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Check out Jedward's competition! You can now see all of the 42 entries in this year's Eurovision Song Contest here.

Ireland are drawn last in Semi-Final 1, a good position and hopefully the boys will qualify for the final as they did from a similar position last year.

Eirevision will be travelling to Baku in May to bring you all of the latest news and gossip from rehearsals and dress-rehearsals. Before May there are several eurovision gatherings happening for those who cannot wait until then. One of the largest is in Amsetrdam on 21st April - it's called Eurovision In Concert - and over 20 of this year's acts (including our very own Jedward) will be taking part. You can find out all about it and book tickets here

Great draw for Ireland! Not so great for Englebert!

The draw for the running order for ESC 2012 has just taken place in Baku..and the good news is that Jedward are performing in last place in their semi-final! This worked well for them last year and they got through to the final. Let's hope they can do it again.

Not so good for the UK as they have been drawn 1st in the final and will open the show. Earlier performing positions are not cosidered good as most of the recent winners have come from later positions. Having said that, the last time the UK was drawn first was when the Brotherhood of Man performed (and won) in 1976, so you never know!

Check out our EUROVISION 2012 tab for full details of the running order and the singers and songs.

Jedward's marathon effort...Englebert's crooning glory!

Jedward are hoping to be fighting fit for their Eurovision return in May. And what better way than to run 26.2 miles? The boys have successfully navigated their way around Hollywood to complete the L.A. Marathon. And they have their medals to prove it!

The boys will need all their strength to overtake the emerging field of Eurovision artists in May - including the UK's Crooning heavyweight Englebert Humperdinck and the Russian Grannies! Speaking of Englebert, the BBC have released their song for Baku today - entitled "Love will set you free" - a gentle ballad sung by the crooner to beat all crooners.
It has a certain Irish feel about it and will no doubt garner some votes from this side of the water come May.



The running order for this year's contest will be completed this week as the Heads of Delebgation meet in Azerbaijan. Ireland will be hoping for a late draw in the semi-final as it certainly worked for Jedward last year. Details will be posted as soon as they are known.

Waterline released in time for St. Patrick's Day!

In just two months time, the rehearsals for the 57th Eurovision Song Contest will be well underway. As the city of Baku gears up for the contest , many of the participants - including our very own Jedward - are busy promoting their entries around Europe. You can grab yourself a copy of "Waterline" on Friday 16th March when the single is released in Ireland. Keep up to date on what the boys are up to on their website Planet Jedward

The venue in Baku - The Crystal Hall - looks very impressive indeed. It is a brand new multi-purpose indoor arena with an expected capacity of up to 23,000 spectators. Approximately 16,000 people will be able to attend each of the three Eurovision Song Contest live shows in May.

We will know all 42 entries for this year's contest very soon as the closing date for submission of songs is next week. Check back here for full details.

Party Time with the Russian Babushki

Just when we thought Englebert Humperdinck would the only senior citizen at Eurovision 2012, Russia comes along and surprises everyone by choosing the group Buranovskiye Babushki to represent their country in Baku. The group of eight grannies beat the 2008 winner Dima Bilan who sang a duet with former tATu girl Yulia Volkova in the national selection last night in Moscow. But even the ever-popular Dima and Yulia couldn't stop the march of the Babushki.

The singing group are from the town of Buranovo, 600 miles east of Moscow, and have pledged that if they make money from the contest it will go towards building a church in their town. Of course this isn't the first time the Babushki have tried their hand at eurovision. We first saw them a couple of years ago when they brought their unique style to the 2010 Russian final. We wanted them to win then but they only managed 3rd place. But they didn't give up and we are delighted that the 8 Buranovskiye Babushki will finally grace the Eurovision stage.

The ladies song is called Party for Everybody...you can see it here.

Please Release Me Let Me Go...to Eurovision!

Well our nearest neighbour have surprised everyone with a completely different choice for this year's Eurovision. The UK chose boyband Blue last year so a lot of people thought would it be another band (McFly perhaps?) or even a reality TV star like Joe McElderry who would go forward to Baku...but no...the BBC have chosen none other than 60's crooner - Englebert Humperdinck - to represent them in this year's contest.

Englebert - who's real name is Arnold Dorsey - will be 76 years old when he represents his country in Azerbaijan. The grammy-award winning crooner is certainly no stranger to the international stage having been in showbusiness for more than 45 years. His song will be recorded in Los Angeles (where he lives) , Nashville and London. Englebert's most famous songs are "Please Release Me"..."The Last Waltz" , "There Goes My Everything" to name but a few.

It will be interesting to see how Englebert's style contrasts to that of say...Jedward! It all makes for a very diverse and fascinating showdown in Azerbaijan.

Here is Englebert at a recent concert in Israel.

Jedward Do The Double!!

The boys are back! Jedward will once again represent Ireland at Eurovision. The Lucan twins secured their place in Baku at last night's Late Late Eurosong Show. Panelists on the show included the wonderful Niamh Kavanagh who won in 1993 and represented Ireland again in 2010, and Marty Whelan the RTE Eurovision commentator who correctly predicted the Azerbaijan win last year! They both thought Jedward would win, and they were right.

The results last night were: 1. Mistaken ( Edele Lynch) sung by Celtic Whisper with Maria McCool. (50 Points) 2. Mercy (Marten Ericsson, Peter Mansson, Lina Ericsson and Bill Hughes) sung by Donna McCaul. (84 Points) 3. Here I Am (Greg French) sung by Andrew Mann. (94 Points) 4. Language Of Love (Éanán Patterson and Julian Benson) sung by Una Gibney and David Shannon. (58 Points) 5. Waterline (Nick Jarl) sung by Jedward. (114 Points) The Grimes boys were the favourites from Day 1 to win the Eurosong. However they faced stiff competition on the night from the excellent Donna McCaul (Ire 2005) and Andrew Mann who put in great performances. Jedward were mentored by Linda Martin who won Eurovision in 1992 for Ireland. Can she work her magic again and bring victory to the boys this year? After all, they were THE success story of the 2011 Eurovision? It should be an exciting Eurovision for Ireland again this year! You can watch the boys performance here.

Jedward favourites to win Eurosong

If the bookmakers are to be believed, Jedward will romp home to victory on Friday and will represent Ireland for the second year running at Eurovision. On Paddypower.com Jedward are the hot favourites at 1/4 followed by Donna McCaul at 3/1. Andrew Mann is next at 7/1 with the two remaining acts - David Shannon and Una Gibney and Maria McCool both at 25/1.

The Eurosong takes place on Friday at 9:30 on RTE1 TV after the news. If you can't wait until then, you can hear the songs as they were played on the Mooney Show recently on RTE Radio 1 by clicking here. Good luck to all participants!

Latvia's homage to Mr. Eurovision

The first line in Latvia's entry for Baku - Beautiful Song by Anmary - mentions the king of Eurovision himself Mr. Johnny Logan! "I was born in a distant 1980, the year the Irish Johnny Logan won" sets the tone for a jolly little ditty from Anmary.



No doubt this song will pick up a few votes from Ireland in May. We're sure Johnny would be proud to be immortalised in a Eurovision song! The Latvian song is this year's guilty pleasure.

Norway does a Sweden!

With an uncanny musical resemblance to last year's Swedish entry - Popular by Eric Saade - Norway have decided to try their hand at an uptempo number with a solo male singer. It worked for Sweden last year by securing them a top 3 placing for the first time in years. Will it do the same this year for Norway?....Quite possibly.




Tooji sings Stay for Norway. We like this song at Eirevision and would love to see Norway be in contention for the top spot in Baku after last year's disappointment when the excellent Stella Mwangi's song Haba Haba failed to qualify for the final. Hopefully Tooji won't suffer the same fate.

Eurosong 2012 - Artists and Songs Revealed!

We now know the names of the 5 songs that will compete to represent Ireland at this year's Eurovision in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 7 artists are also known, and some familiar faces are in the mix.
Jedward are back going for the double and Donna McCaul, who sang for Ireland in Kiev in 2005 with her brother Joe, flies solo this time in her bid to also represent Ireland again.

The titles of the five songs in contention are:

Maria McCool - MISTAKEN
Donna McCaul - MERCY
David Shannon & Una Gibney - LANGUAGE OF LOVE
Andrew Mann - HERE I AM
Jedward - WATERLINE

The songs will be premiered on The Derek Mooney show on RTÉ Radio 1 on the 9th February...so tune in to get your first listen to the song that will carry Ireland's hopes to Baku!

The regional juries and the Irish televoters will then choose the winning song on the 24th February on the Late Late Show on RTE 1 TV.



The winner of the Irish selection will be chosen through public televoting and regional juries.

First Finalist revealed...and it's France!

One of the automatic finalists for Eurovision 2012 has announced their song for Baku.
Anggun Cipta Sasmi, an Indonesian and French-naturalized singer-songwriter will represent France with the song "Echo (You and I). Born in Jakarta, Anggun began performing at the age of seven and will carry the hopes of her adopted home when she takes to the stage in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 26th.

This lively and very likeable song will aim to bring France it's first victory at Eurovision for 35 years! Bon chance Anggun!

Baku wants to Light Your Fire!

Baku officially became the host city for Eurovision 2012 with the release of the logo and the draws for the semi-finals.

Ireland has been drawn in the second-half of the first semi-final on Tuesday 22nd May. The actual performing position will be announced later this year. Unfortunately the UK will be voting in the 2nd semi-final which may deprive Ireland (especially Jedward) of some vital qualifying votes. However, Jedward sailed into the final in 2011 without the help of the UK, so maybe they can repeat this, IF they are chosen as Ireland's representative in Eurosong 2012 (Friday 24th Feb on the Late Late Show)

The full semi-final draws are as follows:

First Semi-Final, Tuesday 22nd of May (18 countries):

First half

Montenegro , Iceland , Romania , Albania , Belgium , Latvia ,Switzerland ,
Finland , Greece

Second half

Moldova , Cyprus, Austria, Denmark , Russia, San Marino, Israel , Ireland,
Hungary

Second Semi-Final, Thursday 24th of May (19 countries):

First half

Serbia , The Netherlands, Portugal, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Malta, Ukraine, Armenia, Bulgaria

Second half

Sweden, Georgia, Slovenia, Estonia, Turkey, Slovakia, Croatia, Norway,
Lithuania, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Six countries have already qualified for the Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, being United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Host Country Azerbaijan. As a total of 26 countries will take part in the Final on the 26th of May, then 10 from each Semi-Final will qualify for it. They are obliged to broadcast and vote in (as drawn):

Italy (first Semi-Final)
Azerbaijan (first Semi-Final)
Spain (first Semi-Final)
United Kingdom (second Semi-Final)
France (second Semi-Final)
Germany (second Semi-Final)

Denmark knew better!

Should've Known Better is the title of the Danish song for Baku. The surprise winner of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix provided the best performance in the final when Soluna Samay romped home to victory last night in Aalborg.

The Danish people knew better than most Eurovision fans and bookies who were predicting a win by Song 8 - the Danish/Swedish combo Venter sung by Chris Brons and Patrik Isaksson. It just goes to show that the performance on the night makes a huge difference.

Eirevision had a soft spot for song 1 - Take Our Hearts sung by Danish X-Factor contestant Jesper Nohrstedt, who in the end finished 2nd to Soluna.

Listening to the winning song, you may notice a striking similarity to Crazy by Seal!

You can watch Soluna's winning performance here