IRELAND

The Irish Final was held on February 22nd at the RTE TV Studios in Dublin, during a special edition of The Late Late Show hosted by Ryan Tubridy. The winner was chosen by 5 regional juries (50%) and televoting (50%). The winning song was "Only love survives" by Ryan Dolan.

The set up of the song is simple yet effective, however may need to be extended slightly on a bigger stage. Ryan is on a small platform with three drummer/dancers behind him. The drums have intricate tribal patterns on them which are focussed on by the cameras - this could also be expended into motifs in the background too. The drumming has much more effect that when they are dancing but with more space this might change. To his right he has two female singers. Although they are good the song needs much more power and I think it could do with more singers, especially the call and response parts in the chorus.

The song has lots of different elements. It start off with some Irish drumming, becomes quite trancy then has a much more quicker beat in the chorus. The song is quite memorable and is one of those songs which different parts remind you of other songs. Ryan is a pretty good singer, although he will need to mind his timing at the bridge before the first chorus. He is a good looking boy and the Irish need to make a big deal of this to get extra votes.. His performance style is still a little amateur and does a lot of heel stretchy things which don't fit with the song. A bit of repetitive choreography and he'll be fine. I also don't like the 'making hands into a heart' thing that the dancers and backing singers keep doing. Sooooo unoriginal.

Without Jedward, the Irish final was actually a nail biting affair with this song just won by a mere 8 points. I am pleased that Ireland has sent something modern but also something that isn't too Irish. It is very much and Irish song but accessible to much more. It is also nice to see that Ryan also had a hand in the writing and composing of the song. I quite like this and with some tweaking this could be a fantastic number and a memorable one. However I'm not quite sure how the rest of Europe would react. I hope this qualifies ! 

Artist - Ryan Dolan

Song - Only love survives
Music - Wez Devine, Ryan Dolan
Lyrics - Wez Devine, Ryan Dolan