Former leader of British punk band The Sex Pistols, John Lydon, will not wear the colors of Ireland at Eurovision 2023, who were beaten by Irish group Wild Youth in a televised national competition on Friday.
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The Dublin quartet who performed the song ‘We Are One’ were chosen by a panel of Irish and international experts and a public vote on a television program on national broadcaster RTE, ahead of five other bands including John Lydons, Public Image Ltd.
This victory brings the group Wild Youth, who have already had a string of successes in Ireland, onto the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which will be held in Liverpool, northern England, in May.
“We just hope we can do the best for Ireland and make it great. We want to give our all and hope everyone will support the song,” said Wild Youth frontman Conor O’Donohoe.
The group Public Image Ltd, formed after the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978, on Friday performed a song written by John Lydon in which he pays a moving tribute to his wife Nora, who has Alzheimer’s.
“To have to endure the slow death of my wife and be able to write a song about it so she ends up being pretty beautiful, that’s quite an achievement,” the ’66 punk rocker said on Irish television.
Last year, Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest ahead of Great Britain.
If normally the Siegerland hosts the following year’s meeting, the organizers estimated that Ukraine would not be able to do so due to the Russian invasion.