Ireland voted into Eurovision Grand Final with moving same-sex dance routine
Europe has backed former Britain's Got Talent star Ryan O'Shaughnessy's emotive entry
By Will Stroude
Ireland has qualified for the Eurovision Grand Final for the first time in five years with a stunning LGBT-inclusive performance.
Former Britain’s Got Talent star Ryan O’Shaughnessy was voted into Saturday night’s final after Europe backed his entry ‘Together’, which includes an onstage same-sex dance routine.
Taking its cue from the track’s official video, which sees a same-sex couple dancing through the streets of Dublin, O’Shaugnessy’s live performance was greeted with raputurous applause from inside the arena during Tuesday night’s first semi-final in Lisbon.
25-year-old Ryan, who previously appeared on The Voice of Ireland before finishing in 5th place on the 2012 series of BGT, later secured the final qualification spot as the results were announced.
The other nine entries voted into Saturday night’s Grand Final were Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, and bookies’ favourite Cyprus.
The remaining acts will battle to qualifiy for the final during the second semi-final on Thursday night, with another 10 spots up for grabs.
You can check out our round-up of all of this year’s entries here.
The second Eurovison semi-final will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC Four on Thursday 10 May, while Saturday night’s Grand Final will be broadcast from 8pm on BBC One on Saturday May 12.