For the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, the song "The Real Me", written, composed and performed by

Kiev Connolly Kevin "Kiev" Connolly (born 5 April 1956) is an Irish songwriter, producer and musician. His group, Kiev Connolly and The Missing Passengers, represented Ireland at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest. Early life and education Born in Ballymot ...

, was chosen to represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

when it won the national final selection.

Before Eurovision

National final

Held on 12 March 1989 at the Olympia Theatre in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the national final was hosted by

Ronan Collins Ronan Collins (born 9 October 1952) is an Irish broadcaster from Glasnevin, Dublin. Up until 23 December 2022, Collins held the prestige of maintaining one of the longest-running radio shows on Ireland’s national station, RTÉ Radio 1. At its ...

. Eight songs competed in the event, and the winner was selected by twelve members of the public. Nicola Kerr had represented Ireland in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, as a member of

The Swarbriggs Plus Two Thomas "Tommy" Swarbrigg and John James "Jimmy" Swarbrigg are Irish music promoters and former pop musicians. As The Swarbriggs, they represented Ireland at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with " That's What Friends Are For". As The Swarbriggs ...

. That entry, "It's Nice To Be In Love Again", came in third place behind France and the United Kingdom.

Linda Martin Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song " Why Me?". She is also known within Irelan ...

's appearance in the national final selection was her third time as a soloist, and her seventh overall. She was runner-up to Sweden in the

1984 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes. Organised by t ...

, and would win the contest in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

At Eurovision

"The Real Me" was performed third in the running order on the night of the contest, following Israel and preceding Netherlands. At the close of the voting sequence, Ireland had received only 21 points, ranking them in a disappointing 18th place. At the time, this was Ireland's worst result in the contest, and would remain so until

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Eurovision Song Contest 1989 The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, following Céline Dion's victory at the with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Organised by the European Broadc ...

At the Eurovision final, Collins also provided the television commentary alongside

Michelle Rocca Michelle Mary Teresa Rocca (born 1961) is an Irish former model, television presenter, and beauty queen who, in 1980, won the Miss Ireland title. The following year, she married footballer John Devine. Two years after their divorce in 1990 she ...

, who co-presented the contest the previous year.

Larry Gogan Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

provided the radio commentary and

Eileen Dunne Eileen Dunne (born 28 April 1958) is a retired Irish journalist, newsreader and presenter with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's national radio and television station, where she presented the main television news programmes '' Six On ...

was serving as spokesperson for the Irish jury.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1989

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...