Three Late Late Eurosong Special talking points, from Eurovision royalty to a Soviet space dog
Patrick Kielty is pictured with Eurosong finalists Reylta, Emmy, Samantha Mumba, NIYL, Adgy and sister Jenny and Bobbi Arlo ahead of The Late Late Eurosong special. Picture: Andres Poveda.
Six Eurosong finalists battled it out on Friday night’s Late Late Eurosong Special to be crowned the winner and go on to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Adgy opened the show with the song , followed by Bobbi Arlo performing the song , Reylta performing , Samantha Mumba performing the song , NIYL performing , and Emmy performing .
The Late Late’s panel included last year’s act Bambie Thug, television presenter Donal Skehan, radio presenter Laura Fox, and dancer Arthur Gourounlian.
Between plenty of laughs, the panel offered their insights into each of the performances.
On Adgy’s performance, Gourounlian said it was “beautiful but a little monotone”, while Skehan described it as “a polished entry” but agreed with Gourounlian that it needed a “little bit of crescendo”. 2FM presenter Laura Fox and Bambie Thug both acknowledged the family affair of the brother-sister act and said they loved their chemistry on stage.
Following Bobbi Arlo’s performance of , Fox said she was “having heart palpitations, it was so good” and said the only thing missing was the Eurovision stage, while Bambie could “see the vision” and said the song “could do good things”. Skehan described it as “a really strong contender for Eurovision” and Gourounlian said Bobbi Arlo has got the power and nobody is taking it away from her.
Reylta’s performance of was not received as well by the panel who acknowledged Reylta’s “fine set of lungs” and “fantastic” performance but ultimately believed that it wouldn’t go far at Eurovision “purely because the whole standard has just changed” and Eurovision has moved away from the traditional Irish take.
Following Samantha Mumba’s performance of , Fox described Mumba as an icon in her own right but said she felt the song wouldn’t do it for Ireland at Eurovision. Skehan said it was an honour to have Mumba taking part in the competition but just wished the song was stronger.
NIYL’s performance of was described by Skehan as “phenomenal” who said the song was “insanely perfect” for Eurovision. Gourounlian loved the vocals but disagreed with Skehan and said he has heard this genre a lot. Bambie said it would be a great act to send to the song contest.
Last but not least, Emmy performed her song which impressed all four panelists, with Skehan describing it as a straight out-of-the-box Eurovision entry and Babie saying they loved it and will continue playing the song on repeat.
After all of this year’s Eurosong acts had performed their songs, Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty announced a “very special” surprise from the glory days when Ireland reigned supreme.
Kielty introduced the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Irish Eurovision, Linda Martin, Niamh Kavanagh and Eimear Quinn, who performed Loreen’s
The Irish Eurovision legends received a standing ovation from the studio audience.
Speaking following their performance, Martin described it as “a dream come through” and said that while they have worked together in the past, it was always on single songs and that this was the first time they had performed as a trio.
Martin, Kavanagh and Quinn reminisced on their Eurovision journeys and final performances and looked forward to Eurovision 2025.
After the final ad break of the show, Kilety had the important job of announcing who had been selected to follow in the footsteps of Bambie Thug and represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.
Kielty first went to Milicia Fajgelj to deliver the result of the international jury vote, followed by 2FM presenter Blanaid Treacy who delivered the national jury vote. James Patrice delivered the results of the public vote which decided who would go forward as Ireland’s entry to the international song contest.
It was Emmy who received the most amount of public votes and won a total of 34 points making her Ireland’s selection for Eurovision.
The 24-year-old Norwegian singer performed her song to the jury, a studio audience, and people watching around the country.
The song, she said, was inspired by the Soviet dog Laika, who was the first dog in space in 1957.
Speaking after her win, she said: “I’m just in shock, thank you so, so much.”
When asked by Kielty whether she thinks she can follow in the footsteps of last year’s finalist Bambie Thug, she replied: “I really really hope so, I hope I can make you proud. Thank you guys.”
