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NICKY BYRNE HAS been selected by RTÉ to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest next May.
The former Westlife star and current 2FM DJ will sing at the Eurovision semi-final on either the 10 or 12 May at the Globe Arena in Stockholm with the aim of qualifying for the contest proper on Saturday 14 May.
It had been rumoured for some time that Byrne was set to represent the country at this year’s contest.
His selection by RTÉ marks a departure from the competition-and-mentor style format used to select the Irish contestant for the last eight years.
The song, ‘Sunlight’, has been co-written by Byrne with Wayne Hector (who has written for artists such as One Direction and Britney Spears) and composer Ronan Hardiman (whose credits include the soundtracks for Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames shows).
Hector has been voted one of the top 25 songwriters in the world, and numbers among his credits seven of Westlife’s number one singles.
Byrne seems delighted with his latest gig describing the Eurovision as “a tv show and song contest like no other”.
“It always brought great excitement to our house down through the years,” he says of the contest.
I am honoured RTÉ have chosen me and believe in this song like I do. I will give it my best shot.
Hector seems no less enthused, describing ‘Sunlight’ as “a song that we all love and believe in”.
We’ve written a song which is a great showcase for Nicky’s voice, so I’m looking forward to the night.
Ireland’s performance at the contest (in the years that we’ve made it as far as the final – something we’ve only managed five times in the last 11 years) has been less than stellar in recent times.
Even Jedward struggled to make an impression, so there may be quite a weight of expectation on the former Westlifer should he make the final.
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Do these kids have any adults supervising them or is this a extract from “Lord of the Flies”.
Can of coke or red bull or one of those monster drinks. Sure teenagers drink these all the time. Without an adult holding their hand
I’m pretty sure my mom or my PE teacher of the chief Beaver-Scout or somebody would have reigned it in a little if I was having heart palpations or my teammates were ending up in hospital.
When you were 17?
coffee should have an over 18 sticker on them and pictures of stressed out people with yellow teeth and broken relationships
Coffee is fine!.. It’s these sugar taurine caffeine laden drinks that are advertised as “energy” that is causing harm.
I am guessing you do not have teenagers in your family, try giving advice to one and see for yourself,
Every person in Ireland participating in sport is taking caffeine drinks, isotonic drinks or protein shakes. Nothing new here.
Have cyclist learnt nothing from the stimulant abuse in their sport
This is cyclists learning and being proactive about it you clown.
Pedlars penis I think they call it
Yet more “supplements”?
Can anybody take cycling seriously?
Who cares if they cycle fast anyway?
I couldn’t care less if they cycled at the speed of sound.
All of them are bores.
Come on now pat, if your going to make an effort make it count
Bores with no skill
No skill? That’s just a stupid thing to say.
You make what effort count Fergeioc?
Caffeine is a dangerous drug if taken in excess.
Nice in a cuppa… either tea or coffee usually.
A great harmless stimulant in a cuppa.
Gets you going in the morning.
.
Caffeine can kill you if taken in excess.
Boring cyclists want to bore us even more with their “hyper-caffeine” performance.
Who cares how fast they cycle anyway?
Nobody at all except themselves.
Calm down pat
Yawn
Not really . It’s an endurance pasttime as opposed to a sport that requires skill such as soccer, hurling, badminton etc. Hence much less substance abuse in these sports as there is only a moderate benefit
FJD descending a mountain road with sharp S bends at 90+ KPH requires a lot of skill, also have a look at downhill mountain biking and tell me it’s not skilful. And Badminton shouldn’t even be described as a sport, it’s just a game, like snooker or tiddlywinks.
Haha F J D. Your naive and clueless if you believe that!
I’d take you on and slam dunk ya with any of those sports without breakfast, never mind performance enhancing products!
Ape
Say what you like but the facts are its because cycling is endurance based and not skills based that substance abuse is rampant within the pasttime.
Go home FJD, you’re drunk..I suppose you’ll say now that there is no skill involved in descending a tricky mountain descent at speeds reaching 80-90 km/HR
Seriously though, if you think drugs are not involved in other sports your crazy! Cycling just happens to be better monitored now, most other sports are rarely tested consistently! Most drugs stay in your system for approx 2 days and normally only tested just before or after an event. Drug use is rampant in every sports off/training season when no testing is done. Your previous comment is not a fact it’s an opinion! Every sport requires skill and the best person wins, foolish to think otherwise!
Am I just stupid or is the idea of having caffeine prior to a work out not moronic in the extreme? I actually avoid all stimulants prior to jogging etc yet have always wondered about the sense of ppl raving about bulletproof coffee etc prior to workouts….
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