Singer Samantha Mumba has told The Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1 that she stands by her February criticism of the Eurosong judging panel and is a "bit surprised" at the amount of coverage her comments have generated.
Mumba criticised the panel - made up of choreographer and Dancing with the Stars judge Arthur Gourounlian, 2FM broadcaster Laura Fox, cook and TV presenter Donal Skehan, and singer Bambie Thug - following The Late Late Show Eurosong Special on Friday 7 February, where she placed second with her track My Way.
Norwegian singer EMMY won the competition with Laika Party, which went on to represent Ireland at the Eurovision last month.
In her original Instagram post in February, Mumba thanked her supporters and expressed pride in her Eurosong performance.
She went on to claim: "Special mention to the "panel" (aside from Bambie, who I stan) who not only didn't have the credentials, experience, or professionalism required and were unnecessarily rude and vile to all the finalists...."
Mumba also wished "the sweetest" EMMY "the very best of luck" in Eurovision.
In a later post, Mumba said she felt "strongly" that the Eurosong judging panel "were dismissive of all the contestants", which she described as "disappointing".
Eurosong judge Donal Skehan wrote at the time that he stood by his role and the feedback he gave on the night, saying his comments were "never personal".
RTÉ said it was "extremely grateful" to the Eurosong panel for "their professionalism, insight, integrity, and good humour".
Watch: Samantha Mumba performs My Way on The Late Late Show Eurosong Special
On Saturday's Brendan O'Connor Show, Mumba was asked by host Dearbhail McDonald to reflect on the experience "now that the proverbial dust has settled".
"For me, it was a very, very personal thing, me even entering into that and doing it," the singer replied.
"I think I very much so play it safe with everything I do, you know? And I kind of always weigh up the pros and the cons. And I think for that, I just wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone. So even doing that, and doing a song competition, isn't something that I had on my bingo list at 42 at all."
When asked if it was "a strange thing" to come back home to take part in a song competition, the chart-topping star answered: "Yes and no. I think at some point as well if I'd gone with the attitude of, 'Oh, I shouldn't be doing this' - I mean, that would just be ego, isn't it? Let's be realistic.
"And it's a song competition, and I wouldn't want to represent Ireland with a song that Ireland didn't want either or do something... I think fair is fair, and I think if that's the process, then that's what it was.
"And honestly, I was just proud of myself for doing it because it definitely wouldn't have been something that I would've been necessarily even thinking I would have the balls to do it, if I'm being totally honest, like, a few years ago. No, I loved the process of all of it."
"Were you surprised at the reaction that you received to your observations, perhaps, on the ultimate selection process?" asked the host.
"Listen, I just... I think everybody's entitled to an opinion," said the Dubliner.
"And I was a bit surprised - that wasn't even the focus. Like, I think I just... What I wrote was just at the end of the post. The focus of the post was actually just thanking everybody on the team who'd worked so hard on it! I didn't see what the big deal was."
"Ah, you must've known that little flourish would set social media on fire!" laughed McDonald.
"I didn't! Here's the thing - I mean, maybe is that I'm not even [on social media that often]? I think, like, I maybe post on Instagram once a month or something, like, maybe! I don't know," laughed Mumba.
"But I mean, I certainly stand by what I said. I don't take it back. And I think, you know, fair is fair. If people can give their opinion on national television, surely I'm allowed to give my opinion on my own Instagram page. I think that's fair."
When asked about where she thinks Ireland should "go from here" with Eurosong, Mumba said: "Oh God, I actually have a lot of thoughts on this.
"I do think maybe it deserves its own [show]. Ideally, I think, it's a song competition - to perform, I think maybe it should actually be in a venue that is set up even sound-wise for musicians [and not a television studio]. Because I don't think that that's the set-up. I think that would be great."
"I love the variety of it. I love kind of the process that it's open to everybody," she continued.
"I think if I had one immediate one, I would think that it should be its own show, and it definitely should be televised in a music venue that is set up for singers."
Looking to the future, Mumba said: "I love getting to be independent and have that creative freedom. Like I said, even joking, I could release a song a day for the next two months if I wanted to. I don't want to, but just to have the freedom of that is great.
"[I'm] Working on new music. Still working on TV - the new season of Harry Wild is just out. All of these festivals over the summer are amazing.
"Obviously, I'm a mother first and foremost - so that's kind of the main priority for me - and wife!
"Listen, life is good. I'm just grateful for where everything is."
The Brendan O'Connor Show, Saturdays and Sundays, RTÉ Radio 1, 11am
