OlympicIRL

My favourites from the 21st century beginning with my favourite, A Friend in London (Denmark 2011)..... A Friend In London - New Tomorrow Next Time - Nesto sto ke ostane Yohanna - Is it True? Roman Lob - Standing Still

As promised, that wonderful Italian winner from 1990. Love singing along to this (as much as I can) Toto Cutugno Insieme 1992 And this winner from Sweden in 1984 is trashy as hell but I just like it (shhh, it's just a fun song ok ) Herreys - Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley

Sadly it doesn't look like we will be adding to our 7 wins anytime soon so all I can do is look back to the past. My favourite Irish win and non-win.... Love this jazzy classic from the beautiful Niamh Kavanagh which won for Ireland back in 1993.... Niamh Kavanagh - In Your Eyes Liam was so close to the win in 1990 just getting pipped at the post by another of my Eurovision favourites which will be upcoming Liam Reilly - Somewhere in Europe

An absolute beauty from Slovenia in 1995 Darja Švajger - Prisluhni mi This simple but effortlessly classy number from Annie Cotton in 1993 for Switzerland is another of my favourites.... Annie Cotton - Moi, Tout Simplement

As it is Eurovision Final day I am going to post some of my all-time Eurovision favourites. Where else to begin but with two of the very best from Luxembourg, love these Anne-Marie David - Tu Te Reconnaîtras France Gall - Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son

This too is the first year I am watching it since the Jedward years. I am finding it tough but I wanted to get back into it somehow. I'm getting some enjoyment even if I'm not keen on much of the music. I think it help being on a forum while watching, makes it more enjoyable. Haha, yes of course!! The "bestmen" is sorted, we are closer than we imagined

Undoubtedly... it's always Poland or Lithuania. Probably the only people voting here are the diasporas from elsewhere

So i jinxed Slovenia and Estonia....what do I know

We have many years ahead so who knows

There's a Macedonian marriage upcoming

In fariness, you don't get that at TISC

Probably Estonia was the best for me. Not sure who my overall favourite is. Perhaps Australia.

Oh Norway

Well it wouldn't be the worst idea... the Irish language channel has already shown an interest in Eurovision by taking part in the Junior ESC.

Haha, yes seriously

English is the first language of Ireland so it's normal for us

Time for some old but gold.... Fairground Attraction - Perfect Deacon Blue - Real Gone Kid Beautiful South - A Little Time

Now if the juries also close their eyes and ears when we perform then it would be appreciated

Belgium.... don't know how they qualified, worst song and singer of the night for me

Italy's song is also among the better ones

UK have a decent song, better than most at least.

Must be the "hell" segment

Oh please, no more of her

The Irish votes.... SWE - YesGEO - NoAUS - YesALB - NoBEL - NoMNE - YesFIN - YesAZE - NoPOR - YesGRE - YesPOL - NoMDA - YesISL - YesCZE - YesCYP - NoARM - NoSLO - YesLAT - No My top 3: 1. Slovenia 2. Australia 3. Portugal

Gold and Silver for Irish boats at Opening Rowing World Cup of 2017 Ireland will be coming home from Belgrade with a gold and silver after today's A Finals at the first Rowing World Cup of the 2017 season. There was gold for O'Donovan, but perhaps not for the O'Donovan that Irish fans were predicting. Mark O'Donovan and partner Shane O'Driscoll lead from halfway and stormed to gold in the men's lightweight pair ahead of Russia and Great Britain. Denise Walsh added to the Irish medal tally as she grabbed silver in the women's lightweight single sculls. Her sprinting abilities were again on show as she catapulted from 5th to 2nd in the closing stages, finishing 4 seconds behind the winner from Switzerland. There was disappointment however for Irish Olympic heroes Gary and Paul O'Donovan as they could only manage 4th place in the men's lightweight single sculls. The brothers were tipped for gold here but could not break onto the podium with Great Britain emerging victorious in the season opener. Sanita Puspure put in a strong performance in a very fast race to come home in 5th place in the women's single sculls, a pleasing way to kick off her international season. Speaking after his gold medal success Mark O'Donovan remarked that a new coach, new technique and fresh training regime has helped them make the progress needed to challenge this season: ‘Feeling really good during the race, we’ve got a new coach, so that is a new step for Ireland. Going forward we are going to a training camp in Varese and looking to implement new training and technique before Europeans.’