Cork singer makes his bid for Eurovision tonight

A CORK singer is one of six hopefuls who will compete in a special Late Late Show Eurosong competition tonight (Friday February 4) in a bid to make it to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Patrick O’Sullivan will perform One Night, One Kiss, One Promise, a song written by Nicky Byrne from Westlife, Danny O’Reilly from the Coronas and Lar Kaye from All Twins.

O’Sullivan met the Westlife frontman while taking part in the RTÉ show Last Singer Standing in December. As well as winning the singing competition and walking away with the €25,000 prize, he made an impression on Byrne, who was hosting.

“I got a phone call from Nicky a few days after the final. He had been doing writing sessions with Danny and Lar and they had this song. His idea was I could have a go at singing it and we could submit it for Eurovision.

“It is luck, like with a lot of the industry. You might need talent but it’s also about being in the right place, at the right time. If Nicky didn’t have something to offer, I wouldn’t be here.”

O’Sullivan says he is conscious that there hasn’t been a Cork singer at the Eurovision since 1979 in Jerusalem, when Cahal Dunne came fifth with his song, Happy Man.

“Cahal has been in touch from Florida and gives me his full blessing and support, so that has been great,” he said.

“I don’t understand why there haven’t been more singers from Cork in the competition. There are so many great singers here, I can’t make sense of it.”

Cahal, a nephew of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch,saw off challenges from Red Hurley and future winner Johnny Logan when he qualified for Ireland in 1979.

O’Sullivan, aged 27, left Cork for London over a decade ago.

“I grew up in Ballinlough and went to Coláiste Chríost Rí. Both my parents are from Ballydehob.

“I have been singing and doing theatre since I was a child and, after my Leaving Cert, I headed for London.

“After applying to a few places, I got a full scholarship in the Arts Educational Schools where Andrew Lloyd Webber is the principal.

“It’s been an amazing 10 years. I’ve done musicals like Carrie, The Wind In The Willows, Bat Out Of Hell, Doctor Dolittle and The Book Of Mormon. I’ve performed in the West End and been on tour around the UK and Ireland.

“I was doing The Book Of Mormon when the pandemic started. We went down to warm-up one day and they just told us: we have to cancel the show.

“We thought it would be for a week but, of course, it wasn’t. It has been a difficult couple of years. All the theatre work dried up and so did the service industry jobs you might take on during quiet periods.

“The in-between jobs are as much a part of the theatre life as the work itself, so that was hard.

“I would say more than half the Irish people I knew in London in the arts community, pre-pandemic, are gone now.

“It was during that time that I saw an advert for Last Singer Standing. I had never even considered doing a show like that before, it wasn’t on my radar. I couldn’t believe it when I won and now it has led to this!”

He will perform his song alongside five other contenders in a Eurosong edition of The Late Late Show on RTÉ1 at 9.35pm tonight.

O’Sullivan says: “The Late Late Show is going to be special because the public is helping to choose the song for the Eurovision. Ireland hasn’t involved the public in that way for years. 

"I think it gives the nation more of a sense of ownership over the entry and the song. We are more interested and invested.

“I think my song, One Night, One Kiss, One Promise, has a great chance at landing in Europe. Ireland has done so well in the past because we write songs with great lyrics and storytelling and great narrative, but that doesn’t necessarily translate very well in the Eurovision now. It’s a different show.

“You can’t just rely on a good song anymore, you need to lift it with the performance. This song is not solely a dance track but equally, it’s not a ballad. It is a mix of the two.”

O’Sullivan has been enjoying his return to the music industry in Ireland. 

“This has all been so great because what I want is to create more opportunities for myself at home and get a foothold in the music industry here.

“When you are away for a long time, it is hard to make those connections and it is a small circle in Cork, and in Ireland, so it can be hard to break into it when you are away for so long.”

O’Sullivan says the community in London is close-knit. 

“There is a strong Cork contingency over there. We all said growing up we would move to London but it is incredible the number of people who followed through. 

"I must know about 10 or 12 people over there from Cork alone that I was singing and dancing with when I was a kid.

“I’ve had a couple of younger people come over who I would have known of growing up and I do try to be a support.

“There isn’t too much you can do, but even just sending a message or sending their mother a message to say, ‘If you need something at least I am a body that can help’. Most of the time those offers aren’t called in but it is just to have a safety blanket. I know it was difficult for my parents when I left at 17.”