# Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Love?", written by Karl Broderick, and performed by Donna and Joe. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition consisted of 17 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "Love?" performed by Donna and Joe as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.
Ireland competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2005. Performing during the show in position 22, "Love?" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed fourteenth out of the 25 participating countries in the semi-final with 53 points.

## Background

Prior to the 2005 contest, Radio Éireann (RÉ) until 1966, and Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) since 1967, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Ireland thirty-eight times since its first entry in 1965. They have won the contest a record seven times in total. Their first win came in 1970, with "All Kinds of Everything" performed by Dana. Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993, and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In 2004, "If My World Stopped Turning" performed by Chris Doran placed twenty-second.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTÉ organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2005 contest on 29 May 2004. RTÉ has consistently used a national final procedure to choose its entry, with several artists and songs being featured. Since 2003, RTÉ had set up the talent contest You're a Star to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision. For the 2005 contest, alongside its confirmation, the broadcaster announced that both the song and performer would be selected via You're a Star.

## Before Eurovision
### You're a Star

RTÉ selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 through the third season of the music competition series You're a Star, which was developed by RTÉ and co-produced with Screentime ShinAwil. The shows took place in the Mahoney Hall of the Helix in the Dublin City University (DCU), hosted by Ray D'Arcy and featured a judging panel composed of RTÉ 2fm presenter Dave Fanning, IMRO Deputy Chairperson Barbara Galavan and singer-songwriter Hazel Kaneswaran. The competition consisted of 17 shows, which commenced on 11 September 2004 and concluded on 6 March 2005. All shows in the competition were broadcast on RTÉ One.
The competition took place over two phases. The first phase involved candidates attending auditions held across Ireland in Limerick, Waterford, Sligo, Dublin, and Portlaoise (bands only) between 11 September 2004 and 16 October 2004. The first three shows showcased the auditions and the judging panel selected 36 candidates to take part in a week-long workshop where they were supported by a team of choreographers, stylists and vocal coaches. The fourth to sixth shows covered the workshop with ten contestants being selected by the judges to go forward to the next stage in the competition. The seventh show introduced eight wildcards selected by the judges from the eliminated acts with two being selected to also go through to the next stage following a public televote. The second phase was the ten live shows where the results of all shows were determined solely by a public televote; the judging panel participated in an advisory role only. Following the ninth show, the three contestants remaining in the competition were matched with a potential Eurovision Song Contest song selected by a jury panel with members appointed by RTÉ from 255 entries received through a public submission. The three finalist songs were announced on 2 March 2005. The public televote that took place in both phases was conducted through telephone and SMS.
Competing songs :
| Song | Songwriter(s) |
| "Love?" | Karl Broderick |
| "Pink Champagne" | Ray Traynor |
| "Will I Be Dreaming" | Fran King, Larry Hogan |

#### Results summary
##### Colour key

    – Contestant received the most public votes
    – Contestant received the fewest public votes and was eliminated
| Contestant | Show 1 | Show 2 | Show 3 | Show 4 | Show 5 | Show 6 | Show 7 | Show 8 | Show 9 | Show 10 (Final) |
| Donna and Joseph McCaul | 2nd | — | 7th | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Jade | 3rd | — | 6th | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd |
| The Henry Girls | — | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | Eliminated (Show 9) |
| Peter Fagan | — | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | Eliminated (Show 8) | Eliminated (Show 8) |
| Aine O'Doherty | — | 2nd | 3rd | 5th | 6th | 2nd | 5th | Eliminated (Show 7) | Eliminated (Show 7) | Eliminated (Show 7) |
| Lorraine Maher | — | 1st | 5th | 6th | 3rd | 6th | Eliminated (Show 6) | Eliminated (Show 6) | Eliminated (Show 6) | Eliminated (Show 6) |
| Ann Harrington | 5th | — | 8th | 7th | 7th | Eliminated (Show 5) | Eliminated (Show 5) | Eliminated (Show 5) | Eliminated (Show 5) | Eliminated (Show 5) |
| Sinéad Mulvey | — | 5th | 4th | 8th | Eliminated (Show 4) | Eliminated (Show 4) | Eliminated (Show 4) | Eliminated (Show 4) | Eliminated (Show 4) | Eliminated (Show 4) |
| David Hope | 1st | — | 9th/10th | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) |
| George | 4th | — | 9th/10th | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) | Eliminated (Show 3) |
| Fran King | — | 6th | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) | Eliminated (Show 2) |
| Sinéad Hand | 6th | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) | Eliminated (Show 1) |

#### Live shows

The ten live shows took place between 9 January and 6 March 2005. The first eight shows featured various themes: free choice for the first three shows, well known recent hits for the fourth shows, summer songs for the fifth show, Motown love songs for the sixth show, Elvis Presley songs for the seventh show as well as movie soundtracks and Eurovision songs for the eighth show. Either one or two contestants were eliminated in each of the eight shows. The three remaining contestants each performed their candidate Eurovision songs during the ninth show and one contestant was eliminated. In the final show, "Love?" performed by Donna and Joseph McCaul was selected as the winner.
Show 1 – 9 January 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | Jade | "Beautiful Thing" | 3 | Advanced |
| 2 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "So Strong" | 2 | Advanced |
| 3 | George | "Lady Marmalade" (Labelle) | 4 | Advanced |
| 4 | Sinéad Hand | "You're So Vain" (Carly Simon) | 6 | Eliminated |
| 5 | David Hope | "You Can Call Me Al" (Paul Simon) | 1 | Advanced |
| 6 | Ann Harrington | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (Frankie Valli) | 5 | Advanced |
Show 2 – 16 January 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | The Henry Girls | "I'm Like a Bird" (Nelly Furtado) | 4 | Advanced |
| 2 | Sinéad Mulvey | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (The Arrows) | 5 | Advanced |
| 3 | Fran King | "Heart of Glass" (Blondie) | 6 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Aine O'Doherty | "Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell) | 2 | Advanced |
| 5 | Peter Fagan | "She's Always a Woman" (Billy Joel) | 3 | Advanced |
| 6 | Lorraine Maher | "Good Riddance" (Green Day) | 1 | Advanced |
Show 3 – 23 January 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | Jade | "Dragon" | 6 | Advanced |
| 2 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "It Takes Two" (Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston) | 7 | Advanced |
| 3 | Lorraine Maher | "All Me" | 5 | Advanced |
| 4 | David Hope | "On That Train" | 9-10 | Eliminated |
| 5 | George | "You Might Need Somebody" (Turley Richards) | 9-10 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Ann Harrington | "Everytime" (Britney Spears) | 8 | Advanced |
| 7 | Aine O'Doherty | "Piece of My Heart" (Erma Franklin) | 3 | Advanced |
| 8 | The Henry Girls | "Long Time Gone" (The Everly Brothers) | 1 | Advanced |
| 9 | Peter Fagan | "Walking in Memphis" (Marc Cohn) | 2 | Advanced |
| 10 | Sinéad Mulvey | "Don't Speak" (No Doubt) | 4 | Advanced |
Show 4 – 30 January 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | Sinéad Mulvey | "Seven Nation Army" (The White Stripes) | 8 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "I'll Stand by You" (The Pretenders) | 4 | Advanced |
| 3 | Peter Fagan | "Take Your Mama" (Scissor Sisters) | 1 | Advanced |
| 4 | Jade | "Obviously" (McFly) | 3 | Advanced |
| 5 | Lorraine Maher | "Cannonball" (Damien Rice) | 6 | Advanced |
| 6 | Ann Harrington | "Left Outside Alone" (Anastacia) | 7 | Advanced |
| 7 | The Henry Girls | "Vertigo" (U2) | 2 | Advanced |
| 8 | Aine O'Doherty | "Mr. Brightside" (The Killers) | 5 | Advanced |
Show 5 – 6 February 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | The Henry Girls | "Soak Up the Sun" (Sheryl Crow) | 5 | Advanced |
| 2 | Peter Fagan | "Lovely Day" (Bill Withers) | 1 | Advanced |
| 3 | Aine O'Doherty | "Heyday" | 6 | Advanced |
| 4 | Lorraine Maher | "July" | 3 | Advanced |
| 5 | Jade | "Surfin' U.S.A." (The Beach Boys) | 4 | Advanced |
| 6 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "My Girl" (The Temptations) | 2 | Advanced |
| 7 | Ann Harrington | "Holiday" (Madonna) | 7 | Eliminated |
Show 6 – 13 February 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| 1 | The Henry Girls | "Stop! In the Name of Love" (The Supremes) | 5 | Advanced |
| 2 | Lorraine Maher | "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" (Jimmy Ruffin) | 6 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Aine O'Doherty | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Marvin Gaye) | 2 | Advanced |
| 4 | Jade | "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers) | 4 | Advanced |
| 5 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "End of the Road" (Boyz II Men) | 1 | Advanced |
| 6 | Peter Fagan | "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green) | 3 | Advanced |
Show 7 (Elvis Presley songs) – 20 February 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place | Result |
| 1 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "Blue Suede Shoes"/"Jailhouse Rock" | 2 | Advanced |
| 2 | The Henry Girls | "That's All Right" | 1 | Advanced |
| 3 | Aine O'Doherty | "Always on My Mind" | 5 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Jade | "Suspicious Minds" | 4 | Advanced |
| 5 | Peter Fagan | "Burning Love" | 3 | Advanced |
Show 8 – 27 February 2005 :
| Artist | Draw | Song (Original artists) | Draw | Song (Original artists) | Place | Result |
| The Henry Girls | 1 | "Down in the River to Pray" | 5 | "A Little Peace" (Nicole) | 3 | Advanced |
| Peter Fagan | 2 | "Livin' on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi) | 6 | "Somewhere in Europe" (Liam Reilly) | 4 | Eliminated |
| Jade | 3 | "Just Like Jesse James" (Cher) | 7 | "Hold Me Now" (Johnny Logan) | 2 | Advanced |
| Donna and Joseph McCaul | 4 | "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes) | 8 | "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan) | 1 | Advanced |
Show 9 – 5 March 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place | Result |
| 1 | The Henry Girls | "Will I Be Dreaming" | 3 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "Love?" | 1 | Advanced |
| 3 | Jade | "Pink Champagne" | 2 | Advanced |
Final – 6 March 2005 :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
| 1 | Donna and Joseph McCaul | "Love?" | 1 |
| 2 | Jade | "Pink Champagne" | 2 |

#### Ratings

Viewing figures by show :
| Show | Air date | Viewers | Ref. |
| Final | 6 March 2005 | 916,000 | |

## At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 took place at the Palace of Sports in Kyiv, Ukraine and consisted of one semi-final on 19 May, and the final on 21 May 2005. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest were required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progressed to the final. As Ireland had placed 22nd in the previous contest, the nation had to compete in the semi-final this year. On 22 March 2005, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Ireland was set to perform in position 22, following the entry from Bulgaria and before the entry from Slovenia. At the end of the show, Ireland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed 14th in the semi-final, receiving a total of 53 points.
In Ireland, the semi-final was broadcast on RTÉ Two and the final was broadcast on RTÉ One with both shows featuring commentary by Marty Whelan. RTÉ appointed Dana (who won Eurovision for Ireland in 1970) as its spokesperson to announce the Irish votes during the final.

### Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to the Denmark in the semi-final and to Latvia in the final of the contest.