It appears that Irish Broadcaster RTÉ has unveiled more details for this month’s National Selection (“Eurosong 2012”), to be held on the February 24th episode of the Late Late Show.  Barring any early song leaks (like what happened last year with “Lipstick”), the songs themselves will be revealed on February 9.  Each act will be under the tutelage of a “mentor”, who will hopefully help guide them to their best possible performance…

Oh, let’s face it, we’re going to see Jedward again, aren’t we?  Well, for the sake of some semblance of fairness and unbiased coverage, let’s take a look at who we’ll see trying their hands at Eurosong!

1) As I’ve already mentioned, Jedward will be back in the fray, performing an as-yet-unnamed song written by the same team that created “Lipstick“: Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen, and Martin Larsson.  They will be mentored by Linda Martin, who was the 1992 Eurovision winner with “Why Me?“.  Linda and the twins have worked together before; they recently shared a stage in the panto “Jedward and the Beanstalk”.

I can't even tell anymore if Jedward are in costume or not...

2) Another returning Eurovision alumna will be Donna McCaul, who shared the ESC stage with her brother Joe in 2004 with “Love?“.  The song came in 14th place in the Semi that year, marking the first time that Ireland had failed to qualify for the Final.  Now a soloist, Donna will be mentored by producer Bill Hughes, and will perform a song written by Lina & Marten Eriksson.  It has been described as “Katy Perry-esque”, but we will find out for ourselves on February 9th.

3) Maria McCool has been announced as the third National Finalist, and she will be mentored by Edele Lynch, who is best known for her work in the pop-group B*Witched, among other projects.  McCool is reported to be singing a traditional Celtic-inspired tune, as is her normal style.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the woman behind “C’est La Vie” will work with this genre!

4) A duo made up of David Shannon and Una Gibney will perform “Language of Love”, written by Eanan Patterson and Julian Benson.  David is best known for his theatre work, including a well-regarded turn in “The Phantom of the Opera”, while Una was a vocalist for Michael Flatley’s “Celtic Tiger” stage show.  The act will be mentored by Benson, as well.

5) Rocker Andrew Mann rounds out our list of National Finalists.  He will be singing “Here I Am”, written by Greg French, who will also be serving as Mann’s mentor.  French is a sound engineer who also makes up part of the local synth-pop band “The Brilliant Things“.