Ireland

Welcome to the Spiritual Home of Eurovision: Ireland!  With a record number of wins since its debut in Naples in 1965, the first of which came in 1970 in Amsterdam with Dana's entry All Kinds of Everything, no other country has had the success Ireland has enjoyed at the Eurovision Song Contest.  Of those wins, three  came in consecutive  years (1992, 1993 and 1994), followed by Ireland's seventh win in 1996, making Ireland the only country to ever run out of places to host the Contest and placing the country's public broadcaster RTE at the risk of bankruptcy (hosting is expensive business).  Ireland also has the honor of being the home of singer/songwriter Johnny Logan, who holds the record for three wins (twice as singer and once as songwriter).  His heart-wrenching ballad Hold Me Now, presented at the 1987 Contest in Brussels, not only won the contest, but became a cross-European hit and solidified Logan as a star (not only of Eurovision, but of the European music scene of the eighties and early nineties):

With its seven wins, four second place finishes, one third-place bronze and twenty additional Top Ten finishes, Ireland has definitely earned its depiction as the Spiritual Home of Eurovision.  That said Ireland's placings at the most recent contests have been somewhat dismal, though the country was able to score in the Top Ten twice (Tenth in 2006 with Brian Kennedy's Every Song Is a Cry For Love, and eigth with Jedward's first appearance in 2011 in Dusseldorf with Lipstick).  Last year Jedward again represented Ireland, this time in Baku, with a seizure inducing rendition of Waterline that eventually finished nineteenth (though the twins didn't seem to notice, busy jumping around like a couple of spastic squirrels in sci-fi space knight suits every time the camera panned in their direction).  Take a look at this Jedaster:

This year, Ireland has chosen Ryan Dolan to duke it out in Malmo with the catchy electro-pop Only Love Survives.  The odds- and bet-makers, as well as several Eurovision fan groups have high expectations with this song, as do I.  The music has a fun thump and is upbeat, the lyrics are warm,  fuzzy, and carry a positive message, being performed by a young Northern Irelander with incredible vocal skills, all making this entry a bit of a sure-thing for making it to the Final and most likely getting into the Top Ten, if not higher, bringing Ireland back to its Eurovision glory.  Now the only question that remains is if Ireland's RTE will be able to host next year's contest, given the country's financial woes, and if that consideration makes any impact on the public's and/or jury's votes and points.  Here's Ryan Dolan's official Eurovision presentation video of Only Love Survives: