Having failed to make the final for four years, Ireland is, by the bookmakers’ calculations, the third favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon on Saturday night. The Irish entry is among three ballads, along with the Lithuanian and German offerings, that have confounded the pundits’ predictions and find themselves in contention to win the contest. RTÉ’s head of delegation for Eurovision, Michael Kealy, said that this time last week nobody gave the Irish entry a chance. “The Eurovision Song Contest is about inclusiveness and diversity and celebrating arts and culture; censorship has no place in it. It’s hard not to get caught up in that bubble where everyone is saying you’re going to win it,” he said.

Source: The Irish Times May 11, 2018 18:11 UTC