'An unreal and amazing experience!' Carlow man on being part of the Eurovision jury

A Carlow local, Brain Sheil, who is a music producer by trade was invited by the RTÉ to be a member of the Irish jury for this years Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final in Malmo, Sweden. Sheil who has experience as a music producer with over 23 million streams on his work, has developed a keen ear for music. "An unreal and amazing experience."

"It was a tremendous honour to be asked by RTÉ many months ago to represent Ireland as a
Juror for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final – what an incredible experience"
expressed Brian. "Eurovision is a celebration of diversity and creativity in music, and I was
excited to contribute to this global music event. Representing your country on any level
especially in this tough line of business was just fantastic. It was also amazing for it to be the
30th anniversary year of Riverdance and the same year that Paul Harrington and Charlie
McGettigan won it for Ireland with Rock n’ Roll Kids – my favourite Irish entry still to this
day – I was four years old watching them. No orchestra was used if you remember, just a
great song on the piano and guitar. A beautiful, timeless song about life and loss like a
conversation you’d have at a kitchen table. There are so many music business lessons behind
the song”.

Speaking on Ireland's entry Bambie Thug Brain had this to say: "I thought Bambie was just incredible. Having a background in technical theatre myself, you
could see that they understand theatrical performance on a completely different level and
used this training to their advantage. I loved the shock value and creativity of it all. It may
not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but I love artists and performances that can push the
needle somewhat on popular culture. Bringing in Spanish art director Sergio Jaén was a
fantastic move, especially for the direction of cameras. It made that performance. It’s our
best result in many years."