Ireland: Candidates revealed, songs to be presented tomorrow

RTÉ has just announced the names of the candidates to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014:

• Roe, mentored by sister Valerie, will sing her self-penned song Don’t Hold On.
• Quigg, mentored by Mark Murphy, will sing The Movie Song, which was written by Karl Broderick.
• Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith, mentored by Hazel Kaneswaran, will sing Heartbeat, which Kaneswaran composed along with Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren and Patrizia Helander.
• Mann, mentored by Cormac Battle, will sing Battle’s Be Mine.
• O’Neill, mentored by Billy McGuinness, will sing You Don’t Remember Me, which was composed by Don Mescall and Lucie Silvas.

Eurosong 2014 takes place on The Late Late Show on Friday February 28, when the five acts will perform in the above order. As was the case in previous years, Ireland’s Eurovision entry will be selected by a combination of public and regional jury vote.

The public will get the chance to hear the five songs for the first time tomorrow afternoon, Thursday February 6, on both RTÉ 2fm and RTÉ Radio 1. On RTÉ 2FM from 2pm Rick O’Shea will debut the songs, while Derek Mooney will give the songs their first RTÉ Radio 1 airing after 3pm.

The Semi-Finals of the 59th Eurovision Song Contest are set to take place on Tuesday May 6 and Thursday May 8 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ireland will compete in the second Semi-Final. The Final takes place on Saturday May 10.