Ex sex pistol Johnny Rotten
Musicians are not allowed to go to the ESC for Ireland
John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten fails in the ESC preliminary round.
© imago/Pacific Press Agency
John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten is not going to the ESC for Ireland. The ex-Sex Pistols star had to admit defeat.
Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (67), who became known as Johnny Rotten, will not represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). On Friday evening he was defeated in the preliminary round by the Wild Youth group. According to British media reports, Lydon’s song “Hawaii” – a love letter to his wife who has Alzheimer’s – was well received. In the end, he stayed behind the reports but far behind the four-piece winning band from Dublin, who secured the ESC ticket with the song “We Are One”.
The fact that John Lydon and his band Public Image Ltd applied to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May had previously made headlines. The group ended up fourth out of six places.
Johnny Rotten founded the post-punk band Public Image Ltd under his real name in 1978 after leaving the Sex Pistols. After splitting up in 1993, the group reunited in 2009. In addition to his musical career, Rotten took part in the British jungle camp and the US version of “The Masked Singer”.
ESC in Liverpool
The ESC will be held this year under the slogan “United by Music”. According to the British broadcaster, the motto is intended to illustrate “the unique partnership between Great Britain, Ukraine and the host city of Liverpool”. It also shows “the incredible power of music that brings communities together” and the core idea of the ESC, which was designed so that Europe could come closer.
Although the home country of the previous year’s winner usually hosts the new competition, it was already decided in 2022 that 2023 would be different. The Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won last year, but the event was moved to the UK due to security concerns and planning uncertainties due to the war in Ukraine. The Brit Sam Ryder (33) took second place in 2022.
The final of the ESC 2023 will take place in Liverpool on May 13th. The semi-finals will take place on May 9th and May 11th. Which Act Germany will be represented at the ESC has not yet been decided. The decision will be made in the program “Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – Our Song for Liverpool”, which will show the first on March 3rd from 10:20 p.m. The show will be moderated by Barbara Schöneberger (48) and will also be broadcast live on ONE, in the ARD media center and on “eurovision.de”.