RTE Late Late Show Eurovision Special: Who are the Candidates?

Ireland’s glorious bid at Eurovision 2023 will take center stage tonight in a special edition of RTÉ’s Late Late Show.

Six bright national contenders will battle to represent Ireland in Liverpool this May at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.

Viewers at home will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite song to help decide who will represent Ireland at the competition in Liverpool.

The winner will then perform at Eurovision in front of 160 million spectators around the world.

Seasoned commentator Marty Whelan will document all the behind-the-scenes action throughout the show while host Ryan Tubridy will be joined on set by a Eurovision panel expert.

Here are six artists hoping to be chosen to represent Ireland.

John Lydon and Public Image Ltd, aka PIL

Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (formerly known as Johnny Rotten), now the lead singer of PIL, is among six contenders.

Lydon grew up in London with Irish parents and says he wants to represent Ireland because he is “of Irish blood like anyone else”.

Their Eurovision entry is a song titled Hawaii, which is described as a love letter to Lydon’s wife of nearly five decades, Nora, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease.

ADGY aka Andrew Carr

The singer-songwriter from Co Donegal is hoping for success with the song Too Good For You.

The song was written as a piano ballad during the lockdown and is a collaboration with producer Boksay.

The two artists worked together remotely to create the final version of the song, which has been described as “an upbeat high-tempo dance track”.

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Jennifer Connolly

Performer Connolly, from Leitir Meaillan in Connemara, Co Galway, will perform her song Midnight Summer Night.

Her song is a song written one night during the pandemic when she was 17 years old.

She is currently taking her first year of a creative music production course at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dublin.

Lazy youth

Four Pieces from Dublin have a string of top hits in Ireland and have toured with names including Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi and Westlife.

In addition to their own sold-out tours in the UK and Ireland, the band’s Conor O’Donohoe has also written a string of top hits for other artists, and co-written with Moncrief and The Script .

Their Eurovision entry, We Are One, was written with Grammy-nominated musician Jörgen Elofsson.

Leila Jane

Leila is an Indie Pop singer-songwriter living in Dublin who has been described by Late Date’s Cathal Murray as “a must-see”.

Imelda May selected her as the recipient of the ‘Imelda May Scholarship’ at BIMM Institute Dublin, where she graduated with first class honors in music.

Her song Wild has been described as a “powerful song about a woman’s mental strength”.

For the track, she collaborated with Liis Hainla, an Estonian songwriter, Finnish producer Arto Ruotsala and British musician Aaron Sibley.

K Muni & New Year’s Eve

Kofi Appiah and Nevlonne Dampare from Co Longford. The song ‘Down in the Rain’ chronicles the difficult times in their careers and they say it’s testament to their determination.

Down in the Rain encourages listeners to never give up their aspirations no matter how difficult the road.

This year’s Eurovision competition will be held in Liverpool on May 9, 11 and 13.