A FORMER RTÉ boss and head of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said that it is always possible for countries to turn their Eurovision fortunes around, citing the UK’s success in the 2022 contest.
Noel Curran, the Director General of the EBU – speaking to The Journal at the Song Contest in Liverpool – said he wasn’t concerned at the prospect of countries “losing heart” during unsuccessful periods at the contest where they may not qualify for the final.
While Curran was not speaking about Ireland specifically in is answer, his response comes after our act – Wild Youth – crashed out of the competition on Tuesday night.
With the exception of one year, Ireland have not progressed from the weekday shows since 2013
“I think in terms of countries losing heart – I can understand that and I wouldn’t say its a concern but it is something that we’re aware of,” Curran said.
“But again, the UK got zero points or very little points for so many years and then they came back … so things can turn around for everybody and there’s always that sense that things can turn around.
“We don’t see any signs that countries are saying, ‘we’re not qualifying, we’re going to withdraw’. The event is too big for that I think.”
Before 2022, the UK had a bad run of Eurovision entries and came last in both 2021 and 2019.
In 2022, however, singer-songwriter Sam Ryder stormed his way to second place in the competition, finishing behind Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra.
He was picked through an ‘internal selection’ process at the BBC, after building up a significant following on TikTok during the pandemic.
Curran said that the competition was “open to change” and that other countries were seeking to join.
“We are open to change. Our problem is a successful one, which is that we have so many countries that want to take part. You know, we just have too many countries so we have to have some element of qualification.”
It comes as New Zealand are currently campaigning to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, seeking to join Australia in the yearly contest.
However, Curran said that Eurovision was “not actively seeking other non-European countries to perform at the moment”, but that they were always “open to situations that arise”.
Curran, a former RTÉ Director General, also told The Journal that Patrick Kielty be a “brilliant choice” for the Late Late Show.
Kielty is expected to be confirmed as the next host of the show, following Ryan Tubridy’s decision to step down from the Late Late.
“If it is him, if that is what RTÉ choose, I think he’d be a brilliant choice,” Curran said.
“I think he’s smart. He is really good on the light side, that entertainment element of what the Late Late needs to do and he’ll be really good at that. But he’s a smart, smart guy.”
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