Background
Ireland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965, making their 41st participation in 2007. Ireland has won the contest seven times in total and no other country has equaled or beaten that record. The country's first win came in their sixth entry, in 1970, when then 18-year-old Dana won with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the country three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994). Ireland also has the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In recent years, however, Ireland's impressive record at Eurovision has taken a turn, with only two Top 10 results during the 2000s, and Ireland's first last place finish in 2007.
The Irish national broadcater, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) broadcasts the event each year and organizes the selection process for the entry. Many methods of selection have been used, with the most common method used by RTÉ being a national final featuring a multi-artist, multi-song selection in which regional juries, and later the public, chooses the winner. In recent years the artist has sometimes been selected internally by RTÉ, with the song being chosen by the public.
Read more about this topic: Ireland In The Eurovision Song Contest 2007
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