Ireland return to their roots - Dervish for 2007!

And so the countdown to Eurovision 2007 can officially begin with the news that Irish broadcaster RTE have picked the traditional Irish band Dervish to represent them in Helsinki next year! Following the success of internally selecting Brian Kennedy last year – gaining 10th place and guaranteeing that Dervish will automatically perform in the final – RTE stuck with the same format of choosing an established artist. They will then perform four songs, written by songwriters from the general public, at the Irish national final in February, where the winner will be chosen.

So who are Dervish? And if they’re established, why have we never heard of them?!

Dervish are a six piece band, who formed in Sligo in 1989. They are made up of five men and one woman – the vocalist Cathy Jordan (although the picture shows seven members. Don’t know who the randomer is. But Eurovision rules only allow six performers onstage so one of them will have to go!). And it’s no wonder Ireland have chosen them to represent them; with instruments such as mandolins, flutes, whistles, fiddles, bouzoukis and bodhrans, it sounds like the Irish entry is going to be a rather ethnic affair, which proved rather well for Serbia & Montenegro in 2004 (2nd) and Bosnia & Herzegovina last year (3rd).

Of course, their entry sounds like it could more reminiscent of Sanomi, the traditional ethnic song that Belgium sent in 2003. Against all the odds it managed to finish 2nd, only two points behind the eventual winner.

So could Ireland, the seven time winners, be on course for their eighth in Helsinki? Either way, it sounds like the Irish entry is going to be quite a corker! Strike up the fiddle…