John Lydon, a former frontman of Sex Pistols, has failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest in Ireland.
Lydon’s post-punk group Public Image Ltd (PiL), formed after the dissolution of the Sex Pisls, came in fourth place out of six acts that participated in Ireland’s Eurosong competition. This year’s entry was selected.
They were defeated by Wild Youth’s We Are One song, which will be competing at the Liverpool contest in May.
The vote was decided in three parts: a public vote and a national jury.
PiL’s entry, Hawaii, was an emotional ballad he called Hawaii. He described it as a love note to Nora, his wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Lydon, who was formerly known by Johnny Rotten, sings about their most happy moments during their 40-year marriage, including their time in Hawaii.
He said that before the contest, “It means everything to me. This is our last year of coherence together.” She is my best friend.
“I miss my missus. If you keep voting for us, I’m going even more to miss her.”
Continue reading: When and where can I find tickets for the song contest?
He stated that he was still terrified of “mugging it up”, getting it wrong, and letting people down – mainly Nora down”.
He remembered fondly watching Eurovision as a kid, and said: “This was something that I watched with my parents when I was young.” I remember Johnny Logan, I remember Cliff Richard, I remember Sandy Shaw.
“It’s as good or better than any other way to listen to music. I don’t have any prejudices over things like this.”
He said that he chose Ireland because he was as Irish as anyone else by blood.
Continue reading: Eurovision announces that viewers around the globe can vote in the next year’s contest
PiL was founded in late 1970s. It has been a top 20 UK album.
They also plan to release a new album by the band in 2023, their first album since 2015.
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Details of potential Eurovision entrants are yet to be announced by the UK.
After Kalush Orchestra’s win in 2022, organizers declared it unsafe to host this year’s contest in Ukraine. Liverpool was chosen as the host city.
The contest was hosted by the BBC instead of the UK’s Sam Ryder who finished second.
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