Eurovision voting system's killing Ireland, says mentor Hazel Kaneswaran

Ireland's Kasey Smith

Eimear Rabbitte

Eurovision mentor Hazel Kaneswaran has hit out at the current voting system which she says is hurting Ireland's chances of winning the song contest for an eighth time.

The former Popstars finalist has stood by Kasey Smith's performance of Heartbeat, which she co-wrote, arguing that at the moment it is too difficult for any Irish act to win the Eurovision.

However, the Dubliner said that Ireland is too steeped in Eurovision tradition to pull out of the competition and should "not be defeated" despite Thursday night's disappointment.

"I don't think we will ever bow out because we have won it so many times, we would be mad to accept defeat," the Blanchardstown native told the Herald.

"I think that they will tweak and change the rules and it will help us down the road, but right now you can see that what has been going through to the final is not about the song."

Hazel's group Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith failed to make it into the top ten acts from the second semi-final who will perform in tonight's grand final in Copenhagen and the mum of four admitted she was "shocked" at the result.

Kasey Smith performs the song "Heartbeat" during the second semi-final at the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen last night

Can-Linn (featuring Kasey Smith) representing Ireland perform the song 'Heartbeat' during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest in the B&W Halls in Copenhagen, Denmark

Carl Espen, representing Norway, performs the song "Silent Storm" during the second semi-final at the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen

Vilija Mataciunaite, representing Lithunia, perform the song "Attention" during the second semi-final at the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen

People wave flags during the second semi-final at the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen

"I believed that out of the 15 songs that were performed on Thursday, we were definitely going through because some of the others were s***e and you could see that," she added.

Hazel (37) also defended her decision to work the song around a Celtic theme and argued that the use of Irish dancers was not outdated.

Meanwhile, RTE have confirmed that they will be making changes to the selection process before putting through next year's Eurovision representative.

(The Herald)

Read more