wait and see.

Posted by: JosephStyles🐶 May 10 2017, 09:16 PM

I like it too! I was kinda hoping for better but I love his vocal (and did in HomeTown too). Would be nice to see it Q but I can't see it right now, so not getting my hopes up.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 11 2017, 12:09 AM

I don't like his voice,I'd love us to qualify,who doesn't want their own country too but I would be shocked if we do. Hometown should have entered as group as they have nothing to loose.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 14 2017, 09:14 PM

So we came 13th in the semi which is higher than I thought.

Posted by: J▲hq May 14 2017, 11:36 PM

Yeah I'm actually quite impressed that it did as well as 12th in the public vote, even without the UK to support

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 14 2017, 11:47 PM

Yes,it done ok in the televote. While i never liked the song or am i big fan of his voice i think he performed well, i dont think he could have given it anymore, its just the song itself was awful.

Ireland have tried a few different ways to select the entries the last few years but have got it wrong with song choices. It will be interesting to see how RTE will approach it in 2018.

Posted by: pippa May 16 2017, 08:51 PM

Poor Brendan, he has now said he would like to enter again. If the Irish have sense, once was more than enough to send him to the contest.

Posted by: JosephStyles🐶 May 16 2017, 08:52 PM

I'd love Brendan to enter again! (albeit with a stronger song)

Posted by: Ryan. May 17 2017, 01:44 AM

Well that's a great attitude from him, completely the opposite to Nicky Byrne last year who slagged the contest off at the first opportunity!

Country/folk has a great track record in Eurovision in recent years mainly thanks to The Netherlands (Common Linnets, Douwe Bob) but also the likes of Firelight (Malta 2014), Naviband (Belarus 2017) and at a push Monika & Vaidas (Lithuania 2015). All of these made the final and I'm under the impression Ireland is a fan of this type of music from my limited knowledge of their industry (): Niall Horan, Una Healy, Nathan Carter. Didn't HomeTown themselves even have a couple of guitar-led/folky type singles?

This is the avenue I want Ireland to go down, I think Brendan would suit this type of song and surely Una would be up for it all too after her album didn't scale too higher heights.

Posted by: Liаm May 17 2017, 01:47 AM

Oh god no, no more Brendan. His voice is HORRENDOUS. Una would be a really fab choice but I feel like she's going be that one name for Ireland we just say ad nauseam every year that never materialises </3

Posted by: Lenny Dec 14 2017, 09:45 AM

I re-watched the semi performance of this yesterday and with it seeming fresh - this really was a hideous choice by Ireland, the song is abysmal and all over the place, Brendan's vocals were ropey, and the performance was about as exciting as watching paint dry. It astounds me that anyone thought this would do anything at Eurovision!!

Posted by: Mullo Dec 14 2017, 10:33 AM

QUOTE(Lenny @ Dec 14 2017, 09:45 AM)