Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 with the song "Do I Dream", written by the Cork songwriting team of Jack Brierley and George F. Crosbie, and performed by Maxi. The Irish participating broadcaster, (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final. The song eventually finished in equal tenth place (with Portugal) in the international final held at what was then the Nouveau Theatre, now the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, in Luxembourg City.
Before Eurovision National Song Contest The ninth National Song Contest was held on Sunday 25 February 1973, and was broadcast live from Studio 1 in RTÉ, Dublin on RTÉ Television and RTÉ Radio, hosted by 1971 Eurovision mistress of ceremonies Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir. This year, the number of songs in the national final reverted to eight. The winning song was decided by 10 regional juries, each consisting of six members, throughout Ireland.
Alma Carroll had previously participated in the Irish national final in , and finished in fourth place. Maxi and Barbara ('Dick') Dixon had both appeared in the national final as part of the girl trio Maxi, Dick and Twink, who finished in second place behind Dana. Danny Doyle had previously taken part in the National Song Contest, finishing in fourth place.
Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place 1 Golden Dawn "An Spéirling" 5 5 2 Maxi "Do I Dream" 23 1 3 An Clannad "An Pháirc" Michael Hanly 3 6 4 Danny Doyle "Colours of Our Mind" Tony McNeive 9 3 5 Barbara Dixon "An Chéad Ghrádh" Chris Drummond 1 8 6 Family Pride "I'll Remember" 3 6 7 The Branagans "Fadó, Fadó" Donald Martin 6 4 8 Alma Carroll "Love Is Grand" Richard Billings 10 2
At Eurovision Voting Mike Murphy commentated for RTÉ Television viewers, and Liam Devally provided commentary for RTÉ Radio listeners. For the third (and final) time, each of the 17 participating countries sent two jury members to the venue to cast their votes in vision, awarding between 1 and 5 points to each song, with the exception of their own country's entry. The criteria was that one juror from each country had to be over 25 years of age while the other had to be under 25 years, with a gap of at least ten years between their ages. Three countries voted together in six rounds of voting with the remaining two, France and Israel, casting their votes together as there were only 17 countries instead of 18, as in the previous two years.
Voting
+ Points awarded to Ireland Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points
+ Points awarded by Ireland Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points
References