RTE Eurovision bill shows staggering cost of sending act that missed the final

Irish Daily Mirror

20 hours ago

RTE splashed out just over €385,000 for two weeks in Basel, sending Norwegian singer Emmy to the Eurovision Song Contest. The national broadcaster splurged €50,785 for a hotel for 19 people who were part of the delegation who travelled to Switzerland in May.
Emmy failed to secure a place for Ireland in the final with her tune Laika Party. A Freedom of Information request revealed production costs amounted to €79,242, transportation costs totalled €1,407, while €7,503 was spent on economy flights Basel.
A spokesman for RTE said: 'Regarding travel and accommodation costs for Basel, it's important to note, the delegation decreased by 2 people (9.5%) from 2024 and the corresponding average travel cost per delegation member decreased from €4,069 to € 3,778 (7%).'
According to the figures , the total spend for Ireland's flop at the Eurovision amounted to €385,761, which included €100,270 for our fee to the European Broadcasting Union and included licence to broadcast over nine hours of television across three nights.
A spokesman for RTE said: 'Subtracting the European Broadcasting Union fee of €100,270 the remaining figure of €285,491 includes artist and designer fees, the cost of staging the performance including full dress rehearsals, graphics production, props, pyrotechnics, costumes, choreography, postcard filming, photography, attendance at pre-Eurovision promotional events and song recording and production among other elements.'
A total of nineteen people travelled to Basel as part of the Irish Eurovision team. This grouping comprised seven RTÉ staff, the six Artists (performers) and technical/support people.
The FOI showed a total of €2,538 was spent on 'representation', while 'subsistence costs' were €12,079.
RTE said: 'The cost associated with Eurovision is two fold; one is to produce an act to represent Ireland in the biggest entertainment show in the world, to a standard that we can be proud of in front of an audience of 166 million viewers, the other is to provide over nine hours of live entertainment to an Irish audience who watch the competition in large numbers.
'The Eurovision Song Contest provided over eight and a half hours of live entertainment content - broken down the cost per hour was €42,860 - which by TV production standards represents very good value for money.'
This year's Eurovision cost was €4,238 less than last year's spend, but €45,761 more than 2023.
A consolidated 167,000 viewers watched the first semi-final on RTE2 on May 13, while a consolidated 299,000 watched the second semi-final, which Ireland performed in on May 15.
On May 17, a consolidated 262,000 viewers watched the grand final on RTE One, despite Ireland not being in the final.
In May, RTE requested a breakdown of this year's Eurovision Song Contest's public votes, despite the contest organiser stressing that its voting system is the 'most advanced in the world'.
It comes after Spain's public broadcaster, Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), called for a "complete review" of the voting system to "avoid external interference and manipulation", referencing votes received by Israel in the public vote.
RTVE President José Pablo López said he had "expressed great concern about Israel's participation, transparency, legitimacy and perceived integrity of the current voting system".
Flemish public broadcaster VRT also said it was "demanding full transparency" from the EBU in relation to the televoting during Saturday's final.
Televoters in both Spain and Belgium awarded Israel 12 points, while their juries gave the country zero points. Ireland, meanwhile, awarded Israel 10 points in the televote and seven points from the Irish jury.
In a statement, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest Martin Green, said it took the concerns raised by the broadcasters "seriously" and that the EBU had contacted several broadcasters since the final regarding voting in the competition.
He said: "Now the event has concluded we will have a broad discussion with participating broadcasters, to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year's event as part of our planning process for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year.
"It is important to emphasise that the voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country's result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result."
A spokesperson for RTÉ said the broadcaster was looking forward to participating in the discussions and review outlined by Mr Green.
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