RTÉ has defended its selection procedure for the Eurovision Song Contest after Ireland's entry, 'They Can’t Stop the Spring' by Dervish, came last in the competition in Helsinki on Saturday night.
The head of the Irish delegation, Julian Vignoles said it might be time to re-appraise our approach to the song contest. The band received votes from just one country, Albania.
Lyricist John Waters told The Irish Times this morning that he and his Eurovision collagues were 'gutted' over the result.
In his column, Mr Waters dismisses the conspiracy theory of voting pacts and suggests that emerging patterns of voting are less about tribal affinity than cultural, as in musical, recognition.
He suggests that the 'taste gap between East and West can be addressed in one of only two ways: radical introversion or a more enthusiastic opening up to the new.' He favours the latter.
The Serbian singer, Marija Serifovic won the contest with the winning song, Molitva, scoring 268 points. It had been second-favourite to win.
Britain's entry performed by Scooch scored just 19 points and came in second last.
The event was held in the Hartswall Areena in Helsinki, Finland.
