After a disappointing 21st placing in the
2001 contest, Ireland was relegated from the
2002 contest. For the
2003 contest in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
, Ireland abandoned the "National Song Contest" format, and set up a reality show called ''
You're a Star
''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as ''Idol'' and ''The X Factor''.
For its first three se ...
''. The winner was
Mickey Joe Harte
Michael Joseph "Mickey Joe" Harte (born 21 August 1973), is an Irish singer-songwriter. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 with the song " We've Got the World".
Early life
Harte hails from Lifford, County Donegal. As ...
, with the song "We've Got the World".
Before Eurovision
You're a Star
''You're a Star'' was the national final developed by the RTÉ in order to select the Irish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. Created by
Screentime ShinAwiL
Shinawil (stylised as ShinAwiL) Productions is an Irish television production company. It was founded by producer Larry Bass and director Simon Gibney in 1999. It was acquired by Screentime (branded as Screentime ShinAwiL) as part of a deal to p ...
and
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...
(RTÉ) in 2002, it was shown weekly on
RTÉ One
RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...
over the winter months 2002. The show was broadcast live from
The Helix theatre in
Dublin City University
Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...
(DCU). The Talent spotter,
Phil Coulter
Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
Coulter has ...
and
Kerry Katona
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona (born 6 September 1980) is a British media personality and singer. She was a member of girl group Atomic Kitten from 1998 until her first departure in 2001 and again from 2012 until her second departure in 2017.
...
served as judges.
Final
The final was held on 8 March 2003, hosted by
Ray D'arcy
Raymond Michael D'Arcy (born 1 September 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter currently on his second stint at state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He once presented a self-titled weekday morning radio programme on th ...
. The last 4 singers in the "You're a Star" contest each sang a potential ESC entry starting on 23 February 2003, with the public eliminating one every week by televoting. The winner was announced on 9 March 2003.
At Eurovision
At the contest, Harte performed 3rd on the night following
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and preceding
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Ireland received 53 points at the close of voting and tied for 11th place with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, guaranteeing Ireland a place in the final of the
2004 contest.
Voting
Delayed televoting results
Televoting was provided to viewers in Ireland during the contest, however due to a delay in receiving the full results the votes of an assembled back-up jury were used instead to provide the Irish votes.
RTÉ subsequently revealed the top 10 countries from the Irish televoting after the contest.
References
External links
Irish National Final page
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2003
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
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 ...
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 ...