The Irish national broadcaster RTÉ has just started their open call for songs for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, where all accomplished songwriters and artists are welcome to submit their entries. Also, they promised not to sanction any of their staff over the calls for boycott Eurovision in Israel.

All accomplished songwriters and performers with a proven track record of success in the music industry are welcome to submit a song to be considered to represent Ireland in Tel Aviv next May. All entries are to be submitted via email to Eurovision2019@rte.ie in an mp3 format (192 kbps), no later than the 23rd of November 2018.

Mr. Michael Kealy, the Executive Producer and the Irish Head of Delegation at Eurovision stated:

We were really proud of the Irish performance in Lisbon this year, months of work went into planning our Eurovision act, bringing together the various audio and visual elements, from song arrangement to choreography to lighting design. The performance of “Together” by Ryan O’Shaughnessy and dancers Kevin O’Dywer and Alan McGrath with backing vocals from Janet Grogan, Remy Naidoo and Claire Ann Varley received worldwide acclaim when performed on stage and created headlines around the world. “Together” placed 16th in the final which is the best result since Jedward came in eighth place in Dusseldorf with “Lipstick”  in 2011.

For Eurovision 2019 we want to produce a world class act that will do Ireland proud on stage in Tel Aviv and in front of a worldwide audience of nearly 200 million people. The Eurovision Song Contest is incredibly competitive so we need a top class song, with instant appeal and a highly experienced act who is used to performing live in front of large audiences.

A spokesperson at RTÉ also stated that none of its staff who choose not to travel to Israel for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on conscientious grounds will not be sanctioned in any way. They also noted that as a public broadcaster and a member of the EBU, RTÉ has registered to take part in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, and that they are not aware of any regularly participating Public Service Broadcaster who is planning to boycott next year’s Eurovision.