Good Luck Ryan Dolan! Ireland takes to the Eurovision semi-final stage tonight

It comes but once a year (well, technically three times) and now Eurovision 2013 is finally upon us with the first of two semi-finals taking place in Sweden tonight.

Ireland's Ryan Dolan will battle it out against acts from 15 other countries for a place in Saturday's final in Malmö. His song, 'Only Love Survives', has a good chance of getting through – it's currently 25/1 to top the poll tonight.

Have a listen below:

From: Ryan Dolan

Ryan and his team, including mentor Linda Martin, have been in Sweden for the past two weeks preparing for the competition. The official Eurovision YouTube channel has been keeping up with all the contestants, offering fans of the contest a glimpse into all the backstage shenanigans (Ryan features from 3:59 on):

They also captured Ryan's second rehearsal earlier this week:

Team Ireland took to the red carpet last night for the Eurovision opening ceremony. Ryan and Linda were joined by the other members of the team, including backing singers Nicky Bailey, Alison Vard Miller and Leanne Moore and dancers Colm (that's COLM) Farrell and Alan McGrath.

The first semi-final will be broadcast from 8pm tonight on RTÉ Two. Ryan is 13th to perform so you're probably safe enough tuning in from half past onwards (you can thank us later).

Best of luck Ryan!

Categories: Ireland, Eurovision, Music, Pop, Ryan Dolan