Decision leaves Mickey Joe in tune

LOYAL Mickey Joe Harte supporters breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when his Eurovision song was declared a true original.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) panel decided that the 29-year-old’s entry, We’ve Got the World, was not a copy of the 2000 Danish Eurovision winner, Fly on the Wings of Love. In a statement yesterday, the EBU said it was “satisfied that RTÉ’s entry is an original song, and we wish Ireland well in the contest”.

Four other contentious songs were also cleared for the Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place on May 24 in Riga, Latvia. RTÉ stood over Mickey Joe Harte’s entry and did not provide the Eurovision organisers with an alternative song. Speaking from Latvia, RTÉ commissioning editor Kevin Linehan said the station was always confident that the song would be approved. “We hired two independent experts to do an analysis of the song and they both cleared it. Now the EBU believe it’s an original song and we’re delighted with the decision.”

The Eurovision will be televised live from the Skonta Hall in Riga, which holds about 6,000 people. More than 200 of the audience will be made up of loyal Mickey Joe Harte supporters.

A charter plane capable of accommodating 160 of them is due to fly out from Derry. The weekend travel packages, at an average of 1,000, are not cheap, but it demonstrates that Mickey mania is alive and well in Donegal.

“He was escorted down the streets of Letterkenny for the St Patrick’s Day parade,” said Gabrielle McMonagle, a social diarist with the Donegal Democrat. “At his gig in Donegal last week, he got a standing ovation and he waited for almost two hours signing autographs. The girls were hanging off him, kissing his neck,” she said.

Mickey Joe Harte will have the third singing spot in the Eurovison show, which RTÉ’s Kevin Linehan believes could be a significant advantage.

“People tend to remember the earlier songs and they often forget the ones in the middle. And it’s very good for performers because you can get nervous if you have to wait backstage for ages,” he said.

But Mickey Joe Harte will face some tough competition from Tatu, the Russian pop duo who have threatened to “blast everything that’s gone before with our sexy act”. Julia Volkova, 16, and Lena Katina, 17, have been condemned for promoting “paedophilic pop” with their provocative videos.

The pair are hoping to bring the trophy home to Moscow for the first time with a track called Ne ver, ne bojsia, which means Do not be Afraid, Do not Despair. “No one should be scared of us, but we’re going to win Eurovision,” said Julia Volkova.