After 2 years of successfully tipping the Eurosong winner, let’s take a look at the contenders tonight and see if I can make it a hat-trick!

Isabella Kearney – Let Me Be The Fire: Australian-Irish songwriter Isabella Kearney is making her artist debut with pop banger “Let Me Be The Fire”, produced by Danish legend, Cutfather. Isabella’s number, whilst well produced, falls just a little bit too flat for me. I’m not totally convinced she has enough experience to pull it off live too, we’ve seen songwriters struggle to transition to singer on the ESC stage many a time. I’m expecting top 3 with the international jury for this one, but having little impact with the remaining voting sections.

Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blues: Bambie Thug will be taking viewers on a journey with Doomsday Blues being a cacophonous mix of genres. Ireland would be taking a welcomed bold risk sending this. Despite Eurosong’s slightly upgraded stage this year, I struggle to see this working live as a cohesive package. Late Late Show viewers are likely to be perplexed by Bambie’s stage show. Moreover, seeing how the national jury has voted over the last 2 years makes me doubtful about how they’ll perceive this number.

JyellowL – Judas: JyellowL’s entry has a very pleasant melody and I enjoy the chorus. However, it feels too chill to have any real impact. He also plans to have dancers as part of his staging, which I can’t see working well. A likely last place, considering the taste of the Late Late Show viewers.

Ailsha – Go Tobann: The big fan favourite Ailsha is attempting to bring Irish back to the Eurovision Song Contest with her noisy number. “Go Tobann” has been a huge hit with international fans who are looking for Ireland to send something culturally relevant. This is another one which I worry may go down like a lead balloon on the small Eurosong stage. It also feels very polarising which could lead to some jurors marking it down. I do think Ailsha has a path to win Eurosong, but it’s very much dependent on whether she can convey the message to viewers clearly. I think with the limited stage resources she has it’s more likely that she’ll struggle to get this message out, however I don’t rule out her snagging the televote 12 points.

Next-in-Line – “Love Like Us”: Louis Walsh’s new boyband are aiming to fulfil the prophecy of their band name with a very Scandi inspired boyband number. There has been significant debate about the threat these boys pose to the rest of the contenders, and their price has shortened in the last few days. They have a strong USP in this female dominated lineup and on paper seem like they will have a televote pull at least. Nevertheless, just looking cute isn’t enough to win (Brendan Murray placing last in 2022) and neither is a Louis Walsh connection (Eoghan Quinn’s 2014 loss). The boys have previously sang on the Late Late Show and there was a lot left to be desired from their performance. I suspect the panellists will be on hand to provide some vote de-motivating comments, focusing on how Ireland sent a boyband last year and that didn’t exactly go well. Yet, I can’t rule out a Joe and Jake inspired upset because of the strong USP!

Erica- Cody – Love Me Like I Do: Erica Cody will attempt to make history tonight by becoming the first woman of colour to represent Ireland at ESC. Erica is by far the most established act in this lineup, but not to the same extent as Wild Youth. She is a familiar face to RTE viewers, having been a finalist of Dancing With The Stars and a host of a RTE music show. “Love Me Like I Do” has had extensive airplay in Ireland after Erica signed a record deal with Universal Music a few weeks ago. Since then, a lot of money has gone behind this act with Erica hiring the biggest creative director company in Ireland and undergoing a significant promo campaign this week. Erica is an experienced performer and should put on a good show that elevates this song. The running order also points towards her being RTE’s chosen one but the small stage will limit how much she can do.

I have been strongly backing Erica-Cody from 3.5 into 1.91. I am confident that Erica is the act who can score highly across all 3 voting sections. However, current odds don’t seem appealing with narrows paths to victory existing for NIL and Ailsha.

Already tipped:

Back Erica-Cody to win Eurosong 2024 @ 1.91 (Bet365)