IRELAND

The Irish Final was held on February 28th at the RTE TV Studios, hosted by Ryan Tubridy. The winner was chosen by 5 regional juries (50%) and televoting (50%). The winner was announced as Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith with the song "Heartbeat".

 

As has become customary, the Late Late Show hosted the Irish final. Although there were only 5 songs in the final each one was different and showcased a different aspects to current Irish music. However this year's final will be overshadowed by the bickering between Billy McGuinness (mentor of Laura O'Neill) an  Linda Martin who acted as a reviewer along with Louis Walsh. The mentor's issue was the fact that Walsh was a biased guest having been close with Eoghan Quigg and Kasey Smith in the past and that Martin was biased because she was on 'the payroll of Walsh'. Although I feel this issue is quite genuine, trying to sort it out on the night was futile and ultimately took away the whole night from the singers.

 

Heartbeat was very much the fan favourite and although it just won the jury vote, it did win the televote. This seems like a popular win - not because it was the best song or was a song seen by some as a potential winner but more that Eoghan Quigg's song (which came second) would have been a major flop in Copenhagen.

 

The performance of Heartbeat was not what I was expecting at all. For me it fell very flat. Kasey was centre with two female backing singers behind, 2 male Irish dancers either side of her and a female violinist in the corner. I was expecting Kacey to be a little more active in the performance - not necessarily with a full blown choreographed routine but just with some movement and interaction with the crowd. The movement was created by the two dancers but this was over the top and old fashioned. This all said the very small stage made this feel worse.

 

The song starts off very low and slow then the beat kicks in. The song starts to engage much more at this point. It is really in the chorus that the song shines. The repetition of the title is also very prominent. The lull moving from the first chorus to the second verse need to be looked at. At this point I feel that the beat needs to be even stronger almost like it needs extra mass in it to keep people interested in the song. Kacey's vocals are really good and she seems like a very experienced performer and I think she would benefit from 'letting go' a little.

 

This is a good song with a good singer - but it needs more.

The staging needs to take a leaf from Ryan Dolan last year with the red background and Celtic symbols. This would contrast well with Casey's look as well as the beautiful dress she was wearing. If she is to stand still she needs to have definite direction to the camera and/or some simple yet powerful armography... maybe even some kind of walking based movements from side to side in time with the music. Part of me also feels that the dancers either need to go or need to be pared down to just the chorus. Alternatively it could be changed so that it's Irish dancing in the chorus but a more modern style elsewhere.

 

This is a very strong entry from Ireland and is an almost certain qualifier. This has the potential for an early frontrunner. Very little needs to be done to the song and on a bigger stage there may well be the opportunity to pull something really striking out of the bag.... Can Ireland afford to have it now...?

 

Artist - Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith

Song - Heartbeat

Music - Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren, Patrizia Helander

Lyrics - Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren, Patrizia Helander