Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Et Cetera" written by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling. The song was performed by Sinéad Mulvey and the band Black Daisy. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2009 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Six songs faced the votes of four regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Et Cetera" performed by Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy as the Irish Eurovision entry.
Ireland was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 2, "Et Cetera" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed eleventh out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 52 points.
Background
Prior to the 2009 contest, Ireland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry in 1965. Ireland has won the contest a record seven times in total. The country's first win came in 1970, with then-18-year-old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). The Irish entry in 2008, "Irelande Douze Pointe" performed by Dustin the Turkey, failed to qualify to the final.
The Irish national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), broadcasts the event within Ireland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTÉ confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest on 28 October 2008. In 2008, RTÉ had set up the national final Eurosong to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ireland, with both the public and regional jury groups involved in the selection. For the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, RTÉ announced on 18 December 2008 the organisation of Eurosong 2009 to choose the artist and song to represent Ireland at the contest, following speculation that RTÉ were in talks with former contest winner Johnny Logan to represent Ireland in Moscow due to the economic downturn in the country that made the organisation of a planned national final impossible.
Before Eurovision
Eurosong 2009
Eurosong 2009 was the national final format developed by RTÉ in order to select Ireland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition was held on 20 February 2009 at the Studio 4 of RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Pat Kenny and broadcast on RTÉ One as well as online via the broadcaster's official website rte.ie during a special edition of The Late Late Show.
Competing entries
On 18 December 2008, RTÉ opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition until 2 February 2009. Artists were also required to indicate the performance and staging details of their song. At the closing of the deadline, 300 entries were received. Six finalists were selected by a five-member jury panel appointed by RTÉ: singer and former contest winner Linda Martin, Universal Music Ireland director Mark Crossingham, agent and choreographer Julian Benson, broadcaster Larry Gogan and chairman of OGAE Ireland Diarmuid Furlong. All of the submissions were evaluated based on four criteria: suitability of the song for Eurovision, quality of the artist, experience of the artist and stage appeal of the artist. The finalists were announced on 13 February 2009, while their songs were presented on 21 February 2009 during The Derek Mooney Show on RTÉ Radio 1.
Final
The national final took place on 20 February 2009 and featured guest performances from former contest winners Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan as well as commentary from a panel that consisted of commentator Marty Whelan, singer and former contest winner Linda Martin and talk show host Jerry Springer. Following the 50/50 combination of votes from four regional juries and public televoting, "Et Cetera" performed by Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy was selected as the winner.