The eight finalists of Eurosong 1999 have been announced by RTE.
The winner of the contest will represent Ireland in the Euro vision final in Jerusalem on May 29th.
The event was hosted last night by Pat Kenny, the man synonymous with Eurovision in Irish eyes.
Before the Irish final, on March 8th, Pat Kenny will put each of the contestants through their paces on his TV programme Kenny Live, on successive weeks beginning on Saturday.
The final may well have a strong flavour of "Northern soul" with three of the eight finalists from the North.
For singers Tommy Quinn, Gary O'Shaughnessy and Maggie Toal it could well be a case of second time lucky. All three bring the experience of previous finals to the competition.
There is one Irish-language song in the final, An Bon Bon Carr, a psychedelic pop song about an old man's trip to Tir na nOg.
Should Ireland win the Eurovision contest, RTE would host next year's event at a cost of about £3 million.
Mr Joe Mulholland, managing director of RTE TV, said: "For the good of the competition it would be a bit premature for RTE to host it again." Pat Kenny said he doubted if any of the contestants could capture the campness and kitsch of the contest as successfully as last year's winner, an Israeli transsexual called Dana International.