Countdown to Vienna: Why Ireland is a Big Deal

 In my previous Eurovision post I mentioned that I would report on the entrants to the contest from the UK, Austria, Australia and Ireland and acknowledged that, considering the subject of the post, Ireland seemed like an inconruous mention on that list.

 Today's post is going to cover why Ireland is getting a special mention.

 In short, Ireland is the most successful country in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest with seven wins under its belt.

 In long, not only is Ireland the most successful entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest, it also achieved three consecutive victories in the 1990s and won again in 1996.

 Ireland also boasts the title of being the only country to have an entrant win twice with Johnny Logan. He won twice as a performer and two of his songs won the contest and another came second.

I really can't argue with this.

  Oh yes, it is definitely worth paying attention to what Ireland does in Eurovision.

 Now, the 21st century hasn't been quite as kind to the Emerald Isle, but it's only a matter of time until we see another Irish Eurovision winner.

 Especially when they stop purposefully sabotaging themselves. I'm not joking, this is a thing, you'll see an example of it below. (I'll cover why this happens and a few other examples of it in a later post.)

 An entrant hasn't been chosen yet, but we do have five finalists for RTE's Eurosong 2015 competition.

 They are:

• Nikii Kavanagh (we'll talk more about her in a second.)
• Kat Mohan (who has a song written by the 1994 winner)
• Alex Saint backed by the MJs (I plan to bring him back up in another post)
• Erika Selin (who will also be brought up in said post)
• Molly Sterling (who is the youngest entrant at sixteen)

 Now, I haven't heard any of these songs yet, I'll cover that in a bonus post on Sunday.

 So, why does Nikii Kavanagh get a special mention?

 Because in 2011 she was a runner up to these two.

I'm not sure how she has any self confidence left.

 If you don't know who these two are... forgive me for what I am about to do.

 Long story short, they were on the UK The X Factor and were so laughably bad that they gained a huge ironic following.

 Don't ask me why they were on our X Factor, they're Irish born and bred.

 You've seen how bad they are.

 Yet somehow, they came eighth in Eurovision 2011.

 ... Somehow...

 The UK gave them 12 points.

 I'm not joking that ironic following was huge. (I don't know what Sweden and Denmark's excuse is.)

 With this in mind, I'm not sure what expectations to have for Nikii Kavanagh.

 Well, I guess we'll have to see on Sunday when I go through the Eurosong 2015 finalists to see what's on offer.