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Ireland

Brendan Murray - Dying To Try

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?

 

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

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

Brendan Murray confirmed by RTE.

Oh I love his voice! :wub: 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 :')

Joseph you are SO PREDICTABLE!

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 :lol:

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

Were they even pushed in the UK?

Were they even pushed in the UK?

 

'Where I Belong' was released - Promo tour, physicals etc., The release was a bit of a mess though with the physical being released about 4 weeks after the download.

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.

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

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!

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