Will Irish Eurovision entry survive Russian anti-gay laws?
Will Irish Eurovision entry survive Russian anti-gay laws?
Could video of “Together” lead to a broadcast ban in Russia?
Despite a very brief flurry of excitement that Johnny “Rotten” Lydon could have possibly represented Ireland at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, singer Ryan O’Shaughnessy was eventually chosen for the song “Together”. In many ways, it’s a strong contender. It’s an elegantly-written contemporary mid-tempo with a nice sentiment. It also comes with a neat video of a couple walking through Dublin streets by night before breaking out into some spontaneous contemporary dance.
But here’s the thing.
The couple are gay. So? So Russia introduced very stringent laws concerning what they call “gay propaganda” some years back. If the Eurovision decides to broadcast the video, the Russian channels will be obliged to re-transmit it. Broadcasters cannot pick and choose which parts of the live broadcast they want to show.
How did the Irish Eurovision entry do?
The Irish song was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on 8 May 2018. It was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and so qualified to compete in the final on 12 May. In the final, “Ireland performed “Together” played in position 24 and was placed sixteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 136 points.
The song was co-written by Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes.Already noted in the music video, dancers Alan McGrath and Kevin O’Dwyer, reprised their roles during the live performance of “Together” during the contest.