IRELAND

The Irish song and act was unveiled on March 5th with the first radio play on 2fm, the release of the music video online and had the premiere live performance on the the next evening. Like the last few tears, the process was done internally by RTE. Going to Rotterdam is Lesley Roy with the song "Story of my life"

The majority of the video is full of bright colours and showcases lots of different personalities doing different things. Lesley is lip syncing for most of it and sometimes can be seen playing an electric guitar. Lesley is dressed in a trouser suit with a black lacy top underneath. She has short blonde hair which is styled back behind her ears. For most of the video the shots are of her shoulders and head but she has a good connection with the camera. Near the end the song shifts it to a darkened club where the clubbers are full of energy - in slow motion!

The song has a pop-rock edge and uses this to good effect when differentiating the chorus from other parts of the song. We start with a wordy and staccato verse which is followed by a very sparse and slow pre chorus. The chorus continues this pace and begins with the title of the song. In the middle of the chorus there is a very memorable 'na-na-na-na-na-na" part which I can imagine the hall all joining in with. This pattern is repeated again but this time with a double chorus which has slightly different words the second time round. Here we have a small bridge and short instrumental before another long chorus. There is then another bridge, which starts the song's wind down to the finish which is the repetition of the very first line of the song.

There is some good news - this is great fun pop song with a admirable message and a pretty memorable chorus. She also seems to be working with some great people for a different kind of stage show - different at least for Ireland ! Unfortunately I think that may be it. The song is slightly reminiscent of Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold" which although a fine hit song, is over ten years old. The delegation might say this is a fresh new direction - it's really not! Her performance on "The Late, Late show" was not at all convincing. In fairness to her she seemed to be having some issues with her earpiece and the setup of the stage was rather unexciting plus she may have felt some pressure and nerves. Lesley's voice faltered quite quickly almost like it was too fast or too high which really shouldn't be happening. There wasn't really much performing going on, although she may have some help with that at Eurovision.I think most fans felt slightly underwhelmed and empty after that rendition.
If everything is on point with this there could be an outside chance of sneaking through to the final but if any one of the piece is out of sync this could be a total car crash. Considering the rollercoaster has had at Eurovision of the last few years, I wonder if a non-qualification might be the catalyst for RTE to take a break from the contest. It is nice to see them trying different things, but nothing has quite worked enough. I think to make a mark they are going to have to search WAY outside their box and comfort zone. This just isn't quite far enough.

Artist - Lesley Roy
Song - Story of my life
Composers - Catt Gravitt, Robert Marvin, Lesley Roy, Tom Shapiro
Lyricists - Catt Gravitt, Robert Marvin, Lesley Roy, Tom Shapiro