1. 1993: "In Your Eyes" - Niamh Kavanagh (51.2%)

2. 1972: "Ceol An Ghrá" - Sandie Jones (48.8%)

3. 1970: "All Kinds Of Everything" - Dana (23.2%)

4. 1996: "The Voice" - Eimear Quinn (11.7%)

5. 1981: "Horoscopes" - Sheeba (8.3%)

6. 1987: "Hold Me Now" - Johnny Logan (6.1%)

7. 1994: "Rock'N'Roll Kids" - Harrington & McGettigan (5.7%)  

8. 1998: "Is Always Over Now" - Dawn Martin (4.9%) 

9. 1980: "What's Another Year" - Johnny Logan (3.6%)

10. 1984: "Terminal 3" - Linda Martin (1.7%)*

The first semi-final covered the first ten Irish entries. It was perhaps no surprise to see Ireland's only winner in that period topping the poll. Dana and "All KInds Of Everything" was a runaway winner gaining over a third of the votes, but the runner-up was a bit of a surprise. "Ceol An Ghrá" sung by Sandie Jones was the most unsuccessful of Ireland's entries during the period, finishing 15th in Edinburgh. It remains the only entry sung in Irish Gaelic and has obviously become a bit of a fan favourite. The two songs getting a second chance are Ireland's debut entry from 1965 and our first up-tempo Eurovision song from 1968. Surprisingly missing out in 5th place was "If I Could Choose", the Eurovision runner-up from 1967.

In the final :

1975-1984

An even more surprising result came in the second semi-final. "Terminal 3" sung by Linda Martin and written by Johnny Logan, which just missed out on Eurovision victory in 1984 came top of the poll, ahead of Ireland's second winning song "What's Another Year", which gave Johhny Logan his first Eurovision win in 1980. These two songs progress to the final. Getting a second chance are two very different Irish entries. The u-tempo kitsch of  "Horoscopes" from 1981 came 2nd in Dublin in 1981, while the classic ballad "When" came 10th in 1976. Surprisingly missing out in this semi-final was "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" which finished a very close 3rd in London in 1977. Another Top 5 result in Eurovision didn't help "Born To Sing" gain many votes. 

1985-1994

The third semi-final was always going to be the most interesting as it contained four Irish winners as well as a couple of well liked songs that didn't win the event. In the end, Niamh Kavanagh's 1993 Eurovision winner "In Your Eyes" proved a clear winner, taking almost one third of the vote. The runner-up position was however a much closer contest. In the end the 1987 winner "Hold Me Now" gave Johnny Logan another finalist. The song which lost out was Liam Reilly and "Somewhere In Europe", which finished second in Zagreb in 1990. Also getting a second chance is "Rock'N'Roll Kids" the 1994 winner performed by Charlie McGettigan & Paul Harrrington. The song which surprisingly lost out "Why Me?" the song written by Johnny Logan and which brought victory for Linda Martin in 1992. 

 1985-1994

The fourth semi-final covered the nine most recent Irish Eurovision enties and included our last winner, "The Voice" from 1996. While Eimear Quinn's song gained a respectable second place it was well beaten by  the 1998 Irish entry "Is Always Over Now" which was performed by Dawn in Birmingham. Both these songs make it through to the final ten. Far more surprising, were the two songs which get a second chance. Both "Without Your Love" performed by Gary O'Shaughnessy in Copenhagen and "If My World Stopped Turning" sung by Chris Doran in Istanbul, finished in the bottom three in Eurovision, but both are obviously remembered fondly by some people. Surprisingly, "Mysterious Woman" which finished 2nd in 1997, "We've Got The World" which was a huge local hit in 2003 and "Millennium Of Love", which was our last Top 10 result at Eurovision all missed out.

The eight entries contesting the "second chance" semi-final were a very varied bunch of songs, both in term of results and style, and they covered the full period of Ireland's Eurovision history, from our first entry in 1965 to our last finalist in 2004. The two songs which came out on top certainly offer a bit of variety to the final ten. "Rock'N'Roll Kids" is the piano led ballad which gave Ireland its record breaking third win in 1994 and this unsurprisingly topped the second chance semi. Just behind it, came "Horoscopes" the up-tempo pop classic from 1981. These two songs were clear winners and qualify with the other finalists. Finishing a creditable if somewhat surprising third was "If My World Stopped Turning" from 2004, the song which gave Ireland is lowest ever Eurovision score. 

The contest to discover Ireland's favourite entry will run for the month of September. For three weeks all ten songs will be in competition, and for the last 10 days one song will be eliminated every day, until we have a winner. So far the results of the voting have been very unpredictable, so it would be a brave sould who could call the winner at this stage.

A reminder of the finalists;

In the final: