New voting for Euro song

RTÉ is hoping that Ireland’s entry in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be no turkey.

And to help it achieve that goal, the station has chosen a new system of voting for Ireland’s entry in this year’s contest in Moscow.

Pat Kenny hosted the six finalists in a Late Late Show special last night, with the winner chosen jointly by regional juries based in Cork, Limerick, Sligo and Dublin, and by public televote. The procedure echoes the change to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest where national juries have a say, sharing the decision equally with the televote.

Ireland, long renowned as the most successful Eurovision nation, produced its worst ever performance last year. The 2008 Irish entry, Irelande Douze Pointe, sung by Dustin the Turkey, finished 15th in the first semi-final and failed to qualify for the final. The six competing songs in last night’s national final were chosen by a jury chaired by the 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin from a total of about 300 entries from Ireland and foreign countries. The jury included representatives from the Irish music industry as well as Diarmuid Furlong, the head of the official Eurovision fan club of Ireland.

Last night’s winner will compete for Ireland in the second semi-final in Moscow on Thursday, May 14.

The venue for this year’s Eurovision is the Olimpiyski, a huge arena built for the 1980 Summer Olympics. Last year saw a record of 43 represented countries, as Azerbaijan and San Marino joined the Eurovision family.

The competition has been broadcast throughout Europe and also in Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India and the US. In 2009, an Asian version of the Eurovision Song Contest is expected to be launched.