RTE defends support of Eurovision entry

RTÉ has defended its investment in the Eurovision act headed by Mickey Joe Harte following criticism from the Lifford singer.

After finishing a disappointing 11th in the song contest in Latvia last Saturday, Harte warned that if Ireland hoped to win in the years ahead, more investment would be needed.

"RTÉ didn't pump the finance we needed into the show. We have to get our act together for next year," he said.

Harte added because the public, not juries, now selected the winning entrant, RTÉ needed to overhaul the current format.

"We did the best we could in the circumstances. If Ireland really wants to win this competition, we have to do a lot more work on our choreography. The Eurovision is not so much about the song any more. It's 50 per cent song, 50 per cent show. tATu shows that," he said of Russia's entry.

However, RTÉ said the public profile of this year's entry was the highest yet. A spokeswoman said Mickey Joe and backing group Sweet Charity also enjoyed the backing of a significant number of support staff which the broadcaster sent to Latvia.

"In the run up to the Eurovision, we had four months of You're a Star," she said. "It was run in two blocks, one before Christmas and one this year. During the first block it had an average audience of 32 per cent of viewers watching TV while it was broadcast and during the second block, from January to March, that rose to 51 per cent. That is massive. We would say it is unprecedented."

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Eurovision fans who voted for their favourite songs on Saturday night will not be charged for their calls after the telephone vote from Ireland was declared void.

Voters had a five-minute slot in which to register their selections after all of the songs had been performed. Because Ireland was third of the entries to disclose its voting, the phone lines could not be kept open for any longer than the five-minute slot.

Eircom, which operated the phone lines, had agreed with RTÉ that it would collate all of the votes within nine to 10 minutes of lines closing. While the company fulfilled its obligation, RTÉ decided to use a jury verdict rather than phone votes.

Spokeswomen for both RTÉ and Eircom said RTÉ's Eurovision executive producer, Mr Colm O'Callaghan, had decided unless he had the results of the phone vote "in his hand" while Austria was still giving its vote, he would fall back on the jury vote.

While the telephone vote was ready by the time Ireland was asked for its vote, Mr O'Callaghan had already made the decision to use the jury vote. "It was a live show and you couldn't really take a chance with something like this," the RTÉ spokeswoman said.

Eircom said its decision not to charge voters for their calls was a goodwill gesture and should not be interpreted as an admission of failure on its part regarding its role in the voting. "The system and the technology on our part worked as it should have on the night," a spokeswoman said.