LAST UPDATE | 15 May

IT’S IRELAND’S TURN to compete tonight in the second semi-final of Eurovision in Switzerland.

The first semi-final on Tuesday saw 10 acts out of 15 move forward to Saturday night’s final.

Another 16 countries will compete tonight for 10 more spaces, including Ireland.

Here’s everything to know.

Who’s competing for Ireland?

Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen will represent Ireland with her song Laika Party.

The song is about a dog named Laika who was sent to space by the Soviet Union with no hope of return.

Emmy is the third competitor on the running order tonight after Australia and Montenegro.

Last year, Ireland came sixth in the final with Bambie Thug’s song Doomsday Blue.It was the first time Ireland made the final since Ryan O’Shaughnessy in Lisbon in 2018.

Emmy will be hoping to live up to last year’s success and try to make it into the final too. 

When is it on and where can I watch?

The second semi-final starts tonight at 8pm Irish time and will be broadcast by RTÉ, the Irish member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that organises Eurovision.

Marty Whelan is back at it again with the commentary on RTÉ.

The contest is being held in Switzerland this year after Swiss artist Nemo won in 2024 with their song The Code. Switzerland is hosting the contest in the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel.

Who else is performing tonight?

Emmy faces strong competition from Finland singer Erika Vikman’s Ich Komme, Malta’s Miriana Conte with Serving, and Czechia’s song Kiss Kiss Goodbye from Adonxs, a Slovakian singer who studied in London.

Sweden and Austria are considered to have some of the best odds of winning the final on Saturday – but neither will be performing tonight, having competed in the first semi-final on Tuesday. 

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Israel’s entry, Yuval Raphael, will be performing tonight with her song New Day Will Rise.

There have been significant protests in Ireland and other countries calling for Eurovision to exclude Israel from the competition over its horrific bombardment of Gaza and its prolonged blockade preventing any supplies like food or medicine from entering.

RTÉ faced pressure to boycott the competition unless Israel was removed from the contest but is moving ahead with its participation nonetheless.

Tonight will also see performances from three of the “big five” countries that have already made the final – UK girl group Remember Monday, French singer Louane and German duo Abor & Tynna.

Acts from the Big Five are always guaranteed a spot in the Saturday show as each of the five countries bring a massive TV audience and make proportionally larger contributions to the running of the show compared to smaller nations. The host nation automatically goes through as part of the prize for winning the previous year’s contest.

Spain, Italy and host nation Switzerland performed at Tuesday’s semi-final.

Additional reporting by Press Association