Picture This, Denise Chaila and Niall Horan among nominees for Irish song the year

Of those on the list, Dermot Kennedy had the biggest seller with 'Giants', but public vote will decide eventual winner

Wed, 27 Jan, 2021 - 14:00

Des O’Driscoll

The ten nominations for the Irish Song of the Year 2020, part of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize, have been announced.

While the album side of the prize is decided by an industry panel, the individual song is down to a public vote, so can be affected by the amount of fans of a particular artist who engage with the event.

That could make Dermot Kennedy's 'Giants' a favourite, as it sold more than any of the other tunes on the list in 2020.

Niall Horan, Fontaines DC and Gavin James are the other established heavy-hitters among the nominees, while Denise Chaila was Irish music's breakout star of 2020.

Votes have to be cast from the Republic of Ireland by the end of Sunday, February 28, and the winner will be announced on the Tracy Clifford Show on RTÉ 2FM on Thursday, March 4.

Some fans of Denise Chaila had questioned why RTÉ wasn't tagging her on social media related to the nominations. The Limerick rapper took to Twitter to confirm that she had requested RTÉ not to tag her, due to the racism she was experiencing online.

Chaila wrote: “I’ve asked them not to. I need space from racism while celebrating my music once in a while. And I’m enjoying figuring out these boundaries.”