Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Internal Selection Song: National Final
Selection date(s)	17 February 2006
Selected entrant	Brian Kennedy
Selected song	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (9th, 79 points)
Final result	10th, 93 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2005 • 2006 • 2007►

Ireland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" by Brian Kennedy. He was selected to sing for the country internally by national broadcaster RTÉ. Irish television viewers selected the entry he would sing during a special edition of The Late Late Show on 17 February. Kennedy's own composition, Every Song Is a Cry for Love was tipped as the winner by the jury members and the audience on the show and, in the end, was triumphant in the public vote. The song is a ballad in the traditional Irish style.

The selection of Kennedy's song provoked something of a controversy. Not only is it written by himself, but his entry arrived in after the initial closing date for potential songs. Prominent Irish journalists, such as John Waters of The Irish Times have also criticised the original judging process of the 200 or so songs which were reduced to three for the Late Late.

39-year-old Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author. He was born and grew up on the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song You Raise Me Up and was performer in Riverdance on Broadway in New York City. He also wrote two novels titled, The Arrival of Feargal Flynn and Roman Song.

His semifinal performance was the 1000th song performed in Eurovision history. He finished ninth in the semifinal and tenth in the final.

Result of National Final

Draw	Artist	Song	Position
1	Brian Kennedy	"The Greatest Song of All"	3rd
2	Brian Kennedy	"All Over the World"	2nd
3	Brian Kennedy	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"	1st

At Eurovision

The Lithuanian song remained the Irish favourite in the semi-final and final. The Least Favorite song from the whole contest was the Moldovan, which attracted only 72 votes from the whole of Ireland in the final.

Points Awarded by Ireland

Semi final 12 points  Lithuania 10 points  Finland 8 points  Sweden 7 points  Poland 6 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 points  Belgium 4 points  Russia 3 points  Ukraine 2 points  Iceland 1 point  Estonia

Final 12 points  Lithuania 10 points  Finland 8 points  United Kingdom 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Romania 5 points  Russia 4 points  Latvia 3 points  Germany 2 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 point  Ukraine

Points Awarded to Ireland

Points Awarded to Ireland (Semi Final)

12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
		United Kingdom	Monaco	Estonia  Malta  Norway
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Denmark  Israel	Finland  Latvia  Lithuania  Portugal	Belgium  Netherlands  Slovenia	Iceland  Poland   Switzerland	Albania  Moldova  Russia  Serbia and Montenegro  Sweden

Points Awarded to Ireland (Final)

12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
	Monaco	United Kingdom	Norway	Estonia  Lithuania
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Denmark  Portugal  Sweden	Andorra  Finland  Germany  Latvia  Malta  Netherlands	Armenia   Switzerland	Croatia  Poland  Romania  Ukraine	France  Iceland  Slovenia

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2006
• Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest