Ireland celebrated its traditional Eurosong to choose the song that will represent the country in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. In a final where six proposals aspired to take over from Brooke, it was ultimately the boy band Wild Youth who managed to win the day after being the favorites of both the public and the national jury, while the international jury placed them in second place. Will the song “We are One” bring Ireland its seventh victory and keep it as the country with the best record in Eurovision?
Get to know Wild Youth
The Irish indie-pop band with influences from rock and R&B was born in Dublin in 2016, with its four members, David Whelan (vocals/guitar), Conor O’Donohoe (keyboards/vocals), Ed Porter (guitar/vocals) and Callum McAdam (drums). They released their debut single, “All or Nothing”, in May 2017. This group writes and produces their own songs, and they have achieved numerous successes in Ireland, which led them to perform joint tours with artists such as Lewis Capaldi, Westlife, and Niall Horan. They have also sold out several of their own concerts held in the UK and Ireland. In 2019, they released their first mini-album, “The Last Goodbye“.
The vocalist Conor O’Donohoe has also composed for various artists such as Agnetha Fältskog, The Script, and Britney Spears, among others. Furthermore, it is not the first time that Conor has written for the Eurovision Song Contest, as in 2017, he co-wrote Ireland’s song for the Festival in that year’s edition, “Dying to Try”, a song with which Brendan Murray failed to qualify for the final.
“We are One”, the Irish entry for Eurovision 2023
“We are One” is the song chosen to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool, and it was written by Grammy-nominated composer Jörgen Elofsson and band members Conor O’Donohoe and Ed Porter. The song reached number 21 on the Irish Singles Chart, and according to one of its composers, it is inspired by the Eurovision’s mission to build bridges across Europe.
The song is a call to celebrate diversity, and its title coincides with the slogan of Eurovision 2013, emphasizing unity, inclusion, and togetherness. “We are One” reminds us that despite coming from different walks of life, all humans live under the same sun and brings a message of peace for everyone.
“We are One” by Wild Youth Lyrics
Original lyrics
We take our first breath
And then we exhale
Though we give it all we got
Until we fail
We get back up again
We take a look around
Oh, life can be a long road
But at least we’re not alone
We might be different, we might be unique
You might be a leader, I might be a freak
And we might be different
But under the falling sun
Tonight we are one
We are one
When we rise, we rise like the sun
When we go down, we go down, we go down, we go down
We take our first step
And then we fall
But still we keep on going
Climbing every wall
We keep on fighting
Turning every stone
And life can be a long road
At least we’re not alone
We might be different, we might be unique
You might be a leader, I might be a freak
And we might be different
But under the falling sun
Tonight we are one
We are one
When we rise, we rise like the sun
When we go down, we go down, we go down
We are one
(We might be different, we might be unique)
We are one
(You might be a leader, I might be a freak)
We are one
(And we might be different
But under the falling sun)
Tonight we are one
(We might be different, we might be unique)
We are one
(You might be a leader, I might be a freak)
When we rise, we rise like the sun
When we go down, we go down, we go down, we go down
We are one
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Irlanda made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and has participated in a total of 54 editions since then. It has the best record of all participating countries, as it took only six editions to achieve its first victory with Dana and the song “All kinds of everything”. Since then, Ireland has won the contest six more times, being the only country to have won twice with the same artist, Johnny Logan, with the songs “What’s Another Year” (1980) and “Hold Me Now” (1987).
Additionally, Ireland is the only country to have won the contest three times in a row, in 1992 with Linda Martin and the song “Why Me” composed by Johnny Logan, in 1993 with Niamh Kavanagh and the song “In Your Eyes”, and in 1994 with the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids” performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. The 1990s were a glorious decade for the country, as it also achieved a new victory in 1996 with Eimear Quinn and the song “The Voice”, as well as two second places in 1990 and 1997.
Since the introduction of semi-finals in the competition, luck has changed a lot for the country, as it has been eliminated in the semi-final stage up to 9 times, 6 of them in the last decade. It has also had two last positions in the grand final (2007 and 2013). In the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, Brooke was selected with her song “That’s Rich“, where she could only reach 15th place with 47 points, making it the third consecutive year failing to qualify for the final.