Tonight, on RTÉ’s flagship evening chat program “The Late Late Show”, five songs took to the stage in front of a live studio audience (and, oddly enough, Danny DeVito?) for the right to sing for their country in Malmö.  After a razor-thin margin separated the top two contenders after the regional juries had their say, it was up to the public vote to determine the winner.

Technically, after the juries weighed in, the score was slightly tilted towards Aimee’s ballad “Crashing Down“, with only two points separating the two.  The promising young singer had to settle for silver, however, as a message-focused pop track took the maximum score from the televote.  The newly-crowned successor to Jedward is singer-songwriter Ryan Dolan, a native of Strabane, Northern Ireland, with his song “Only Love Survives“:

Ryan, mentored by producer and choreographer Stuart O’Connor, presented the only self-penned song of the night, infused with dynamic percussion and a touch of eye candy for viewers of all persuasions.  Considering that the studio in Dublin was more than a little compact for six energetic performers, and the stage in Malmö is more than likely to be significantly larger, it’s a pretty safe bet that Ryan’s stage show will likely feel less claustrophobic.

(Also, just as a side note: so far, we’ve got “I Feed You My Love”, “Love Kills”, and “Only Love Survives”.  It kind of makes it sound like Aphrodite is competing in the Hunger Games…just saying.)