Who is popular today?

After years of going home empty-handed, there is yet another gut-wrenching moment for Ireland at Eurovision 2022 as Brooke Scullion and her track That’s Rich are eliminated in the second semi-final.
A tongue-in-cheek banger which she wrote as a lark two Christmases ago, That’s Rich receives lots of applause in Turin – and on social media – and yet fails to place among the top 10 entries going forward to Saturday night’s grand decider.
That’s a shame as Scullion, a former Voice UK contestant from Bellaghy in Derry, is just this sort of pop extrovert for which Ireland has cried out at Eurovision. And flanked by backing dancers and fireworks – and was that an Olé, Olé thrown in at the end? – she delivers a performance full of attitude which goes off like a mix of Lady Gaga and a 4am text message to a toxic ex.
Scullion’s three-and-a-half minutes under the spotlight arrives halfway through the two-hour event at Palasport Olimpico. Eurovision being Eurovision, the night has something for everyone. Among those catching the eye is Siberia’s Konstrakta, whose In Corpore Sano starts with the “did she really say that?” line, “what is the secret of Meghan Markle’s hair?”



Brooke Scullion onstage in Turin on Thursday night. Photograph: Alessandro Di Marco/EPA


It segues into cyberpunk rock, with the artist seated throughout (and seemingly doing the dishes). Wacky and wigged-out, the lyrics are apparently a critique of the Serbian healthcare system (according to Marty Whelan). Incredibly, she is voted through. Who knows, maybe next year we should send HSE Soundsystem? At this point, why not?
There a big cheers too for Estonia’s Stefan, whose Hope is a country rocker that suggests Garth Brooks possessed by the restless spirit of Mumford Sons – and yet somehow isn’t the stuff of all your nightmares rolled together.
And we get our first taste of one of the favourites, Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs and Hold Me Closer. This is a cool-as-ice Nordic belter, somewhere between Sigrid and The Cardigans. Expect it to be in the shake-up on Saturday, after grabbing one of those precious ten spots.
Eurovision wouldn’t be the same without Marty Whelan’s voiceover, and he’s in pithy, punchy form. “Does he knows he’s got a dead bird in his hair,” he says of the lead singer of Finland’s The Rasmus (actually a feather). “Can you imagine bringing a bucking bronco through customs?” he adds later after the San Marino entry closes on the back of a mechanic bull.
One of the artists predicted to soar high is the UK’s Sam Ryder with his song Space Man. He has a bye to Saturday by dint of the UK being one of the “Big Five” European broadcasters that bankroll Eurovision. Even with that leg-up, a clip of his routine reveals it to be a fizzy, funny number that sounds like something you might discover on TikTok (as it would, given that’s where Ryder first made his name).
He will no doubt create a splash in the final, alongside favourites Ukraine, who qualified on Tuesday. But for Ireland the adventure is over. Despite all the hope and hype, That’s Rich has ultimately failed to end our Eurovision exile. What’s another year in the euro wilderness? We’re about to find out.