Fans of the Eurovision song contest phoned into Joe Duffy's Liveline today to express their disappointment at the staging used for Ireland’s entry Maps performed by Lesley Roy last night
The song chosen to represent Ireland, titled Maps, was cowritten by Lesley Roy and described her journey over the last year to perform at the contest.
The display was created to represent that journey. However, viewers did not connect with the concept.
One listener said the display looked as though it was made from 'two kitchen rolls, a black pen and two sheets of grey card't; and that the images on the paper were like what a 'four- or five-year-old could have done';.
Listeners said they thought Lesley Roy has a fantastic voice but felt the poor staging of the performance overshadowed her.
Joe Duffy asked one listener if Lesley Roy had begun to cry at the end of her performance, to which she replied, 'I'm sure she was crying because of the embarrassment.'
She said, “She was so busy trying to remember what to swat and what not to swat and running that if they had just gotten rid of all that rubbish and let the girl come out on stage and do what she does best, which is belt the song out because the last 30 seconds Joe she was amazing.”
A Eurovision superfan said he thought that Lesley represented the country exceptionally well.
He said: “I think Ireland are doing their best. I think Lesley was a great ambassador for Ireland. I think in all her reviews, and you know all the bloggers out there, they think Lesley is amazing, but again it's a song contest…, and I think the song on the night was just not strong enough, Joe; it really wasn't.”
He added: “It’s a song contest, it's a show contest as well, so every country is putting on the best performance, so that’s the voice, the song, the pyros, everything needs to be top-notch on the night.
"I think they tried something different, RTE and Lesley. It didn't work.”
One listener phoned in to express how she felt about the outfits worn by some of the contestants on last night’s show.
She said, “It looked more like a soft porn show to me. I don't think you’d be too busy listening to the song.”
Other listeners called for a national selection process to be reinstated and for younger more up to date performers to be considered for next year’s entry in the contest.
