Ireland 2023
After returning to a national selection final in 2022, the Irish Broadcaster, RTE, followed the same format in 2023 and held the national final once again in the less-than-ideal format as a special episode of the Late Late Show.
Six songs were selected and announced in late January 2023 and the voting format was confirmed as 33% international jury , 33% national jury and 33% Irish public.
The running order was as follows:
1. Wild – Leila Jane
Leila Jane is a singer-songwriter based in Dublin. She describes Wild as an “empowering song about the strength of a woman’s spirit”. She wrote the with an Estonian and British songwriter and a Finnish producer.
2. Too Good For You Love – Adgy
Adgy (real name Andrew Carr) initially wrote Too Good For You Love as a piano ballad but after teaming up with producer, Boksay, the song was turned into an upbeat dance track. For his performance, Adgy added an extra 20 seconds to the song in the Irish language (Gaelige). This was the first time that Gaelige was heard at Eurosong in 25 years.
3. Hawaii – Public Image Limited
The band are fronted by former Sex Pistol, John Lydon also known as Johnny Rotten and the song, Hawaii, is a lover letter to his wife who is suffering from dementia.
4. Midnight Summer Night – Connolly
Jennifer Connolly hails from the west of Ireland and wrote Midnight Summer Night during the Covid lockdown when she was 17 years old. She describes the overall meaning of the song as “nothing bad lasts forever, delivering a sense of hope”.
5. We Are One – Wild Youth
Wild Youth are a four-piece band from Dublin with a number of top ten hits in Ireland. They have also toured with big names such as Westlife, Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi. The song, We Are One was co-written with Grammy-nominated songwriter, Jorgen Elofsson.
6. Down In The Rain – K Muni & ND
Longford duo, K Muni & ND describe Down In The Rain as a testament to their determination. The song is about a difficult time in their careers where their music was not getting the attention they believed it deserved.
After a performance of a Eurovision medley that included former winner, Niamh Kavanagh, the host Ryan Turbridy announced the results, with the international jury first providing their points followed by the national jury and finally the public televote.
The results were as follows:
International Jury Vote
12 points – Midnight Summer Night
10 points – We Are One
8 points – Too Good For Your Love
6 points – Hawaii
4 points – Down In The Rain
2 points – Wild
National Jury Vote
12 points – We Are One
10 points – Midnight Summer Night
8 points – Down In The Rain
6 points – Hawaii
4 points – Too Good For Your Love
2 points – Wild
Public Vote
12 points – We Are One
10 points – Midnight Summer Night
8 points – Down In The Rain
6 points – Hawaii
4 points – Too Good For Your Love
2 points – Wild
The winners were Wild Youth who will be flying the flag for Ireland in Liverpool with their song, We Are One.
The overall ranking was as follows:
Wild Youth – We Are One – 34 points
Connolly – Midnight Summer Night – 32 points
K Muni & ND – Down In the Rain – 20 points
Public Image Limited – Hawaii – 18 points
Adgy – Too Good For Your Love – 16 points
Leila Jane – Wild – 6 points