Re: Jedward For Eurovision

RTÉ studios, February 11, 2011. Two brothers arrive on stage, sporting shiny red suits (what is it with these lads and the colour red?), and start to 'sing' as the critical Irish public observe, half in amusement, others shaking their heads in disbelief. The vocals are not particularly breath-taking, but as Cheryl Cole once said, there is something intriguing about the Dublin duo (the lads should have named their act Dublin Duo when they  auditioned for the X Factor; the name sounds a tad better). They may not have been the champions of X Factor 2009, but they are definitely winners who continue to win to this day (Joe who?). Yes, alright then, their album sales were not impressive, but at least they are still in the news. And last night they were in the news yet again for all the right reasons.


John & Edward Grimes are representing Ireland in Eurovision 2011, and about time too!  Ireland used to be the country every European nation feared in terms of music (they've won Eurovision seven times), but today times have changed - yes, we have supergroup U2 who continue to sell millions of records worldwide, but as an Irish friend once said to me, "Bono is a p***k", while Jedward are the nicest guys you would ever meet, or so I'm told. They are willing to work hard, and if given a chance they could do Ireland proud. No one knows if they will win, but they could be good for Ireland.
In recent years the Irish public got it completely wrong. Last year they were presented with a decent rock song written by Ronan Keating and sang by British television personality Justin Lee Collins, but for some reason the song was not even shortlisted. Four years ago folk group Dervish made it to the finals at Eurovision, but only just, and when they performed "They Can't Stop the Spring" I couldn't understand what the lead singer was singing; maybe something was wrong with the microphone. Seriously, was that the best song to be shortlisted that year? And who could forget Dustin the Turkey? Granted, his song sounded 'Eurovision enough', but he was a puppet. Louis Walsh, who was a judge during the selection process said that he didn't think the rest of Europe would get it, and for once he was right. Last year, they did send Niamh Kavanagh who failed to carry the trophy despite high hopes, but hey, thank God the Irish didn't send Boyzone member Michael Graham (sorry Mikey, I love you to death, but your song was rubbish!)

As I said the last time I wrote about Jedward, the contest has changed, and the participating nations should change with it. Gone are the days of the Johnny Logan's, the Dana's, and the Niamh Kavanagh's; the contest is now a camp-fest, and who better to represent than the twins? They are young, energetic, good-looking (although Johnny Logan was better-looking!), and have a very European appearance even if they try to sound American. One word of advise if I may: they really need back-up dancers because although Jedward are good performers, dancers make a difference. If they hadn't used all those movers during their tenure on the X Factor, they would have been sent packing in week one (sorry but it's true). They should stick to the red suits, though - red really makes you stand out. Even if - God forbid - they don't win Eurovision, they could be Ireland's biggest export since Guinness. Celiné Dion won it in 1988, and has since become Canada's biggest export since...what exactly?

Good luck Jedward! Win it for Ireland! What do you the readers think? Leave a comment; I'd love to hear from you.


Ice Ice, baby
Jemma