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Singer-songwriter Ryan O’Shaughnessy to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest

RTÉ have announced the ballad ‘Together’, penned by Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes, as Ireland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Singer-songwriter Ryan O’Shaughnessy will perform the ballad in the first Eurovision Semi Final in Lisbon on Tuesday May 8.

Ryan appeared on the finals of both The Voice of Ireland and Britain’s Got Talent in the same year. In his opening audition on Britain’s Got Talent, Ryan performed his now well known, self-penned song No Name, which has had over 45 million hits on YouTube.

In August of last year, RTÉ held a Eurovision Song Contest Forum and invited key industry professionals, songwriters and performers to come to RTÉ to gain a deeper insight into the present day contest from international Eurovision experts and key RTÉ decision makers.


The forum created debate and fostered new ideas as to the way RTÉ might approach the song contest this year. Over 300 songs were submitted to RTÉ for consideration before the November deadline.

The song Together was chosen after being selected by a panel of music industry professionals who listened to and judged the shortlisted final entries.

Together was purposefully written for the Eurovision Song Contest by writers working in The Nucleus, a new Irish songwriting team and hub, founded by Hamlet Sweeney, that brings the international model of collaborative songwriting to Ireland.

Ryan said, “As one of three songwriters on Together, I’m delighted it has been chosen to represent Ireland in Eurovision 2018, and on top of that, to be asked to perform for my country is an absolute honour.”

“I plan on doing Ireland proud by bringing a song and performance to Eurovision that we haven’t seen since the days of ‘Rock and Roll Kids’. Last year’s winning song from Salvador Sobral was a beautiful, melodic piece, and I think it may have carved the way for the Eurovision to revert back to being a song contest where true songs can flourish. I can’t wait to get onto that stage and perform an honest piece for millions of people.”

The Eurovision Song Contest semi finals take place in Lisbon, Portugal this summer on Tuesday May 8 and Thursday May 10, with the grand final taking place on Saturday May 12.

Ryan will perform Together in the first semi final on Tuesday in the Altice Arena which has a capacity of 20,000 and is one of the largest indoor arenas in Europe.

Check out all of today’s top stories on the Daily Goss;

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