Ireland favourites crash out of Eurovision

IRELAND'S Eurovision Song Contest hopefuls have crashed out of the semi-final of the competition after their song, Love, failed to wow voters.
The brother and sister duo of Joseph McCaul, 17, and Donna, 20, from Athlone failed to qualify for the final of the competition on Saturday, with their song, Love, failed to wow voters.



It was the first time Ireland had to qualify for the competition, which is celebrating its 50th year.



After the performances by the 25 hopefuls, envelopes were opened last night to reveal the 10 successful semi-finalists, including Israel, Denmark and Latvia, who now join the 14 countries who already have a guaranteed place in the final.



In March, viewers of the You're A Star talent competition to pick this year's Irish entry voted for Donna and Joseph to represent Ireland in Ukraine.



The siblings beat The Henry Girls and Jade in the finals of the Irish televised contest.



But last night they failed to progress to the Eurovision Song Contest Final with the tune penned by Karl Broderick, which was released as a single in Ireland at the end of April.



Speaking from the green room after the semi-final, Mr Broderick said they were all "flabbergasted" at the result, which saw favourites such as Iceland and the Netherlands also knocked out.



"The guys, they nailed the performance, no one can say Donna and Joseph didn't belong on the stage.



"The general feeling is that we came to do a job and we couldn't have done the job we had to do, waved the flag for Ireland, any better."



"Everyone in the green room here is totally shocked that we didn't get through," Mr Broderick said.



"There's not much really we can do, we can just be gracious in defeat."



Despite being knocked out, the Irish team plans to stay and enjoy the final.



Best



Meanwhile, Abba's Waterloo is the perfect Eurovision song, according to experts.



It contains the ideal combination of seven crucial ingredients to make it the best Eurovision song of all time.



Dr Harry Witchel, physiologist and music expert at the University of Bristol, came up with the recipe for Eurovision perfection to mark its 50th anniversary.



He has come up with seven crucial elements - pace and rhythm; an easily memorable song; the perfect chorus; key change; a clearly defined finish; dance routine and costume.



The expert put this year's competitors through his criteria and found that Bosnia and Herzegovina had the best chance of winning, with the song Call Me.



British entry Javine was seventh in the list of singers most likely to take the Eurovision crown this weekend.



Celine Dion's Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, which won the contest in 1988, came second in the list of perfect songs.



Her song was followed by the UK's 1967 entry, Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw.



Under the system, compiled for the digital broadcaster Music Choice, it was found that the 1980s were the Golden Age of Eurovision, with four winners in the top 10.



Dr Witchel said: "For any music fan it should come as no surprise that Waterloo is the perfect Eurovision song.



"The main thrust of the song, the word Waterloo, is just three syllables long and then there's a lot of space for it to become both memorable and emotionally evocative.



"It's completely different from most other songs in terms of harmonies and rhythm.



"I don't think there will be too many tracks of its quality in the next 50 years of Eurovision."



Here is Dr Witchel's findings for the ten best Eurovision songs of all time:



TOP 10



1. Abba, Waterloo, 1974, Sweden



2. Celine Dion, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, 1988, Switzerland



3. Sandie Shaw, Puppet On A String, 1967, UK



4. Teach-In, Ding-A-Dong, 1975, Netherlands



5. Bobbysocks, La Det Swinge, 1985 , Norway



6. Bucks Fizz, Making Your Mind Up, 1981, UK



7. Salome, Vivo Cantando, 1969, Spain



8. Johnny Logan, Hold Me Now, 1987, Ireland



9. Dana, International Diva , 1998, Israel



10. Charlotte Nilsson, Take Me To Your Heaven, 1999, Sweden