"In Your Eyes" is a love
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
by
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
singer
Niamh Kavanagh
Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993.
The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" ...
which won the
Eurovision Song Contest 1993
The Eurovision Song Contest 1993 was the 38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Millstreet, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song " Why Me?" by Linda Martin. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...
for , scoring a total of 187 points. It was written and composed by Jimmy Walsh.
In the song, the singer tells how, after being lonely, she has found love and heaven in her lover's arms and how it has changed her.
Overview
In 1992, Walsh, who was based in New York, recorded a demo of the song in a studio there. One of the engineers suggested a girl singer who he knew to record it. A then-unknown
Idina Menzel
Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on the Broadway stage and having achieved mainstream success across stage, film and music, Menzel has garnered the honorif ...
came in and listened to the song. She suggested a key change for the chorus as she found it rather flat. Walsh was concerned that this would make the song too difficult to sing, but Menzel insisted she could do it. She duly recorded the demo and this was sent to Niamh Kavanagh, who was recommended to Walsh as being a singer who could handle the difficult ranges within the song. Kavanagh loved it, but was unsure of wanting to compete in Eurovision. Eventually, Walsh said that he would withdraw the song if she did not do it, so she agreed to enter with it.
Kavanagh had a home win, since the contest took place in Ireland due to
Linda Martin's win . It was the second of Ireland's three victories in a row in the early 1990s, the third being in by
Paul Harrington and
Charlie McGettigan with "
Rock 'n' Roll Kids
"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" is a song by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan that was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, written by Brendan Graham and performed for . The song was Ireland's sixth overall victory, and represented ...
". The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following 's
Arvingarna
Arvingarna is a Swedish dansband formed in Gothenburg in 1989. The group consists of Casper Janebrink (vocals and bass guitar), Lars Larsson (guitars, vocals and keyboards), Kim Carlsson (vocals and guitars) and Tommy Carlsson (drums and vocals). ...
with "
Eloise" and preceding 's
Modern Times with "
Donne-moi une chance". At the close of voting, it had received 187 points, first in a field of 25.
Despite winning the Irish national song contest, Kavanagh found it difficult to find a record label willing to release the record due to its association with the contest. Eventually, she partly funded the recording herself and released it in limited numbers in Ireland under a made-up label name, Eureyes Music. During the run-up to the contest, she met
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
, who was present with the UK entrant
Sonia
Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to:
People
* Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya)
:* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films
:* Sonia ...
. He signed her up to
Arista Records
Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...
and the song was released internationally by them.
[ "In Your Eyes" was the best selling single in Ireland in 1993. It also reached No. 24 in the ]UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and was a minor hit in the Netherlands and Germany.
Kavanagh returned to the contest in with "It's for You
"It's for You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles for Cilla Black for whom it was a UK Top Ten hit in 1964. The song is mainly a McCartney composition.
Background Composition
Paul McCartney, who had been presen ...
", which came 23rd out of 25 countries in the final, with 25 points.
It was not until 2017, during a documentary on the Irish winners, that Kavanagh learned that the singer on the demo she had heard all those years ago was a young Idina Menzel, who was by then internationally famous.[
]
Critical reception
Alan Jones from ''Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' rotew that "the winner of the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest has lots of old-fashioned qualities – it's a good song well sung by a striking colleen". He added, "Kavanagh is a talented and gutsy singer."
Track listing
#"In Your Eyes" (Walsh) - 3:10
#"In Your Eyes (instrumental)" (Walsh) - 3:09
Charts
References
External links
"In Your Eyes" lyrics
{{authority control
1990s ballads
Eurovision songs of 1993
Eurovision songs of Ireland
Eurovision Song Contest winning songs
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
1993 songs
Niamh Kavanagh songs