JEDWARD ARE taking Eurovision by storm.
In the press area at the Esprit Arena, long-time contest fan Elaine Dove summed up the sentiments of many: “Before I arrived here, I didn’t like them, but since then I feel like I’ve beamed up to Planet Jedward. It’s absolutely mental!”
Paddy Power rates the identical twin brothers' song Lipstickto take fourth place in Saturday's final, but another ratings tool, Google Predictor, indicates that they will win; and the fan poll in the arena has them placing first in Thursday evening's semi-final.
“I love them!”, says John Kennedy O’Connor, author of the authorised history of the Eurovision Song Contest. “Ireland have been battered around in Eurovision lately, but this year they’ve done something very brave, very different, and extremely appealing.
“But they could fall flat on their face – Europe is either going to love them or hate them.”
And the Irish delegation has certainly put together a spectacular package around Lipstick, including arguably the most innovative and effective use of the massive digital screen behind the stage of any of this year's 43 acts.
The twins gave a trademark blast of energy last night to an IDA and Enterprise Ireland-sponsored business networking event, proclaiming that their appearance on Thursday was going to be “huge and mega”.
The slightly hoarse-sounding John told The Irish Timesthat it would be "huge for our career" if they won the contest: "We'd get a European tour, and screaming girls all over Ireland and the UK."
He also acknowledged that a win might be good for their beleaguered country: “It might help people wake up and realise that everything doesn’t have to be miserable all the time.”
Julian Vignoles, head of RTÉ’s Eurovision delegation, enthused that this is “the best chance we’ve had in a long, long time” but was more hesitant about the network’s ability to host the contest next year were the twins to bring home victory: “It’s highly unlikely that we wouldn’t be able to host. But that’s a bridge we’ll cross on Sunday if we need to.”