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Aidan O'Connor is heading for the Eurovision Aidan O'Connor is heading for the Eurovision

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Limerick native Aidan O’Connor is heading for the Eurovision

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8 years ago

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Limerick native, Aidan O’Connor is gearing up for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm with his song, I Stand. Aidan O’Connor is heading for the Eurovision

Aidan is responsible for the lyrics for this years Czech Republic entry and is this year’s and it will be performed by Gabriella Guncikova in the first semi-final in May.

“I am pretty pleased,” Aidan, who is originally from Carrigkerry, stated this week. But, he added: “It feels like it has been a long process, a lot of trying, of close encounters. It has taken a while to get to this point. But it feels great.”

Aidan took up song writing seven years ago and since then has become an established name in the Eurovision world. Aidan has penned 25 songs that have been in the running to become the Eurovision entry in various countries.


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“My best success up to now was to come second in Malta and to come second in Lithuania,” he explained.

The song, I Stand was chosen as the overall winner by a panel of judges in the Czech Republic earlier this week. And in just a few days it has been viewed over 260,000 hits on YouTube.

Aidan, who teaches English in Dublin, wrote the lyrics while the composers who collaborated with him are Swedish.

“I always loved writing, poetry and stories,” Aidan said explaining how writing Eurovision songs came into his life.

“I have always loved English and I am a big fan of the Eurovision and have gone to many contests as a fan. Then I just decided to combine the two and it just snowballed.”

Over the years Aidan has built up a connection and network of composers and producers with whom he collaborates.

“It takes a lot constantly asking, getting your work out there. The more you submit, the more contacts you build up,” he stated. “It gets easier.”

Aidan’s main aim  now is to be in Stockholm for the two weeks or so of rehearsals leading up to the semi-final on May 10.

He’s also hoping to have his friends and family in Stockholm for some Irish support on the night.

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.