Ireland Unveils Their Eurovision Entry ‘Dying To Try’
A while back, we reported that Ireland’s next Eurovision act was internally selected to be Brendan Murray. His career took off as a member of the successful boy band Hometown, whose first single Where I Belong was the fastest selling single from a debut act in the Irish charts. The band has toured extensively across the UK and Ireland, and have been support acts for Olly Murs and the Vamps. This time around, Brendan will be going solo to Kyiv with the song Dying to Try, which was selected from a number of submitted songs.
Brendan has commented on the song he will be singing at Eurovision in May, saying, ‘When I first heard Dying To Try I instantly fell in love with it and knew it was the perfect song for me. I couldn’t wait to get into the studio to record it. My mum teared up the first time she heard it so that was a good start! The song builds slowly to a big key change which is great for me and allows me to showcase my vocal range. We shot the video in Bray on the beach in the freezing cold last weekend which was my first solo video shoot. It was a little bit nerve wrecking as I’m so used to having the other five Hometown guys around but the whole process was very exciting and I have a great team behind me. The song is a love song and it’s a power ballad. It’s about taking a leap of faith, putting your trust in someone else, there’s no guarantees that love will work out but it’s always worth trying which is the song title – Dying To Try. I’m very proud and honoured to be representing my country at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv. It’s a huge opportunity for me. I can’t wait to get out there, fly the Irish flag and perform on the Eurovision stage’
The song was written by the Grammy Award nominated Jörgen Elofsson, who has previously written for international stars, including Celine Dion, Il Divo, Paloma Faith and Leona Lewis. He also wrote four of Westlife’s number one hits. Elofsson commented on Brendan’s voice, which he believes is a dream for songwriters.
Brendan’s mentor for Eurovision, Louis Walsh has also commented on the choice of song, ‘When I first heard Dying To Try it really stood out from the other songs that were entered by songwriters from all over the world. I chose Brendan Murray because he is an amazing singer and his voice is so unique, I’ve never heard anyone like him before. The song and the singer are modern and contemporary and it’s a perfect combination for this years Eurovision in Kyiv. Ireland hasn’t won Eurovision since 1996 which is the same year that Brendan was born so perhaps that’s a lucky omen!’
Listen to the song down below, and if you are dying to support Brendan, make sure to vote for him in our Eurovision poll!
