Ireland hopes to win the hearts of Europeans with gay romance
Ireland oh Ireland. They were almost unstoppable in Eurovision once, but in recent history, the country hasn’t made much of an impression in the contest. In the past four years, they never qualified for the final and the last time they did (five years ago) they finished last on the Saturday night. You can imagine there is quite some pressure on the shoulders of Britain’s Got Talent finalist Ryan O’Shaughnessy, who will represent Ireland in the contest this year with the song ‘Together’.
Last year Ireland sent Brendan Murray with a sweet song performed with high pitched vocals. That did not work out the way they planned so this year they send Ryan with a sweet song with high pitched vocals. Wait what!? Well, to be fair, ‘Together’ is more of a singer-songwriter radio pop type of track while Brendan chanelled a young Josh Groban. What the two have in common though, is that the tracks are too light to make much of an impression at Eurovision. Ryan has to perform in the fiercely competitive first semi final and I am afraid nobody will remember the gentle and charming, but forgettable ‘Together’. There is a somewhat catchy chorus there, but the song as a whole is just too middle of the road. To make sure the viewers will not forget Ireland’s performance, the dancers portraying a gay couple that starred in the music video, will join on stage in Lisbon. This will sure make for a cute little show, but I doubt it will be enough to sail into the final.
Review of Semi Final Performance:
Ireland could be considered as the surprise of the first semi final. After four years of missing out on the final, they finally qualified again! Ryan O’Shaughnessy gives an endearing performance of his sweet little song ‘Together’. The act with the male dancers performing a routine as a gay couple, adds to the ‘cute’ factor of this performance. Vocally, there is room for improvement in some of the high notes in the chorus, but either way it will be interesting to see if this radiofriendly track will hold its own competing against 25 other tracks on Saturday. Welcome back in the competition Ireland!
Review of Final Performance:
Ireland managed to qualify for the first time after four years of failed attempts from the tougher first semi final with Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s guitar pop song ‘Together’. This stripped back love song with mostly high notes in the chorus, was given a memorable stage show with two male dancers portraying a gay couple. Vocally Ryan’s performance was decent, but certainly not flawless. The bookmakers placed him in top 3 at one point, but I think the 16th position is about right for this middle of the road tune.
Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA –AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS –BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CROATIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – HUNGARY – ICELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM