Ireland's Ryan O’Shaughnessy took to the stage to rehearse his heartfelt ballad 'Together' this afternoon in Lisbon. The dark staging and use of spotlights let the simple song shine.
Ryan O’Shaughnessy was born in 1992 into a musical family, and got started in the business himself from an early age. In 2012, while studying songwriting at college, Ryan penned his first collection of songs. Later that year, he appeared on the finals of both The Voice of Ireland and Britain’s Got Talent. In 2013, Ryan took part in RTÉ's Irish songwriting competition The Hit, competing against and beating his former Voice of Ireland coach and 2006 Eurovision finalist Brian Kennedy. He has been on the global songwriting map ever since.
Ryan wrote his Eurovision entry Together with Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes.
Standing alone with his guitar on stage when the song opens, Ryan is joined first by a backing vocalist playing the piano, and then by two male dancers. The dancers, who remain on stage dancing under decorative street lights through to the end of the song, only add to the dreamy intimacy on the big stage. The highest point of the ballad is pointed by gently falling snow.
Dancers Kevin O’Dwyer and Alan McGrath, are the same pair from Ryan's official music video, and do well in recreating the beautiful choreography over the staged bridges and tables. Of the concept for the song's staging, Ryan told Eurovision.tv backstage: "There is a full story from start to finish, so we want to make sure that the cameras really capture that."
Ireland will have their second rehearsal on Friday, 4th of May, and will participate in the second Semi-Final on Thursday, 10th of May.
What do you think of Ryan's first rehearsal? Will Ireland make it to the Grand Final? Leave your review in the comments!
