22 (Sarah McTernan song)

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"22"
Single by Sarah McTernan
Released29 March 2019
Length2:53
LabelUniversal Music
Songwriter(s)
Sarah McTernan singles chronology
"Eye of the Storm"
(2016) 		"22"
(2019) 		"Loving You"
(2021)
Music video
"22" on
YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
18th
Semi-final points
16
Entry chronology
◄ "Together" (2018)
"Story of My Life" (2020) ►

"22" is a 2019 single by Irish singer Sarah McTernan. The song represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, after being internally selected by RTÉ, the Irish public broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.[1] The song would manage an 18th place finish in the second semi-final, not qualifying for the Grand Final.[2]

Background

"22", according to McTernan, is about a woman struggling to move on from her ex. The number 22 talks about her ex's house number, as the singer speaks about "driving by" their house and wanting to get back with her ex, as she feels empty inside.[3] While some have thought that the song was about a crazed stalker, McTernan claims that the song is about her first love.[4]

In an interview, RTÉ Head of Delegation Michael Kealy admitted that "22" was instead meant for a male singer, but once hearing McTernan sing the song in a demo, Kealy decided to let McTernan sing the song.[5]

Eurovision Song Contest

Main article: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Selection

On 4 October 2018,

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) opened a submission period where artists and composers "with a proven track record of success in the music industry" were able to submit their entries until 23 November 2018. In addition to the public submissions, RTÉ reserved the right to approach established artists and composers to submit entries and to match songs with different artists to the ones who submitted an entry.[6]
At the closing of the deadline, 440 entries were received and 70 entries were shortlisted in January 2019.

On 8 March 2019, RTÉ announced that they had internally selected Sarah McTernan to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv.[7] "22" was eventually released to streaming platforms on 29 March.[8]

At Eurovision

On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Ireland performed in position 2. The song failed to qualify for the final and finished last overall.[2]

Track listing

Digital download[9]
No.TitleLength
1."22"2:53

References

  1. ^ "Ireland: Sarah McTernan will sing "22" at Eurovision 2019". wiwibloggs. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  2. ^ a b "Second Semi-Final: Last 10 acts qualify for Eurovision 2019 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Your face is all I've got! Sarah McTernan's "22" lyrics portray a woman obsessed with her ex". wiwibloggs. 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  4. ^ "Ireland's Sarah McTernan: My song "22" is nice, flirty and fun!". wiwibloggs. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  5. ^ "Ireland's HoD Michael Kealy reveals that Sarah McTernan's "22" was originally intended for a male voice". wiwibloggs. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  6. ^ Adams, William Lee (2018-10-04). "Ireland: RTÉ calls on 'accomplished songwriters and performers' to submit for Eurovision 2019". wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  7. RTÉ. 8 March 2019. Archived
    from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  8. ^ Muldoon, Padraig (29 March 2019). "Serbia's Nevena Bozovic will release "Kruna" in English". wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. ^ "22 - Single by Sarah McTernan". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
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