Irish Eurovision fans resigned to watching it on BBC One with Graham Norton and no ads

Paul McRingo | Showbiz Correspondent

With RTE boycotting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Irish fans will be forced to watch it on BBC One tonight with the always hilarious commentary of Graham Norton and no ad breaks.

RTE are refusing to broadcast the show on behalf of the people of Ireland due to Israel’s inclusion. Although during last year’s public vote the people of Ireland gave Israel 10 points – the second highest possible score.

More than 95,000 tickets were sold for this year’s contest, making it the most popular Eurovision in the contest’s history. Fans have travelled from 75 different countries, with ticket sales showing huge demand from the USA, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa – countries that don’t even take part.

Despite boycotting this year’s contest, RTE sent Evelyn O’Rourke and a camera crew to Vienna to report on the show. In fact she’s been reporting on it on the Six One News every evening this week – reminding anyone who might have forgotten that the final is on this Saturday night.

Of course one huge positive for Ireland to take from not participating in this year’s contest is that it meant we didn’t have to watch ourselves not qualifying for the final yet again this year and that can only be a good thing. Yay! Come on Ireland!

Image by drobotdean on Magnific