Most Eurovision fans have at one point in their lives thought, ‘Maybe I could write a song for Eurovision’, generally after a few sherry’s to help drown their sorrows after seeing their own country fail to get into the Eurovision final once again. Rarely does this ever materialise though.

However, in the case of Irishman Aidan O’Connor he paired his love of Eurovision with his skills as an English teacher and put pen to paper. His first song in a Eurovision national selection show was back in 2011 in Lithuania when Kas jos tokios performed his song Unbreakable from inside a wooden box for the whole duration of the song. Fast forward to 2023 and Aidan has had over 40 songs in various national finals around Europe, including a song in the Lithuania, San Marino, Malta & Romania national competitions this year. In Romania his song Statues sung by X Factor Romania finalist Andrei Dutu finished in third place.

It was in 2016 in Stockholm when Aidan’s songwriting skills really paid off as he had the honour of co-writing the song that brought The Czech Republic to the Eurovision Song Contest final for the very first time. Aidan, alongside Sara Biglert & Christian Schneider, wrote the song I Stand which was sung by Gabriela Guncikova and which finished in 25th place in the final.

Speaking to the Irish Eurovision podcast, I’m Sorry Zero Points, Aidan described that experience as “a dream come true…. It was one of the most special times in my life”. Aidan went on to described how the song was internally selected by the Czech delegation and it was originally supposed to be song by a different singer but things changed and for a while the song was dropped but only to be chosen again by Gabriela.

Aidan also explained the process of staging the song in Stockholm and the professionalism of the Swedish team at SVT who were producing the Eurovision Song Contest that year. After the rehearsals they were able to meet the producers and tweak things such as camera angles and lighting.

Having Aidan in the final in 2016 meant Ireland had something to cheer about, after Nicky Byrne who represented Ireland with his song Sunlight that year failed to make the Eurovision final. However, Aidan went on to discuss how he met Nicky & Marty Whelan and Nicky’s backing singer Janet Grogan at the “epic” Opening Ceremony in Stockholm which included performances by Loreen, Carola, Mans Zelmerlow & a talk by Bjorn from ABBA.

Janet Grogan is someone who would cross Aidan’s path again in 2022 when she sang his song Ashes of Yesterday in the Irish Eurosong and came second behind Brooke Scullion & That’s Rich. Of course Aidan mentioned how he would love the opportunity to see one of his songs represent his home country in Eurovision one day.

When it comes to giving out words of wisdom to budding Eurovision songwriters Aidan advised, “you shouldn’t write a Eurovision song, you should write a song that you love and that you are proud of and represents everything you want to say, because in Eurovision we get a lot of people trying to emulate what has won before.”

He goes on to say, “It’s like with life, if you try and copy someone else or write to try and win, that can take away from what is a beautiful song and the message you are trying to write. But of course there are certain things you need, you should get to the chorus within the first minute and the first 30 seconds of the song is huge as you need to grab people’s attention as much as you can. Those hooks can be important.”

To listen to the interview in full click here.

Two time Eurovision representative for Slovenia, Omar Naber is backing 2023 act Joker Out for a Eurovision victory. Speaking to Irish Eurovision podcast, I’m Sorry Zero Points, Omar described how he has known the lead singer of Joker Out, Bojan Cvjetićanin, since meeting him as a 14-year-old boy while recording his third album in a music studio in Ljubljana.

Omar recalled being impressed by the talented teenager with his great voice and ability to write and play music at such a young age. Omar went on to be Bojan’s singing teacher and also introduced him to various contacts within the Slovenian music industry, as he predicted Bojan was going to be a big star in the music business because “not only is he talented but he is ridiculously smart music business wise”.

Speaking to hosts Adrian & Seamus, Omar went on to discuss how despite being a huge star in Slovenia Bojan is actually a very private person who likes to remain friends with the people who know him “before he made it big”. Joker Out are the biggest music act in Slovenia and have won Artist of the Year in 2021 & 2022 and after Eurovision they will return to perform at an already sold-out arena show in Ljubljana.

Discussing what advice he would give to Joker Out for Eurovision Omar refuses to give them any, “when you are going to Eurovision, everyone wants to give you advice. You are the one going there and standing on that stage, you’re the one 60 or 70 million people are going to watch. Of course people want to give you advice and be associated with you because you have a very high status at that point in time. Everyone wants to be responsible for your success if you get it. So I will not give advice to Joker Out, because I think they know better than me”.

On the possibility of qualifying for the final Omar does not hold back and declares that Joker Out and their song Carpe Diem “are going to get the biggest result in the history of Slovenia, I guarantee you that. It’s going to happen, I know it. It’s written in the stars. I wouldn’t be surprised if they win”.

If Joker Out win or place in the top six in the final of Eurovision it will be the best result for Slovenia, whos most recent best result was 7th place in 2001 with the song Energy by Nusa Derenda. Someone who is well known to Omar as they released a duet together in 2011 called Duša moje duše. Omar describes Nusa as “a very good singer and someone who is easy to work with”. He talked how it was a great opportunity for him to duet with Nusa and described the experience as “something special”.

Omar went on to talk about his two experiences at Eurovision in 2005 & 2017, both times in Kyiv. He mentioned that on his first time to Eurovision in 2005 he was too young to comprehend what was happening and he didn’t take it as seriously as he should have but he is very grateful to have represented his country. He represented Slovenia with the song Stop which he wrote and although the song is about a relationship, he mentions that the song is his breakthrough and what he is most known for in Slovenia.

2017 saw Omar return to Eurovision with the song On My Way, a song his wrote 12 years prior. He believes he was more prepared and more experienced and ready for the song contest compared to his first attempt. He revealed that many artists in Slovenia wanted his song On My Way which is actually about a period in his life when he was aware of his potential as an artist but constrained by the nature of the small music industry in Slovenia and whether he should move abroad and try make it big internationally or stay within his home country and enjoy the status and lifestyle he had developed in Slovenia.

On the possibility of a making a historic third attempt at Eurovision for Slovenia he doesn’t rule it out and in fact says that he would be up for returning to Eurovision. However, next time he is returning to his roots and he would perform a punk rock song.

Listen to the interview in full here.