Thread by @AidanCTweets

On Ireland's #Eurovision2023
there was a song called "Midnight Summer Night" by Connolly which was leading after the industry vote, and with some stagecraft would have made it to the final, but the Late Late Show viewers went for sub-Coldplay dirge. 1/

That song was far more in line with the tastes of people who actually watch and vote on the Eurovision.

I remember watching the Irish Eurosong final, and when the public vote came in and Connolly didn't win my immediate reaction was...2/

Our song was exactly the sort of song someone would cynically write to try to win Eurovision, rather than writing something that had some soul. You may not like the Connolly song, but at least it isn't a soulless, failed attempt to write an anthem. 3/

We've gone from being Eurovision legends to being a Eurovision laughing stock, and when Dustin the Turkey (our Eurovision low points) showed up last night for a "comedy" bit, I was thinking that that is an apt representation of our track record in the last ten years. A joke. 4/

Having a public vote is right, but having it as part of a Late Late Show special isn't.

There should be a show on RTE 2 where people who would watch and vote on Eurovision have to make a special effort to watch and vote on it. 5/

As a songwriter, why would you enter a soulful bop which might do well at Eurovision if it can't get past the hurdle of also appealing to an aging RTE Friday Night audience, who would plump for out-of-date dirge if given the option? 6/