Latest news with #IrishEurovision
Sunday World
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Irish folk group hit Hollywood heights with soundtrack to hit horror film Sinners
High Kings thrilled as young fans check them out after hearing songs in Michael B Jordan movie Brian and Darren with their wives Anne and Michelle at the London premiere of Sinners Singer Darren Holden of top Irish folk group The High Kings reveals how their American fans have soared in numbers since being featured on the soundtrack of smash-hit movie Sinners. Band members Darren and Brian Dunphy, a son of former showband star and Irish Eurovision representative Sean Dunphy, sing The Rocky Road To Dublin and Will You Go Lassie Go on the movie's soundtrack. Kilkenny man Holden, who starred in Riverdance and Billy Joel's Movin' Out musical, reveals that they got sprinkled with the magic dust of Hollywood thanks to Sinners' composer and executive producer Ludwig Göransson being a fan of The High Kings. Ryan Coogler, who wrote, produced and directed the horror movie, grew up surrounded by Irish folk music as his father was a fan. The High Kings on stage And both Holden and Dunphy with their wives were guests at the European premiere of Sinners in London's Leicester Square last month. Darren tells the Sunday World: 'Ludwig was telling everybody about the band in London at the premiere, he was introducing us as his favourite band. 'We are getting 50,000 hits a day now on Spotify and my Spotify has gone to almost 800,000 listeners a month on the strength of my involvement in the soundtrack, with the band just under a million. 'Since Sinners came out, TikTok and all social media has completely blown up for us. Kids are now coming to see the show. We were in America last week for a week of concerts and our numbers are gone through the roof. Michael B Jordan in Sinners 'There were people standing along the sides of one of the venues because there were no seats. The movie has brought glamour to the band, it really has.' Holden tells how multi-Grammy and Oscar winner Göransson approached The High Kings about working on the soundtrack of Sinners, with stars including Michael B Jordan and Jack O'Connell, whose late father Johnny was from Ballyheigue, Co Kerry. 'Ludwig and his wife Serena was reaching out to us sporadically over the last six months,' Darren reveals. 'They were in contact with Brian and myself asking about Irish music. "When they were sourcing Irish music for the movie they asked who is the top folk band in Ireland at the moment. They said it was our name that was predominantly given back to them, so they wanted to have conversations with us, Brian Dunphy, Ludwig Göransson and Darren Holden 'We were just helping them find songs and making sure that they had the right songs for the movie. At that point there was no talk of us singing on it, it hadn't even been brought up. 'When we played The Troubadour in Los Angeles at the end of March, Ludwig came to our show with his assistant. Afterwards Brian and I spoke to him and he was a very friendly guy, really personable and really into our band's music. 'He told us that when they were researching music for the movie our name kept cropping up on everybody's lips, which was amazing to be told that after all these years. So that's why he reached out. Darren Holden of The High Kings with Ludwig Göransson's Oscars News in 90 Seconds - May 24th 2025 'The following day we had an NBC television appearance and afterwards we got a call, myself and Brian, to go over to Ludwig's studio in Glendale, Los Angeles. 'We thought we were just going over to hang out with him, but he dimmed all the lights in the studio, played us the scenes from the movie that Rocky Road To Dublin and Will You Go Lassie Go was going into. 'We were blown away by the scenes. He said, 'What do you think?' We said, 'That's perfect placement.' He said, 'Well, now it's ready for you guys to sing on.' A packed out High Kings show 'Brian and I looked at each other and you could see we were both thinking, 'this is insane!' So we put our voices on Rocky Road To Dublin with Jack O'Connell, a vampire in the movie. Then some of the other actors were singing on Will You Go Lassie Go and we swapped verses on that. 'And that was it really. We sort of left LA on a high, but we had no idea that the movie was going to be so big. We did know that it was a major movie because on our way to the airport we kept seeing billboards for Sinners, even though it hadn't been finished.' Sinners is on course to rack up €300 million in worldwide ticket sales — a record reached by few original films in the genre. Brian and Darren with their wives Anne and Michelle at the London premiere of Sinners 'Brian and myself, with our respective wives Anne and Michelle, got invited to the European premiere in London and we were treated like absolute royalty,' Darren adds. 'All the actors from the movie were there and it was like being in a dream. Ludwig told us that night that we are on the soundtrack of the movie, which is a double vinyl album that is coming out in a couple of weeks. 'We are definitely living the dream at the moment. We are getting talked about again in a cool way. It's always the younger Irish bands like Amber and Kingfishr that get mentioned in the media, but we have been thrown in there on a couple of pieces I saw recently. 'We'll try and sustain it as long as we can because we are enjoying it now more than ever before.'
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
It's not us that needs to change, it's the Eurovision Song Contest itself
Ireland has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 58 times since making its debut in 1965 in Naples. And although we failed to qualify for this year's Grand Final, we have, drumroll please... clocked up seven wins. We're the only country to have won three times consecutively and, as it stands, Johnny Logan is the only person to have won the contest three times - twice as a singer and once as a songwriter. Savour it while it lasts. Sweden is clipping at our heels, and judging by the odds and their performance in semi-final one, they're set to break our record this year with 'Bara bada bastu' by KAJ. In 2023, I questioned whether it was time to bow out of this loveless marriage we were in with the song contest, after not having qualified for the final for a fourth time in a row. Bambie Thug In its history, the Eurovision Song Contest has seen many changes, and for a decade, Ireland had a reputation for staying the same. Then, came Bambie Thug. Not only did Bambie represent a change in Irish Eurovision, but also a change in Ireland. The Cork native put Ireland back in the Eurovision conversation by representing us in a way that had the entire world talking. Bambie Thug performs during the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden last year. Bambie challenged the competition in a way that we were proud of. But that journey wasn't without turbulence. After controversy surrounding the Cork native expressing pro-Palestine views and accusing the Israeli broadcaster of rule violations, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) appointed an independent expert to review the contest. From this, they issued a new code of conduct, which has come into play this year in Basel, Switzerland. The 24-page document says the contests is a "celebration of diversity and community where everyone involved shares a common desire to respect one another, look out for each other, and affirm that our differences are far outstripped by our commonalities." Flag policy The new rules also include a new flag policy this year. Contestants are now only allowed to display the flag of the country they are representing, both on stage and in other 'official spaces' — such as the green room where contestants await results. This means a ban on all flags associated with the LGBTQ+ community. Meanwhile audience members attending the St Jakobshalle Arena can wave any flag they want, as long as it complies with Swiss law. This was in contrast to last year's event, where only the flags of competing countries and the standard six-stripe rainbow Pride flag were permitted in the arena. Nemo of Switzerland, celebrates after winning the Eurovision Song Contest last year. Last year's winner Nemo proudly waved the non-binary flag on stage during the flag parade — a flag that is banned from appearing on stage this year. So much for the code of conduct and the "celebration of diversity and community". In the last few weeks several broadcasters across Europe, including RTÉ, asked for a discussion on Israel's inclusion, in solidarity with Palestine. In response a spokesperson said: 'We all aspire to keep the Eurovision song contest positive and inclusive and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is.' Sound familiar? Within this, there continues to be confusion as to what counts as 'Europe' in the context of Eurovision — and who has the right to participate. 'How is Australia in the Eurovision?" continues to be the refrain of those who might look down their noses at the world's largest live music event. The actual participants in Eurovision are the TV broadcasters who are members of the EBU — this comprises 112 broadcasting organisations spread across 68 members in 54 countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Australia pays to be a member of the EBU. The country's broadcaster, SBS, received special approval to take part in the competition. As it stands, they are the only country outside the European Broadcasting Area to have ever competed. The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR), meanwhile, was expelled from the EBU in 2021 due to consistent breaches of membership obligations and the violation of public service media values. According to the EBU, the Israeli national broadcaster (KAN) has not made similar breaches, despite the country's horrific war in Gaza. Should the EBU board of management, headed by former Director General of RTÉ Noel Curran, be the deciders of who or what is right when it comes to international affairs? 'Fuck the EBU,' Bambie Thug exclaimed hours after last year's Grand Finale. 'We are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is." It was a sentiment echoed by Nemo during the winner's conference moments before. 'I broke the code and I broke the trophy. The trophy can be fixed, maybe Eurovision needs a little bit of fixing too." This time it's not us that needs to change, it's the competition. Read More Irish fans 'heartbroken' as Emmy Kristiansen fails to make final
Extra.ie
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
The sweet moment EMMY met an Irish Eurovision superfan
It's the story of when EMMY met Katie. One Eurovision superfan had her day made on Thursday after she met Irish entry EMMY ahead of tonight's semi-final. Katie, age 9, flew over to see EMMY perform her song Laika Party in the second semi-final and cheer her on from the audience. Young Irish Eurovision fan Katie Lovett from Dublin got to meet Irish Eurovision entry Emmy on her way to Semi-Final 2 at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel. Pic: Andres Poveda In a sweet clip shared by RTE on Instagram, EMMY can be seen embracing Katie, who sports a matching silver outfit to the Norwegian singer-songwriter. EMMY was overwhelmed with joy and brought to tears as Katie handed her a teddy bear as a good luck charm. The pair then posed for photos, with fans going wild in the comments for the sweet interaction. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RTÉ One (@rteone) 'How wholesome,' one user wrote, while another shared the sentiment, adding: 'Emmy is such a lovely lady.' 'You are so amazing Emmy,' another shared. The first semi-final took place on Tuesday with 10 out of the 15 performances advancing to Saturday's grand final. One Eurovision superfan had her day made on Thursday after she met Irish entry EMMY ahead of tonight's semi-final. Pic: Andres Poveda 15 more acts will perform on Thursday all vying for a place of their own in Saturday's finals. The semi-final will be broadcast on RTÉ 2 from 8pm on Thursday with Marty Whelan back for commentating duties. Emmy will perform at number three on the night, following on from Australia and Montenegro. If you want to be in the know ahead of EMMY's semi-final performance, check out our extensive guide here.
