EUROVISION fans have voiced their disappointment over the placement of Ireland in the finals.
Contest bosses have announced that Norwegian singer EMMY will perform song Laika Party third in the second semi-final on Thursday, 15 May.
However Irish Eurovision fans had hoped the quirky track with its own dance would open one of the semis.
Alex Basmati of Eurovision podcast Eirevisionpod told The Irish Sun: “This is a bit of a surprise as fans suspected Emmy would open the semi as it’s upbeat and broadly appealing to a younger audience.
“It’s not the worst spot to be in, for example second is notorious for being a ‘death slot’ with lowest qualifying odds – whereas both acts in the third spot managed to qualify last year.
“It’s also surrounded by songs with songs of different genres which helps it stand out.
“We saw in 2024 how important staging is with Bambie Thug’s incredible performance which elevated it from odds barely predicting a qualification to jumping to a favourite to win the whole thing.
“We know EMMY has the voice and the song to qualify, it’s really down to their staging plan to push it into a qualifying position so looking forward to see what they have up their sleeve for Laika Party.”
While another Irish Eurovision podcaster Keith Mills told it was now 50/50 if Ireland would qualify.
Keith of the All Kinds Of Everything Facebook group told us: “I don’t think it’s a great draw for Ireland but it could have been worse.
“I expected us to open. The first half of a semi-final is always a challenge but at least we are separated from the favourites and we have the UK voting in our semi-final. I’d give us a 50/50 chance.”
Meanwhile Irish Eurovision winning songwriter Phil Coulter admits he can see why some Irish acts are unhappy that Norwegian born singer Emmy is singing for Ireland in Switzerland next May.
Phil told The Irish Sun: “I understand why people are cheesed off. In an ideal world, Ireland would be sending a good melodic song sung by a good singer, which is how Ireland has won Eurovision before but the contest has changed so much.
“It’s a lot less about songs now. If you asked anybody on the street to name the last four or five winners of the Eurovision now, they’d be struggling to name one.”
