Ireland to be represented by Can-linn feat.Kasey Smith

On The Late, Late Show special tonight, host Ryan Tubridy presented the five songs that were in contention for EuroSong 2014, and a combination of  five regional juries and televoting determined which song will represent Ireland in the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday the 8th of May.

Watch our interview with the winner

The Participants

The songs were performed in the following order: Winner in bold.

1. Don't Hold On sung by Patricia Roe (Composed by Patricia Roe). Mentored by Valerie Roe
2. The Movie Song sung by Eoghan Quigg (Composed by Karl Broderick). Mentored by Mark Murphy.
3. Heartbeat sung by Can-linn, featuring Kasey Smith (Composed by Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren and Patrizia Helander). Mentored by Hazel Kaneswaran.
4. Be Mine sung by Andrew Mann (Composed by Cormac Battle).Mentored by Cormac Battle.
5. You Don't Remember Me sung by Laura O'Neill (Composed by Don Mescall and Lucie Silvas). Mentored by Billy McGuiness.

About the show

There were four guests on the show to offer their opinions on the songs, Louis Walsh, Eoghan McDermott, Maia Dunphy and former winner Linda Martin. At times the discussions got quite heated between the guests and the mentors. However, despite their views the decision wasn't down to them.

Former winner Johnny Logan performed a medley of all three of the winning songs with which he is associated, namely What's Another Year, Hold Me Now and Why Me?  Also perfoming to mark the 20th anniversary of their win in 1994 were Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan with Rock'n'Roll Kids.

You can watch again EuroSong 2014 on our webplayer.

About the winner

Can-linn is a collaborative music act featuring traditional Irish instruments such as the bodhrán and fiddle, complimented by the urban-styled vocals of Kasey Smith, who rose to fame with the BT Music Award nominated girlband Wonderland in 2010 under the tutelage of Louis Walsh and Kian Egan.

Heartbeat was co-written by an experienced team of Irish and Swedish songwriters: Hazel Kaneswaran an Irish singer/songwriter who sang for Dove in 1996 and has since presented numerous TV shows and performed around the country; Jonas Gladnikoff, who wrote two successful Irish Eurovision entries including It’s For You by Niamh Kavanagh in 2010; Rasmus Palmgren, writer of the current Swedish Idol winning song; and Patrizia Helander, Swedish Idol 2007 finalist and experimental artist.

Hazel believes that Can-linn’s entry Heartbeat is a passionate song that reflects Ireland’s will to rise again as a nation and shows why we are recognised globally as makers of fine music.

She said: ‘Being a mentor in Eurosong has been a joy. I chose a great pop song with a Celtic twist as I love traditional Irish music. The name ‘Can-linn’ is derived from the Irish ‘to sing together’. I think that’s appropriate as we want to work together and bring the Eurovision home!’