RTÉ bosses held a meeting last week in a bid to stop their expensive Eurovision stars from failing.
Top songwriters, Eurovision contest experts and Irish fans took part in the discussion about the annual competition, after Ireland didn’t make it past the semi-final stage for the fourth time.
The discussion concluded that RTÉ bosses would be happy to just qualify for the final, and plenty of blame was pointed at Ireland’s 2008 entry Dustin the Turkey.
An attendee told the Irish Sun, “By sending a turkey in a shopping trolley, it looked like Ireland didn’t give a toss about Eurovision and did us so much long-term damage.”
Blame game: Dustin The Turkey has been blamed for damaging Ireland’s Eurovision reputation | VIPIRELAND.COM
The fact that RTÉ sent winners of the You’re A Star talent show, like Donna and Joseph McCaul, was also brought up.
“Amateur singers don’t have the stagecraft or experience to suddenly come up with the goods. We needed professional singers with decades of experience who could rise to the occasion,” a speaker complained.
The last Irish act to reach the Eurovision final was Jedward in 2011 and 2012.
It has since been revealed that RTE spent a whopping €331,482 in 2017 sending former Hometown star Brendan Murray and a team of 16 people to the contest in Kiev – but he unfortunately didn’t make the final.
“That’s a shocking waste of money which RTE can ill afford right now. You could be putting that money into programming,” an insider said. “But RTE would love to win again because a win would provide a huge morale boost and wipe away the decades of losing.”
