Together was the Irish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon performed by Ryan O'Shaughnessy.
The song's music video and live performance featured dancers portraying a same-sex couple, said to be the first depiction of such a couple in the contest's history.
It qualified from the first semifinal in 6th place, ending Ireland's 4-year non-qualification streak. In the final, it was performed 24th following the Netherlands and preceding Cyprus. At the close of voting, it finished in 16th place with 136 points, the country's best result in 7 years.
Lyrics[]
We were drifting like two icebergs out on the ocean
I was doing all I could to keep you close
There were troubles in the water, you swore it was nothing
You said that we would always stay afloat
Why would you, look, look me
In the eye and lie, lie?
I thought we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
I thought we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
Have you been coming home so late in the evening?
Is there someone else that I should know about?
Stays a smile on your face that I haven’t seen
Since we started going on
How could you, look, look me
In the eye and lie, lie?
I thought we’d be together till be died
I’ll forever wonder why
I thought we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
You said “Until death do us part”
And then you chose to break my heart
Remember, rock back to the start
We said we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
I thought we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
You said we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
I thought we’d be together till we died
I’ll forever wonder why
Trivia[]
- The song was originally written for Ryan's Eurovision predecessor Brendan Murray, but Brendan's manager Louis Walsh did not like it.
Censorship[]
- The semi-final performance was skipped in the Chinese broadcast due to the portrayal of a same-sex couple, as LGBT themes in the media are censored in China[1], where same-sex relationships are not officially recognized.
- Due to this, as well as the censoring of Albania's performance due to laws against performers displaying tattoos, the Chinese broadcaster was banned from broadcasting the remainder of the 2018 contest as well as future editions by the EBU.
- However in Russia, where a law prohibits the dissemination and promotion of LGBT content, the Russian commentator interpreted the couple as "male friends", as the broadcaster could neither skip nor censor the performance (due to Russia being a full EBU member and a participant that year).
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ China bans same-sex romance from TV screens (en). CNN (3 March 2016). Retrieved on 30 December 2021.