Ireland: Wild Youth are selected for Liverpool with 'We Are One'

During a special broadcast of The Late Late Show, Irish broadcaster RTÉ hosted Eurosong 2023, giving Ireland the opportunity to select its entry to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

After a three-part voting round that saw a national jury, an international jury and the all-important public televote contribute scores, Wild Youth triumphed on the night with the song We Are One.

Wild Youth are a four-piece band from Dublin, who have a string of top hits in Ireland, and have toured with names including Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi, and Westlife. 

On top of their own sold-out tours of the UK and Ireland, Conor O’Donohoe from the band has also written a string of top hits for other artists, and co-written with Moncrief and The Script. 

We are One was written in Sweden with Grammy nominated songwriter Jörgen Elofsson. 

From RTÉ Television Centre in Dublin, host Ryan Tubridy took viewers through the performances, speaking with the expert panel after each one; a panel that included an act which has headed to the Eurovision Song Contest twice to represent Ireland - Jedward! 

The show also had Ireland's long-time Contest commentator, Marty Whelan, interviewing the artists in the green room. 

We Are One took the Eurosong 2023 victory with 34 points, beating second-place Midnight Summer Night by Connolly by just 2 points. We Are One scored top marks with the public vote and the Irish jury, while Midnight Summer Night topped the international jury vote.

You can listen to the other 5 songs that competed at Eurosong 2023 right here.

Ireland will perform in the First Semi-Final at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in May. 

Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Ireland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. The country famously won 4 out of 5 contests in the 1990s and became the first country to win 3 times in a row. Ireland has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record 7 times in total.

Ireland got off to a strong start in the contest scoring its first victory in 1970, 5 years after entering for the first time, with Dana and All Kinds of Everything. Johnny Logan became Ireland's second Eurovision Song Contest winner with What's Another Year? in 1980, before going on repeat this success in 1987, with Hold Me Now. Logan became the only singer to win the contest twice as a singer, a record he still holds.

Ryan O'Shaughnessy took Ireland to the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018, with Together. 

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