Ireland has to break away from its formula to do better at the Eurovision Song Contest, a former winner has said.
Irish fans are gearing up for a special show to select this year's entry to send to Sweden.
The contest is taking place in Malmö in May after singer Loreen won for a second time, tying Ireland and Sweden for the most Eurovision wins.
Six artists are in contention for this year’s selection, with Ireland not having qualified for the Grand Final since 2018.
Former Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan told Lunchtime Live that Ireland has to step away from a formula.
"We are the land of song whether we like it or not, literally both in our traditional music and in our current crop of great songwriters," he said.
"We still have a whole wealth of great, great singers and songwriters.
"There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be back where we belong, right at the top of Eurovision.
"I think our biggest problem is we're aiming at a formula; we think it has to be [a] Eurovision formula.
"When we won back with 'Rock 'n' Roll Kids', it certainly wasn't a formula.
"It was two aul beardy bucks singing a song playing a guitar and the vocals - but it was a great song."
Jedward perform during a rehearsal for the Second Semi-Final of Eurovision in Duesseldorf, Germany, 4-5-11. Image: dpa picture alliance archive / AlamyMr McGettigan said we should also focus on what makes us unique.
"Take a traditional song like 'She Moved Through The Fair' - I guarantee you, if this was back in the day and we put in 'She Moved Through The Fair' we would win hands down," he said.
"It's a great melody, it's a great story, it's a great lyric - we're steeped in music here.
"Buck the system, don't go into the thing with a formula in your mind.
"Just write a good song with a good message and good lyric".
Superfan Dermot Manning said Ireland sometimes forgets an important element.
"The contest is called the 'Euro Vision' and the vision part is incredibly important.
"Whatever song you send you fdo have to make a visual impact.
"It's always been more than a song contest."
Loreen of Sweden at the Eurovision 2023 Semi-Final 1 in Liverpool, England, 9-5-23. Image: Sanjin Strukic/PIXSELL Credit: Pixsell/AlamyMr Manning also reflected on why 'Rock 'n' Roll Kids' did so well.
"If you think back to the mid-90s, unplugged albums were very popular then.
"Effectively Rock 'n' Roll Kids is like an unplugged song, it's just a guitar and a piano.
"I always thought [songwriter] Brendan Graham was very clever that he timed that song perfectly to hit that love fo unplugged music.
"The one thing I would say for the panel that selected the six songs, they're not the usual by-the-numbers Eurovision up-tempo pumpers.
"There's rap, there is real rock, as well as your traditional Eurovision song, your boyband and then you have a very unusual Irish song," he added.
The public can vote for their favourites during the Eurosong special on RTÉ this evening, with the votes combined with results from a national jury and international jury.
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