Eimear Quinn Eimear Mary Rose Quinn (; ga, Eimear Ní Chuinn, ) is an Irish singer and composer. She is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song " The Voice". Since then she has toured and performed extensively internationall ...

represented Ireland in the

1996 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NRK) and presented by Norwegian journalis ...

with the song "

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

Before Eurovision

National Final

Réalta '96

'Réalta' was a radio song contest started in 1995 by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltacht exclusively for Irish songs. The first edition of the contest was not related to Eurosong, but from 1996 until 1999, the recent winner of Réalta would qualify to Eurosong. The 2nd edition of Réalta took place in December 1995 and the results were decided by a panel of 3 judges. The running order and results of Réalta '96 are unknown.

Eurosong

The final took place on 3 March 1996 at the

Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Q ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, hosted by

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

. Eight entries competed in the final and the winner, "

" performed by

, was determined by the votes of ten regional juries.

At Eurovision

As part of the EBU's scheme to limit the growing number of countries wishing to participate, audio recordings of the entries were sent to juries in each participating country some weeks before the contest. The juries listened to the songs, and awarded points to their ten favorites. Of the 29 countries wishing to participate (host country

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

was exempt from the process), only the 22 highest-scorers were allowed to perform in the

contest Contest may refer to: * Competition * Will contest * Contesting, amateur radio contesting (radiosport) Film and television * ''Contest'' (2013 film), an American film * Contest (1932 film), a German sports film * " The Contest", a 1992 season ...

. In this qualifying round, "

" came in 2nd place with 187 points, and confirmed an Irish presence in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

that year. Quinn performed 17th in the running order on the night of the

. "

" went on to win with 162 points, giving Ireland its seventh overall victory, and its fourth in five years.

Voting

Qualifying round

Final

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1996 1996 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 Eurovision Eurovision