RTÉ have called on Louis Walsh to take over the management of Ireland’s Eurovision entry for 2017.
The broadcaster has asked the X Factor judge to help select and mentor this year’s Irish entry, after years of failing to make the song contest’s final round.
According to the Irish Daily Mail, an RTÉ source has said that Louis has already picked his artist – and will be unveiling him on The Late Late Show tonight.
“Louis was approached several months ago by RTÉ and asked would he be interested in guiding Ireland through next year’s song contest,’ said a source close to the process.
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“Obviously he has a huge wealth of knowledge and experience. It was a no-brainer to see if he would do it and when he said yes it was a big boost for Team Ireland.
“Obviously, everyone was extremely disappointed with the result in Stockholm. But Louis has picked someone with a big voice who can hit all the ranges and he has all the contacts to get a winning song. This is a big boost for Ireland and it couldn’t come at a better time as the last few campaigns have been disappointing.
“It won’t be Johnny Logan, it will be someone a lot more current,” an insider added.
Ireland is still the most successful country ever at Eurovision, but we haven’t had the best of luck in recent years.
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Louis, who managed previous Eurovision winners Johnny Logan and Linda Martin, has apparently enlisted the services of a number of top songwriters to come up with a short list of songs for his act.
“When you get Louis Walsh you get the best in the business. We went with a superstar last year and that didn’t work. Louis has had winners in the past, he knows what it takes and he is willing to take charge. Hopefully, he can take Ireland back to the top of Eurovision where we belong,” a source said.
The Eurovision will take place in Kiev, Ukraine in May 2017.
