As always, the Irish representatives at this years' Eurovision Song Contest have been keeping busy with their experience and last night bought two (2) rabbits which they have decided to name Euro and Vision and one has to add that they are enjoying the time spent in their new hotel surroudings, the hotel room of the brotherly duo. It is quite interesting point out that it is yet unknown whether the two pet rabbits can actually get Irish Visas but that would be noted in time along with other details. In the meantime, the focus on Ireland seems to be the water feature, a unique element in this years' Eurovision Song Contest which will be only during the performance of Waterline.

The final track of the first semi-final is going to be quite the bittersweet goodbye and this is due to the fact that Jan Van Dijck, Knut-Oyvind Hagen and the incredible production team at Pitchtunes will be bidding farewell having done their duties in the best possible way. Nevertheless, the show must go one for one last time in the first evening of the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan and closing the showcase will be Ireland, a country known to many fans as being the Queen of the event due to their history including seven victories. Trying to add to that impressive background will be the twins known as Jedward who will be performing the song Waterline written by Nick Jarl & Sharon Vaughn, the latter of which was one of the critics for the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Last the year the pop duo came 8th in the contest with Lipstick – Ireland's best result in the contest for 11 years. Lipstick went on to chart in Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Austria, where it peaked at number 3. Shortly after their success in the Eurovision Song Contest, Jedward returned to Ireland where they performed in front of an audience of 60,000 people at a concert to welcome United States of America President Barack Obama to Ireland.

The past 12 months have been the busiest for the twins yet – they came 3rd in the UK's Celebrity Big Brother; they released their second album, Bad Behaviour and completed a sell-out tour across Ireland, UK, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, and Austria. Jedward were selected to represent Ireland again this year after winning the Irish Eurosong selection competition, topping both the public and jury vote in February. They are performing Waterline.The twins are being mentored this year by Irish Eurovision winner, Linda Martin, who won the contest in 1992 with Why Me.

Waterline was composed by Nick Jarl and Sharon Vaughn. Nick is a songwriter/music producer from Sweden and has written songs for the likes of Westlife, Ironik! As well as songs for numerous Scandinavian acts. Sharon Vaughn is an American songwriter living in Sweden who has composed hits for artists all over the world including Boyzone, Willie Nelson, The Wanted, Clay Aiken, Jay Smith (Swedish Pop Idol Winner), Stefanie Heinzmann, Aslan, Agnes and many more.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• One time it’s fun but two times in a row it still will be fun? The twins they can’t sing and it is their backing vocals that at the end perform the song. Also I believe that Jedward’s entry of last year “Lipstick” was more outstanding and catchy then their entry this year. I can only give this song four (4) points.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• The hurricane of the Jedward twins is back, and to my surprise I like it very much! This is not as over-catchy as Lipstick was, but I do prefer Waterline of the two, as a more gently, easy on the ear song and production. They are sailing into the final, and I think they will be top 10 two years in a row. But next year, Ireland, please send me one of those beautiful ballads that only you can do! I believe that this song is entitled to eight (8) points.

Pitchtunes

• The irish twins, Jedward, are back. This time they perform an energetic uptempo pop song a lá Westlife. This makes it feel a bit outdated. Still, it's a good overall song with a strong chorus and hence why we decided to award it with a total of seven (7) points.

Entry Background

 Performers: Jedward

 Composers: Nick Jarl & Sharon Vaughn

 Authors: Nick Jarl & Sharon Vaughn

 Song: Waterline

 Language: English

 Broadcaster: RTE

 History of the Nation

Ireland do not need too much of an introduction when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest having won the event on a record seven occasions, the last of which came way back in 1996 though at the hands of Eimear Quinn, the songbird who performed a song entitled The Voice. Their most recent results have been nothing to write home about because since the millennium, they have only managed to rank within the top ten on three occasions, the first one coming in 2000 with Eamonn Toal and his song Millennium of Love, the second one being six years later with Brian Kennedy, now a judge on the The Voice of Ireland performing the beautiful song entitled Every Song is a Cry for Love which he wrote himself. The last top ten entry would be achieved last year when Jedward sang the song Lipstick finishing in eight place at the end of the evening. This year, they have the charm of Linda Martin, the 1992 winner with the song Why Me? and will be hoping to find some of that Irish luck as they conquer Baku,Azerbaijan.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

Ireland holds the record for the most victories at the Eurovision Song Contest having managed to finish at the top of the scoreboard, a stunning seven times but their last victory came back in 1996 thanks to Eimear Quinn and her song The Voice but nevertheless, there has been renowned interest in the competition following the participation of the popular twins; Jedward at last years' showcase with the song Lipstick which reached eight place at the end of the evening, the best result for the Western country since 2000 when Eamonn Toal had reached sixth place with the song Millennium of Love. In recent years, the chair of the committee when it comes to selecting the songs for the national final has been none other than former winner of the event; Linda Martin and this year, she is actually the mentor of Jedward. We are proud to announce that our former Head of Communications; Garrett Mulhall has returned as a member of our editorial team collaborating between escflashmalta and Eurovision Ireland and he has managed to speak to the lady.

This years' national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest was based on a system of mentors as was the case last year yet it is quite interesting that the broadcaster went for even higher profile names this time round. There were a number of attempts to attract a number of well known performers to the selection but due to the contending twins, this was somewhat impossible. A little bit of a background on Jedward shows that they were competitors on the popular British version of the X Factor where they were mentored by the renowned Irishman Louis Walsh, the man who has successful managed Westlife, Boyzone and JLS amongst others. Following their exit at the latter stages of the competition, there was a lot of interest by music companies for the twins and they signed a contract with Sony Music United Kingdom for a one song release and the track, a cover of Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby) which peaked at number #1 in Ireland and number #2 in the United Kingdom. The contract was not extended but the day following their release of contract, Universal Music Ireland gobbled them up for a three album contract and it has been quite the ride with both albums; Planet Jedward and Victory peaking at number #1 in Ireland.

When they entered the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest las year, many had seen them as the automatic winners but there was a change in percentages of the voting because of an early release of the song Lipstick and therefore, a question arose, and that was whether their vocals would ultimately live up tot he expectation to be voted by the juries present during the evening. Ultimately, they managed victory by two points and in Europe, they were treated like true stars with their energy displayed throughout the fortnight. This year, working alongside their mentor Linda Martin and their manager Louis Walsh, they are ready to conquer Europe once more with the song Waterline written by Nick Jarl and also escflashmalta collaborator Sharon Vaughn. It is quite interesting that the former Eurovision Song Contest winner with the song Why Me? written by the renowned Johnny Logan is also managed by Louis Walsh as was her songwriter showcasing how the connections commence. Above you could see the interview that she gave to our very own Garrett Mulhall whilst a special exclusive message to www.escflashmalta.com can also be seen below. Remember Malta, get behind Jedward as you did last year when you awarded them eight points.

Special thanks to Garrett Mulhall