With Molly Sterling flying the flag for Ireland tonight (May 21) at the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Odrán de Bhaldraithe takes a look back at the last ten Irish entrants and how they fared.
2014: Featuring a fiddle, Can-Linn and Kasey Smith's Heartbeat put a definite Irish spin on what was essentially a modern pop tune. Coming twelfth in the semi-final with 35 points, they failed to qualify for the final.
2013: Ireland's 2013 Eurovision was also a Celtic take on modern pop, but voters weren't impressed. After finishing eighth in the semi-final, Ryan Dolan became only the second Irish Eurovision hopeful to end up Paddy last.
2012: The return of the Jedi. After their moderate success in 2011, finishing eighth with Lipstick, Jedward were back for more in 2012, but didn't fare quite as well. The Grimes boys slid eleven places down the leader board from the year before, finishing nineteenth.
2011: The year Europe was introduced to Jedward and they seemed to like them a lot more then than they did in 2012. Lipstick is Ireland's highest-placed entry on TEN's playlist, finishing eighth with 119 points.
2010: Already a Eurovision winner in 1993, Niamh Kavangh returned with It's for You in 2010. The voters weren't as kind this time and she finished 23rd.
2009: Ireland tried to show a bit of attitude in 2009 with Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy's Et Cetera. That attitude earned them an early trip home, with an eleventh place finish in the semi-final meaning they didn't qualify for the final.
2008: Perhaps perplexed by what it was that they were seeing, the people of Europe didn't seem to appreciate the national treasure that is Dustin the Turkey. Irelande Douze Pointe also failed to qualify for the final, finishing fifteenth in the semi-final.
2007: Wondering who it was that suffered the ignominy of being the first Irish entrants to finish last in the Eurovision? Look no further; fully equipped with the customary "woos" of an Irish trad song, Dervish finished in last place in 2007 with They Can't Stop the Spring.
2006: It seemed inevitable that Brian Kennedy would represent Ireland in the Eurovision at some point and he did so in 2006. Singing the self-written Every Song Is a Cry for Love, Kennedy finished tenth with 93 points, Irelande's second best showing in this playlist.
2005: The selection of Donna and Joe McCaul's Love? for entry proved to be a controversial one, with the Irish public decrying the fact that the song was a break from the traditional Irish ballads that were usually entered and had won seven Eurovision Song Contests. Perhaps they were right, Love? finished fourteenth in the semi-final, becoming the first Irish entry to not reach the final.
