Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "We've Got the World", written by Martin Brannigan and Keith Molloy, and performed by Mickey Joe Harte. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The broadcaster returned to the contest after a one-year absence following their relegation in as one of the bottom six entrants in. The competition consisted of 20 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "We've Got the World" performed by Mickey Joe Harte as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote. Ireland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2003. Performing during the show in position 3, Ireland placed eleventh out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 53 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 contest, Radio Éireann (RÉ) until 1966, and Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) since 1967, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Ireland thirty-six times since RÉ's first entry in. They have won the contest a record seven times in total. Their first win came in, with "All Kinds of Everything" performed by Dana. Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in, , and ), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in as a singer, as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In, "Without Your Love" performed by Gary O'Shaughnessy placed twenty-first. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTÉ organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has consistently used a national final procedure to choose its entry at the contest, with several artists and songs being featured. RTÉ confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2003 contest on 2 September 2002. For the 2003 contest, the broadcaster announced alongside its participation that both the song and performer for the contest would be selected via the talent contest You're a Star.

Before Eurovision

You're a Star

RTÉ selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 through the first season of the music competition series You're a Star, which was developed by RTÉ and co-produced with ShinAwil Productions. The shows took place in the Mahoney Hall of the Helix in the Dublin City University (DCU), hosted by Ray D'Arcy and featured a judging panel composed of composer and musician Phil Coulter, television personality and former member of Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona, music publicist Darren Smith and music manager Louis Walsh. The competition consisted of 20 shows, which commenced on 3 November 2002 and concluded on 8 March 2003. All shows in the competition were broadcast on RTÉ One. The competition took place over two phases. The first phase involved over 5,000 candidates attending auditions held across Ireland in Dún Laoghaire, Belfast, Dundalk, Cork, Killarney, Kilkenny, Galway, Derry, and South Dublin. The first ten shows showcased the auditions and selected a total of 13 contestants to go forward to the next stage in the competition. Nine of the contestants were selected following a public televote (one per audition city) with the remaining four selected by the judging panel (one per judge). The second phase was the ten live shows where the results of all shows were determined solely by a public televote; the judging panel participated in an advisory role only. Following the seventh show, the four contestants remaining in the competition were matched with a potential Eurovision Song Contest song selected by two of the competition judges Phil Coulter and Louis Walsh from entries received through established composers approached by RTÉ. The public televote that took place in both phases was conducted through telephone and SMS.

Results summary

Audition shows

Live shows

The ten live shows took place between 5 January and 8 March 2003. The first seven shows featured various themes: free choice for the first three shows, Irish rock songs for the fourth show, Irish folk/traditional songs for the fifth show, love songs for the sixth show and American songs for the seventh show. Either one or two contestants were eliminated in each of the seven shows. The four remaining contestants each performed their candidate Eurovision songs starting from the eighth show and one contestant was eliminated during each of the eighth and ninth shows. "We've Got the World" performed by Mickey Harte was selected as the winner following the final show and announced the day after on 9 March 2003. 1.3 million televotes were cast during the final show.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom five countries in the competed in the final on 24 May 2003. On 29 November 2002, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Ireland was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from and before the entry from. Ireland finished in eleventh place with 53 points. In Ireland, the show was broadcast on RTÉ One with commentary by Marty Whelan and Phil Coulter. RTÉ appointed Pamela Flood as its spokesperson to announce the Irish votes during the show.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the contest.

Delayed televoting results

Televoting was provided to viewers in Ireland during the contest, however due to a delay in receiving the full results the votes of an assembled back-up jury were used instead to provide the Irish votes. RTÉ subsequently revealed the top 10 countries from the Irish televoting after the contest.