Nicky Byrne has been getting some tips and encouragement from his former Westlife bandmates in the run-up to next week's Eurovision.
At a press conference last (Saturday) night in Stockholm, where this year's Song Contest takes place, the 37-year-old singer spoke about emails he sent to Mark Feehily and Shane Filan asking if they had "any tips on singing and nailing a vocal in front of 200 million people".
Shane Filan rang him and the pair spoke for an hour, while Mark Feehily replied by email and offered words of encouragement.
"Shane is probably one of the best live singers I've witnessed and stood on a stage with for 14 years and he talked me through a lot of his tips," said Byrne.
"I would say he calmed me down if I'm honest and sometimes, even though I have the experience, sometimes you can let the occasion get to you, I guess.
"After the phone call with Shane finished I got an email from Mark and the email was this long list of things to make sure to do: X, Y, Z."
One thing particularly stood out for Ireland's Eurovision hopeful. "Something one of them said to me which was great was: 'You don't have to qualify. Just do yourself proud.'"
Byrne added that he felt that rehearsals were going well ahead of next Thursday night's semi-final, when he'll he hoping to impress enough viewers to make it through to Saturday's final at the Ericsson Globe.
"The first three last week were about getting a feel for the stage and it's funny because on the second rehearsal I hit an awful ropey note that seemed to stay with me for the next few days!" he said.
"But that's what rehearsals are for. You're professional enough to take the good with the bad and see where you go wrong and we're got a great team of people who are flying the flag and we'll give our absolute best to get in the final.
And if our vest isn't good enough we'll look again next year," he added. "But we really loved it today and I think we're getting everything right now."
The Eurovision Song Contest begins on Tuesday on RTÉ2 with the first semi-final, While Nicky Byrne performs in the second semi-final on Thursday. The final is broadcast live on RTÉ One on Saturday, May 14, at 8pm.
