Wild Youth to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023

Song We Are One emerges victorious following Late Late Eurosong Special

Ireland will be represented at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest by band Wild Youth and their entry We Are One

Tonight's nail-biting Late Late Late Eurosong saw six acts Leila Jane, ADGY, Public Image Limited, CONNOLLY, and K Muni and ND battle it out on live television for their place at Eurovision 2023. The winning act was chosen via International Jury, National Jury, and the public who were able to vote after all singers this evening had performed their songs and the voting lines opened.

Speaking following their victorious performance tonight, Wild Youth singer Conor O'Donohoe said it was a huge honour to be selected to represent Ireland on the world stage later this year.

Thank-you to everyone who voted for us, we are overwhelmed, we hope everyone can get behind the song and that we can do everyone in Ireland proud. We want to thank all of our families, they have supported us from day one.

The band (Donohoe,Ed Porter, Callum McAdam, and David Whelan) are well established in Ireland, with a string of hits, and have previously toured with Westlife, Niall Horan, Kodaline, and Lewis Capaldi. Their debut album All or Nothing was released in 2017. Winning entry We Are One was penned by Donohoe in Sweden with with Grammy-nominated songwriter J rgen Elofsson.

The first performer this evening was Leila Jane with Wild, Song 2 was ADGY's Too Good for Your Love, Song 3 was Public Limited Image with Hawaii, Song 4 was CONNOLLY with Midnight Summer Night, followed by Wild Youth's We Are One, and lastly, K Muni & ND's Down in the Rain.

Following each performance tonight, host Ryan Tubridy got feedback from the in-studio panel which included former Eurovision contestants Jedward, singer-songwriter Ruth-Anne Cunningham, BBC Radio 1 presenter Gemma Bradley, and Soprano Celine Byrne.

RT Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan was on presenting duties also, feeding in from the Greenroom where the acts waited as the votes came in. The International Jury vote was submitted by spokesperson Dr Paul Jordan, the National Jury by Junior Eurovision presenter Louise Cantillon, and the Public Vote by RT 2FM's Lottie Ryan.

Ireland will perform in the first half of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool on Tuesday May 9th, with the final taking place in the Liverpool Arena next to the River Mersey on Saturday May 13th. Ireland still holds the record for most Eurovision wins, with a tally of seven victories at the contest. Ireland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. Ireland famously won 4 out of 5 contests in the 1990s and became the first country to win 3 times in a row.

LINK:	https://about.rte.ie/2023/02/07/wild-youth-to-represent-ireland-at-eur...
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