Brooke Scullion to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2022!

Brooke Scullion, c. RTE

Brooke Scullion has won Eurosong 2022 on The Late Late Show, and will represent Ireland at Eurovision 2022 with “That’s Rich!”

Winning both the International Jury and Public Vote, Scullion ultimately cruised to victory. From Derry, Ireland, the same town as Ireland’s first Eurovision winner Dana, and described as “a whirling dervish, full of beans” by Green Room host Marty Whelan, Scullion did suffer a mild mishap not hitting the right note towards the end, but had done enough to convince that she deserved the victory.

The votes were combined from a studio jury, an international jury, and a public telephone vote from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. 12 points were assigned to the winner of each, 10 points to 2nd, 8 points to 3rd, and so on. The combined points are added, and highest in public vote was the tie-breaker.

The scores were as follows:

Miles Graham surprised many in the studio audience by coming in 2nd, with some audible gasps as the Studio Jury announced they’d given him 10 points. Janet Grogan came in 3rd, with Patrick O’ Sullivan coming in 4th, Rachel Goode in 5th, and Ireland’s Eurovision 2017 representative Brendan Murray coming in 6th and last.

The studio jury was comprised of legendary Irish folk rock drummer Caroline Corr, Paul Harrington (who won Eurovision 1994 with Charlie McGettigan on “Rock ‘n Roll Kids”), and popular Irish-Zimbabwean singer Lucia Evans. The international jury included Ekaterina Orlova, Russia’s Eurovision Head of Delegation, and Jan Bors, Czech Republic’s former Eurovision Head of Delegation.

Delivering the public vote was Ireland’s foremost drag queen Panti Bliss.

Hosted by Ryan Turbidy, this is the first time since 2015 that Ireland has returned to The Late Late Show format to select its representative for Eurovision. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE) utilized an internal selection process, but with only one qualification to the Grand Final (Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s “Together” in 2018) decided to revert to a national selection format.

For the interval act, RTE turned to Riverdance, the Irish stage dance phenomenon that became an international sensation as interval act during Eurovision 1994.

In response to criticism from the last Late Late Show, the stage was made larger with better LED screens put in, and more repartee between host Ryan Turbidy and the jurors was encouraged.

Not all viewers were amused, though.

Ireland turning into Eurovizijos Atranka with us hearing from every jury member after one performance. #Eurosong2022 #Eurovision 🇮🇪

-Connor pic.twitter.com/Do7JZTBzzW

— escYOUnited (@ESCunited) February 4, 2022

And while each performer will have appreciated the positivity of the studio jury, some online critics have latched onto it and that the artists could have benefitted from some constructive criticism, especially since one of these songs needs to go to Turin to compete against 40 other acts.

I've yet to hear a single piece of feedback from the studio jury that isn't just a compliment. #Eurosong2022 #Eurovision 🇮🇪

-Connor

— escYOUnited (@ESCunited) February 4, 2022

The six acts competed on the small stage in the following order:

1. Patrick O’Sullivan – “One Night, One Kiss, One Promise”
2. Janet Grogan – “Ashes of Yesterday”
3. Brendan Murray – “Real Love”
4. Miles Graham – “Yeah, We’re Gonna Get Out Of It”
5. Rachel Goode – “I’m Loving Me”
6. Brooke – “That’s Rich”

Ireland will perform in the second half of Semi-Final 2 in Turin, Italy on May 12, 2022.

Ireland has the winningest record at Eurovision, capturing the crown a record seven times, including a period of dominance when they won four out of five from 1992 to 1996.

Do #YOU think Ireland made the right choice? If not, who do #YOU think Ireland should have sent instead? Let us know in the comments below, in our forum, or on our social media.