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 ...

was represented by

Chris Doran Christopher Doran (born 22 November 1979) is an Irish singer from Waterford. He was the winner of Ireland's '' You're a Star'' 2003-2004 talent search competition to find Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest entry. The competition held auditions th ...

and the song "If My World Stopped Turning" in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2004 The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broa ...

Before Eurovision

You're a Star

RTÉ used the '' You're a Star'' talent contest to select the Irish entry for the Eurovision. The competition started on 16 November 2003. Thirteen artists participated in the finals, which ended on 6 and 7 March 2004. Ten out of 13 finalists were chosen through regional audition heats and the jury gave wildcards to the remaining three. The finals started on Sunday 18 January 2003 and each week one artist had to leave the competition. The 13 finalists were: *

* Cladach * Colin Fahy * Final Four * Gary O'Malley * Gary Philbin * George Murphy * James Kilbane * Jean Elliot * Laura Brophy * Philip Noone * Phil Coulter and Gill Blacque * Ruth Cullen

Final

The final was held on 6 March 2004 at the Helix Centre 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 ...

, hosted by Ray D'arcy. The winner was chosen by televoting, with the result being announced on 7 March 2004.

At Eurovision

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, a semi-final round was introduced in order to accommodate the influx of nations that wanted to compete in the contest. Since Ireland placed 11th in the previous contest year, country automatically qualified to compete in the final along with the Big Four countries and nine other nations that were also successful in the 2003 Contest. He performed 18th, following

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and preceding

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Chris Doran gave a simple and subtle presentation of the song, but the typical Irish ballad did not deliver a good result for Ireland. Chris and the back-up singers were dressed in white, which was a popular colour among the participants in 2004. Chris only managed to gain 7 points, all from Ireland's neighbour United Kingdom, placing him 22nd. As Ireland failed to reach the top 12 in the final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the 2005 Contest.

Voting

Points awarded to Ireland

Points awarded by Ireland

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

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 ...