Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy, who was internally selected in November 2005 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. RTÉ organised the national final Eurosong 2006 to select the song that Kennedy would perform. Three songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry.

Ireland competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 8, "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 20 May. It was later revealed that Ireland placed ninth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi-final with 79 points. In the final, Ireland performed in position 21 and placed tenth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 93 points.

Background 

Prior to the 2006 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-nine times since its first entry in 1965. Ireland has won the contest a record seven times in total. The country's first win came in 1970, with then-18-year-old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". 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). The Irish entry in 2005, "Love?" performed by Donna and Joe, failed to qualify to the final and achieved Ireland's lowest position in the contest.

The Irish national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), broadcasts the event within Ireland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTÉ confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 17 July 2005. From 2003 to 2005, RTÉ had set up the talent contest You're a Star to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ireland. For the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, RTÉ announced alongside their confirmation that You're a Star would not be used to choose the entry to represent Ireland at the contest, with executive producer of You're a Star Larry Bass stating that the contest "hasn't delivered in terms of what the Eurovision Song Contest has wanted". The broadcaster ultimately opted to internally select the artist with the song being chosen in a televised competition.

Before Eurovision

Artist selection 
On 14 November 2005, the broadcaster announced that they had internally selected Brian Kennedy to represent Ireland in Athens. Along with the announcement that Kennedy would represent Ireland on 14 November, RTÉ announced that a national final would be held to select his song.

Eurosong 2006 
On 14 November 2005, RTÉ opened a submission period where composers were able to submit their songs for the competition until 27 January 2006. At the closing of the deadline, over 1,000 songs were received. Four finalist songs were selected by a three-member jury panel appointed by RTÉ: writers Brendan Graham and Shay Healy as well as singer-songwriter Paul Brady. The songs were announced on 11 February 2006, one of them which was disqualified on 13 February for not meeting the EBU eligibility criteria: "Strong Enough" written by Barry Walsh. The national final, Eurosong 2006, was held on 17 February 2006 at the Studio 4 of RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Pat Kenny and broadcast on RTÉ One as well as online via the broadcaster's official website rte.ie during a special edition of The Late Late Show. All three competing songs were performed by Brian Kennedy and "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" was selected as the winning song following a public televote. The show also featured guest performances from former contest winners Linda Martin, Niamh Kavanagh, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan as well as commentary from a panel that consisted of Martin, commentator Marty Whelan and music manager Louis Walsh. "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" was later released on 21 April 2006, and eventually peaked at Number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart.

Controversy 
The selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry provoked controversy after it was revealed that the song was submitted by Kennedy himself after the song submission deadline. IMRO publisher Johnny Lappin claimed that the jury responsible for choosing the four finalist songs had only reviewed less than 4% of all the song submissions as they were "overwhelmed with the volume of entries", and that RTÉ had influenced the final result by inviting the panellists to reveal their favorite song before the public were allowed to vote; all four panellists had tipped "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" to win. The broadcaster also offered those that voted for the winning song to enter a draw for a car, which Lappin believed might "prejudice the viewers into voting, not for the song they personally felt was the best but for the song most likely to win".

At Eurovision 
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 2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final, to be held on 18 May 2006, and the final, to be held on 20 May 2006. Ireland was drawn to perform in position 8, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from Cyprus.

In Ireland, the semi-final and the final were broadcast on RTÉ One with commentary by Marty Whelan. The two shows were also broadcast via radio on RTÉ Radio 1 with commentary by Larry Gogan. The Irish spokesperson, who announced the Irish votes during the final, was former contest winner Eimear Quinn.

Semi-final 
Brian Kennedy took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May. The Irish performance, which was also the 1000th song performed in Eurovision history, featured Brian Kennedy dressed in a black suit and joined on stage by four backing vocalists, three of them located at the right side of the stage with the remaining one located at the left side of the stage and also played the guitar: Calum McColl, Fran King, Paula Gilbert and Una Healy.

At the end of the show, Ireland was announced as having finished in the top 10 and consequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed ninth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 79 points.

Final 
Shortly after the semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final and Ireland was drawn to perform in position 21, following the entry from Croatia and before the entry from Sweden.

Brian Kennedy once again took part in dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May before the final. Brian Kennedy performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 20 May. Ireland placed tenth in the final, scoring 93 points.

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 Lithuania in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Ireland

Points awarded by Ireland

References

2006
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision
Eurovision