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Ireland IRELAND 2016 - Nicky Byrne - Sunlight

How do you rate the entry?

  • 12

    12 6.2%
  • 10

    6 3.1%
  • 8

    17 8.8%
  • 7

    24 12.4%
  • 6

    32 16.5%
  • 5

    28 14.4%
  • 4

    13 6.7%
  • 3

    16 8.2%
  • 2

    13 6.7%
  • 1

    16 8.2%
  • 0

    17 8.8%

  • Total voters
    194

John1

Well-known member
Joined
November 1, 2015
Posts
7,864
Location
Brittany
Nicky is still leading the poll of wiwibloggs, I think the results are a bit rigged... :lol:
 

grazy2266

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Joined
March 4, 2011
Posts
664
Location
London UK
I love this song, was very surprised when I first heard it. Was a little disappointed at the live version but I'm sure that will be worked on, one of my faves at the moment.
 

theCONWEL

WorldVision Mod 🍁
Staff member
Joined
August 9, 2011
Posts
10,228
Location
Birmingham, UK
Really happy with the live performance in Ukraine, sounds pretty similar to the studio version I reckon :D
 

lavieenrose

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August 21, 2014
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Location
Phoenix, AZ / Oovoo Javer
Joined
March 24, 2013
Posts
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Ireland - Whether hailed as the nation with the greatest and most consistent collection of songwriters, Riverdance or their taste for traditional approaches rather than chart-smashers, Ireland always seem to give a certain level of expectations.

What is Ireland's take on a major event that once had a certain degree of stylishness and quality to it, now instead seem to have stalled, tripped and fallen prey to it's own old cliches, a far cry from the classical years of substance and sophistication? Ireland; a Nation who otherwise seemed to hold "Eurovision" in a steady grip, now has fallen off the map completely, downgraded to elevator music? Well, Ireland is still Ireland, of course - However, in recent years, we have grown used to the fact that Ireland isn't plowing all too much effort into Eurovision anymore; and who can blame them? Wogan wasn't the only one that complained about the "Karaoke"-revamped state of the new competition, but they could still attempt to race ahead of the curve. Sadly, in recent years, there's been almost no attempts at all.

This year, they give us a bloke named Nicky Byrne, a footballer, dancer among other things, but most importantly, a has-been member of the boy band Westlife. Except, Westlife is not a boy band anymore and Byrne is closing in on his 40's, the glamorous days of being the cute blond front-page guy is long gone. So what is Byrne's take on this - Is it a desperate last-resort at reviving his stalling career (or stay relevant), a grueling restlessness, or just a way to challenge his own boundaries?

'Sunrise' is a tightly produced pop-tune, that, with it's glossy enthusiastic lyrics, would fit right in place as a backdrop for a Nickelodeon TV-show aimed at teenagers. It's so tightly produced, it leaves no room to breath, it's non-existent treble and an all soft-to-the-ear mixing (including the typical EDM-like drops, buildups and epic middle-8) tries to enhance a more modern experience. It's sort of reminiscent of the late Duran Duran ("Reach up for the sunrise" comes to mind, not just the title...), with older dudes trying to stay relevant by releasing "hip" song for the masses of teenagers, however this is a slightly less offensive, less rockier and not-as-groundbreaking, in fact, it's not trying too hard to be something it's not. For example, it's mellow state helps it's selling point, it sort of works, but in a slightly unforgettable way. It's something you would listen off the radio during the summer and then quickly forget when the next track starts.

And therein lies the problem; The song is trapped in it's own mediocrity, careful enough not to step over any of it's borders. "Sunlight" is a step-up in terms of quality from yesteryear, but it's not remotely close enough to win Eurovision Song Contest in 2016.
 

Leydan

Super Moderator 🌴
Staff member
Joined
March 1, 2013
Posts
18,846
Location
UK

Linda Martin SLAMS Nicky Byrne's Eurovision entry

with a title like that here's me expecting Linda to completely destroy Nicky and song, not say "“I have heard Nicky and I wish him the very best… I think we will make it out of the semi-final but I don’t think we’ll win". I do hate it when articles over exaggerate like that.
 

Leocadia

Member
Joined
March 9, 2016
Posts
3
Oh dear Ireland what a bad singer and what a mediocre song you have this year.
This is based only on the live version, perhaps the recorded version is less ear grating... but probably not.
 

blein

Active member
Joined
March 1, 2012
Posts
1,648
weird that he didnt do any revamp...
 

JimmyJump

Member
Joined
February 18, 2016
Posts
263
Location
Malaga, Spain
Am i the only one who finds this song cringe ?
 

MyHeartIsYours

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Posts
24,545
Still supporting Nicky, but he's got to watch his back in his semi. He could easily qualify but just as easily fail to - it's that kind of song. The vocals have to be on point, he can rely on 12 points from the UK but I'm not sure how many other Westlife points he can bank on from the rest of Europe. In the UK/Ireland, Westlife were much bigger than Blue, but the opposite seems to be the case in Europe, so he can't depend on that support like Blue did for us back in 2011.

For myself, I keep Ireland with a 10 points :)
 

Dessi

Well-known member
Joined
January 29, 2010
Posts
1,233
Location
Enecopia
Still no videoclip on top for Ireland?! :?
 

ZoboCamel

Well-known member
Joined
May 18, 2012
Posts
4,531
Location
Melbourne, Australia
he can rely on 12 points from the UK but I'm not sure how many other Westlife points he can bank on from the rest of Europe.

While I'm pretty sure Nicky will get more support from the UK than from anywhere else, I'm not confident he'll get a 12 there. Lithuania's got a very similar song with a slightly better package overall, and the two might cancel each other out; Australia and Ireland will be competing for the cultural-proximity vote, so there's no clear advantage there either; and there are some other songs in the semi that have been received far better overall (most notably Latvia's). I'd be surprised to see Ireland end with any 12s in the semi, though there'll probably be an 8 from the UK and 5 from Australia or something.

Nicky's chances of qualifying this year are really borderline here, I think. He's got a mainstream song and he's an experienced performer with some degree of name recognition, plus he's in what looks to be a weaker semi by far, but on the other hand I don't see the song inspiring all that many people to vote for it. Not going to make any strong guesses one way or another.
 

zs1001

Member
Joined
February 26, 2016
Posts
274
Best irish entry in last decade is croatian. That's all. When I hear this song 30 minutes later I will completely forget it. Sorry, Ireland. You were one of my fav ESC countries but 2015-2016 is disaster.
 

Gordon_Shumway

Well-known member
Joined
February 17, 2011
Posts
785
Location
Germany
Ireland is one of the most successful countries in ESC history, and I pay my respect to that. They gave us many great songs in the past.
I loved last year's "Playing with Numbers" and thought it was scandalous that Molly Sterling didn't make it to the final.

It almost hurts a little to realize that this year's entry is really bad in my opinion.
Just look at the singer and look at the video and you immediately know that Ireland wants to "surf on the Zelmerlow wave".
Stupid lyrics and rhythms that I already didn't like when they came from 90's boybands.

One thing remains a mystery to me: The Irish song is so extremely similar to the Russian entry (Russians also think that Zelmerlow works twice), even the singers resemble each other. Why does Russia get so many likes and Ireland so much crticism? If Russia is a possible ESC winner this year, then Ireland should be as well.
To me they both suck.
 
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