:: Eurovision 24 :: Oslo 2010

Surprise, Surprise, Ireland's Eurovision Song for Athens 2006 is Brian Kennedy's "Every Cry Is A Song For Love". You can hear the song here. You can watch the video here. THE SHOW RTE Late Late Show Eurosong 2006 was a great show, looking back on the last forty years of Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest with Guildo Horn of Germany 1998, The Purple Duo of Belgium 1973, The Dress falling off the Presenter in 1985 and much more. Linda Martin sang her 1992 song winner "Why Me?", Niamh sang her 1993 song "In your eyes", Dickie Rock sang his 1966 song and Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan sang their 1994 winning song "Rock 'n' roll kids" which was voted by the Irish public as the best song from Ireland of all time. Maxi (Ireland 1973, 1981, Now a RTE Radio 1 presenter), Linda Martin (Ireland 1984 & 1992, now a judge on You're a Star), Louis Walsh (Former Manager for Johnny Logan, 1980 & 1987, now a X Factor Judge)

Tonight’s Late Late Show on Irish television will host Eurosong2006, the show which will decide Ireland's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. Brian Kennedy will perform three songs and the winning song will be decided by public vote. Song A: Composer: Jimmy MacCarthy Song title: The greatest song of all To vote for song A call:Rep. of Ireland - 1513 71 71 01 or text SONG A to 53600 Northern Ireland - 0905 020 0031 Song B: Composer: Don Mescall Song title: All over the world To vote for song B call:Rep. of Ireland - 1513 71 71 02 or text SONG B to 53600 Northern Ireland - 0905 020 0032 Song C: Composer: Brian Kennedy Song title: Every song is a cry for love To vote for Song c call:Rep. of Ireland - 1513 71 71 03 or text SONG C to 53600 Northern Ireland - 0905 020 0033 Lines will not open until after all three songs have been performed. Votes cost €0.60, calls from mobiles may cost more. The show will be streamed live at 21.30 (local time). To watch the show online you wi

RTE have confirmed that Eurosong2006, the show which will decide Ireland's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece, will be streamed LIVE at 9.30pm GMT this Friday night. To watch the show online, go to http://www.rte.ie/tv/latelate You will need to have either Microsoft Windows Media Player or RealPlayer installed on you computer.

Ever since singer Brian Kennedy was announced as a songwriter of one of the songs in next Friday night's competition, there has been a question overshadowing the selection process which chose the four songs. Irish Times journalist John Waters is the latest to let off steam on national radio. On this afternoon's "Livelive" on RTE Radio 1, Waters who also two potential entries to the selection, was interviewed at length by Joe Duffy. Waters and other contributors to the show raised many interesting points regarding the potential conflict of interest for Brian Kennedy in singing other songs which are up against his own. Waters also pointed out that re-opening the song submission process gave an advantage to those who had extra time to work on their songs. However most interestingly the interview shed further light of the whole selection process which chose the four (now three) finalists. Apparently only a faction of the songs submitted to RTÉ actually made to the panel

In the coming weeks leading up to the event, the official entries for Athens 2006 will be featured on escradio.com. The participating artists will present their songs themselves with a personal message. The Swiss entry If we all give a little will be aired exclusively at Sunday 19th February, 18:00 CET. Thanks to the internet, for the very first time in the history of the contest listeners from all over the world will be able to simultaneously hear the premiere of a Eurovision Song Contest entry.

A few people were asking about the programme that was discussing the song today. The LIVELINE Show is available for Listening now at: http://www.rte.ie/rams/radio/latest/rte-liveline.smil http://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/ REALPLAYER REQUIRED.

If you are Irish you will get the joke from the title but there has been top quality drama in Ireland today. Early this morning, an anomyous email was sent to RTE exampling that Barry Walsh's Strong Enough has been previously released as the B-side of a single by John Walsh and Roisin O'Reilly, featured in the "Donegal Catch" advertisment, making it ineligible for the Contest. In fact, their single was the Irish OGAE club's entry for the 2002 OGAE Second Chance song contest. Speaking in RTE Radio 1 today, Barry said he was disappointed but was happy that he was in the last four, even though now he is not in. The song which was to be in Friday was played on the radio and it blew me away. It was like a cross between Riverdance and Secret Garden. Instead Barry has said he will release the single for charity. The interesting thing is that the panel had no song on stand by. After getting 1,000 to choose from, they had no song on stand by, very odd. Which now means tha

One of the four songs which was included in the four songs which Brian Kennedy will sing in the Irish Eurovision selection on Friday night next could be in trouble. The OGAE Ireland site is reporting that songwriter Barry Walsh had a song called "Strong Enough" as the B-Side to the John Walsh & Roisin O'Reilly single "Homes Of Donegal" out a few years ago (the A-Side was used on the "Donegal Catch" advert). The earlier "Strong Enough" is a soaring Celtic melody and represented Ireland in the 2002 OGAE Song Contest. If it is the same song, then this would break the rule on Eurovision entries not being commercially available before October 2005. RTÉ has been contacted, so we await further news. FROM AKOE

With just one week to go before the Irish public chooses our 2006 Eurovision entry, the names of the four songs and songwriters were announced on last night's "Late Late Show". The songs were drawn at random by Pat Kenny, and this is the order in which they will be performed on next Friday evening's "Late Late Show" Eurovision special; "Strong Enough" written and composed by Barry Walsh "The Greatest Song Of All" written and composed by Jimmy McCarthy "All Over The World" written and composed by Don Mescall "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" written and composed by Brian Kennedy

A US music competition based on the Eurovision Song Contest is being developed by American network NBC. The programme is intended to challenge American Idol, a ratings winner which is screened on rival network Fox. A grand final with a singing representative from each US state and public voting is planned. "Eurovision is the granddaddy of all talent shows and the Super Bowl of singing," said Ben Silverman, chairman of series producers Reveille. Renowned

Relive 1998 with Terry Wogan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/eurovision/90288.stm

Luke Fisher reporting from Kent (United Kingdom) http://www.oikotimes.com/site/index.php?id=3755

ERT today announced that the British company Stage One have been appointed to build the set for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. Specialising in ultra-modern, mechanical sets, the firm is to tackle the challenge of creating a stunning backdrop for the first contest to be held in Greece. Every year, the set generates as much diverse opinion as the songs themselves, so the task is no light undertaking. Designers have to balance budget with style, and attempt to cater for the tastes of millions of viewers at the same time. Fortunately, Stage One are extremely experienced in the international field, being the company behind the breathtaking sets for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games, also held in Athens. ERT bosses were suitably impressed, and the company finds itself once more at the heart of an international event.