First live performance of Ireland's entry tonight

Nicky Byrne, who has performed in arenas all over the world and has sold 45 million records as part of Westlife, will perform the song Sunlight co-written by himself, renowned songwriter Wayne Hector and award-winning composer Ronan Hardiman. 

Nicky said: “We’ve been working really hard in rehearsals over the past few weeks and I can’t wait to perform in front of Ray’s live studio audience and everyone watching at home. I’m so thrilled to be representing Ireland at Eurovision in Stockholm this year. I’m looking forward to seeing how people react to the song – the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and the good luck wishes have been flooding in.”  

Nicky and his team have been rehearsing all week and creating the look and feel for the performance in Stockholm in May. Nicky’s creative team is lead by Tim Byrne, former Creative Director of Syco Entertainment at Sony Music including X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. The team also includes Lee Lodge whose production credits include the 2015 Oscars© and MTV Music Video Awards and has worked with One Direction, Coldplay and Robbie Williams. The team will work with RTÉ’s Head of Delegation Michael Kealy to produce the performance of Ireland’s entry. 

Presenter Ray D’Arcy said: “We’re delighted to have Nicky in studio with us this Saturday. I’m a big fan of Eurovision and Nicky’s song. I’m looking forward to chatting with Nicky, meeting his band and hearing all about their preparations ahead of Stockholm. I wish them all the very best of luck.” 

Composers

Voted one of the top 25 songwriters in the world, over the last two decades Wayne Hector has written hits for leading international artists such as One Direction, Britney Spears, Nikki Minaj and Jason Derulo. His songwriting credits also include seven of Westlife's number one singles including Flying Without Wings, Swear It Again and World Of Our Own. Ronan Hardiman has worked as a musician, composer and producer since 1990 and his credits include the soundtrack of Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance and Feet Of Flames, as well as more recently scoring the TV series Neverland. 

The song has been produced in Ireland by Ronan Hardiman and Nicky Byrne and mixed in LA by Serban Ghenea who has mixed 140 Number one singles including Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off and Uptown Funk from Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.  

About Nicky Byrne

Byrne, from Dublin, joined Westlife in 1998 and after 15 successful years touring the globe, selling over 50 million albums worldwide including seven number one albums and 14 number one hits, the band retired. Nicky never retired his passion for music however and it was this appetite that spurred him to pursue an alternate career in the industry, this time as a solo artist. This week, Nicky signed a solo deal with Universal Music Ireland and will release his debut solo album later this year. 

Nicky will perform in the second Semi-Final in the Globe Arena in Stockholm on Thursday the 12th of May, to qualify for a place in the Final on Saturday the 14th of May.

Nicky released his debut solo single Sunlight on Friday February the 12th through Universal Music Ireland. It has already entered the top 20 in the Irish itunes chart.

The Ray D’Arcy Show starts at 23:05 CET on RTÉ One. The Ray D’Arcy Show is available for all viewers internationally on RTÉ Player. They can watch on iOS with the Player International App, on Android with the Player App and on Desktop when they visit www.rte.ie/player . Viewers can download the app http://www.rte.ie/playerinternational/