Five things to know before the Eurovision 2025 final, including a threat to Ireland's record

Irish Examiner

16-05-2025

Who did we send and is Ireland in the final?
Sadly, no. Ireland's entry Emmy performed Laika Party during Thursday night's second semi-final and failed to secure enough votes to progress through the competition to Saturday's grand final.
Emmy is a 24-year-old singer-songwriter from Norway and she was selected to represent Ireland after battling it out on the Late Late Eurosong Special back in February. You may recall one of her rivals in that competition was Samantha Mumba, who later hit out at the judging panel.
Emmy is known for singing on TikTok, growing a profile with 1.2 million followers. She teamed up with Irish songwriter Larissa Tormey, whom she met at a songwriting camp in Norway, to create Laika Party — a song based on a Soviet space dog. Laika was a stray dog from the streets of Moscow who was the first living creature launched into orbit in 1957. Sadly, she died from overheating hours into the flight.
So we have no Irish hopeful now?
PARG from Armenia performs Survivor. Picture: AP Photo/Martin Meissner
Not exactly. Armenia's entry Survivor was written by Joshua Curran, whose dad is Irish. Curran spent his summers at his grandmother's home in Tramore, Co Waterford.
"I have loads of cousins from Waterford and Dublin, and we holiday together as a family every year. I've always described myself as an Irish-Czech singer-songwriter," he previously told RTÉ, adding: 'you can hear the Irish influences in many of my songs.'
He said his dad informed him of Ireland's success in the contest, and of course that Father Ted episode was a key memory for him too.
'He was always telling us about how successful Ireland had been in the competition and how it was ruined by a turkey, which honestly, I still don't understand. Also, the Eurovision episode from Father Ted has always been my favourite.'
Speaking of our record...?
Johnny Logan performing Hold Me Now on stage during the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels in 1987.
Ah, the elephant in the room. Two years ago, Sweden matched Ireland's seven-win record when Loreen claimed the 2023 win for the country. As it was her second time to win the contest too, she also matched Johnny Logan's then-unmatched record for one singer winning the contest twice. Technically, Johnny still has one extra win, though – he penned Why Me? for Linda Martin, which won in 1992.
However, this year that tie could be broken as Sweden are the favourites to win – meaning they would have an unprecedented eight wins at Eurovision. And with Emmy out of the running, we certainly won't be breaking that record before them this year.
This year's act from last year's host country is KAJ, made up of Kevin Holmstrom, Axel Ahman and Jakob Norrgard, with the Swedish song Bara Bada Bastu, about Nordic sauna culture. The group qualified for the last stage of the contest in Basel, Switzerland, in Tuesday's semi-final.
Can anyone else swoop in and win instead, please?
Among the other favourites are Austrian musician JJ with the song Wasted Love. Austria has won twice at Eurovision, most recently with Conchita Wurst. France, Netherlands, Finland and Israel are also close contenders.
Israel is still taking part?
Yes. Despite concerns being raised – including by RTÉ - the country is still permitted in the contest despite their ongoing attacks on Gaza.
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's song New Day Will Rise is fourth in Saturday night's line-up. However, the country's presence is not going unprotested. Raphael had her preview show performance interrupted on Thursday night when six people with 'oversized flags and whistles' obstructed it.
There have also been pro-Palestinian protests in the Eurovision host city and a demonstration against antisemitism took place on Thursday in the city centre. Israel's government said that Raphael, 24, a survivor of the October 7 Hamas attacks, encountered a 'hostile crowd' during the Sunday opening ceremony and criticised the protests.