Music mogul Louis Walsh believes country music star Cliona Hagan should be Ireland’s entry in the Eurovision this weekend.
The former X Factor judge insisted the Dancing With The Stars finalist could wow Europe – but Sarah McTernan has no hope.
Louis, who was a mentor to Ireland’s Eurovision performer Brendan Murray in 2017, said: “I was going to [get involved] this year and I’ll tell you who I thought would have been good to represent the country but I never followed it up.
“The girl Cliona Hagan, I thought she would have been good because she’s got a great personality, she's got a great voice and a good image.
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“I thought she would have been great.”
Westlife manager Louis, who famously coached three-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan in the ’80s, also stressed big stars are now afraid to fail at Eurovision.
He added: “You’ve got great people here, you’ve got guys in The Script, you’ve got the boys in Westlife, you’ve got great singer-songwriters.
“You’ve got Picture This, you’ve got Kodaline. If Kodaline wrote a song of course it would do well.
“I don’t think they have to do it but they can get someone else to do it. You know you can put a group together but, it has no credibility, that’s the problem, it has no credibility.”
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The Mayo man, 66, who was speaking at a Paddy Power event, insisted the really good writers here will also “not give you a song for Eurovision”.
He added: “It’s a poisoned chalice. They won’t do it because they don’t want to lose.
“It’s like if I’m Brendan Graham [who penned Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids], he could write a great song for Ireland because he’s won it, no problem, or someone like Bill Whelan.
“They won’t do it anymore because they’re afraid of not getting through [to the final] and losing face.
“It’s the same with the great artists. Would Imelda May do it? No.”
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Louis said he hopes Sarah McTernan’s song 22 does well for Ireland because she “seems like a nice girl” but he believes “we’re not sending a good singer”.
Meanwhile, Louis has cheekily urged Eurovision fans here to take revenge on the UK for Brexit and vote for our neighbours so they win and have to stage the event next year.
Louis, who recorded a promo with the bookie, said it would be hilarious to see the UK forced to open its borders to Europeans.
