Why Ireland Needs Jedward for ESC 2012

Since about two days after ESC 2011 Jedward have shown that they want to comeback. In spite of the nay sayers throughout the world of Eurovision fandom - who don't not understand semantics of Hiberno-English -  said, they're going to be in Eurosong 2012 (apologies will still be accepted). Once RTÉ announce the full list of songs and artists (expected next week) we will be openly declaring full support for whoever we think is the best candidate. At this point I am 98.62% sure that we will be giving our full support to Jedward. The only question is WHY?

The answer is complex:

• Last year Jedward participated for Ireland in ESC 2011. They know at this stage how a modern Eurovision Song Contest works. This experience will help them if they are sent to Baku again this year. Many returning artists have not had this experience due to the massive expansion of the contest since 2004. It has become a test of endurance over two weeks. Jedward have experience of how to handle this.
• At Eurovision last year they got themselves into the media spotlight more than any other contestant. Their first press conference has gone down as legendary and put the media on their side. Not many contestants can do this. They changed the attitude of Eurovision fans to Jedward overnight, last year when the rehearsals started. Ireland became one of the most talked about entries of 2011. Keith Mills of AllKindsOfEverything.ie noted that the first day they arrived they worked an 18 hour day with the media.
• In spite of on going criticism of their vocal performance, they showed last year that they can deliver with the correct song. The biggest surprise was how they scored in the Jury/Public system. While the widely accepted view of everyone that they would score well with the public, it was equally thought they would score less well with juries. The opposite turned out to be true. Jedward scored 6th with the juries and 10th with the public. 
• Jedward's biggest appeal (and fan base) is with females in the 8-12 and 13-17 years old category. It has been widely noted that these categories are increasingly affecting the outcome of the contest. Over the last year Jedward have built up a major fan base across Western Europe - they did not have this in 2011
• Jedward are currently one of Ireland's biggest acts and are supported by strong management team who will support them with promotion and in Baku. Very few other artists will have this. 
• Jedward clearly have been planning this since ESC 2011 was over. That shows dedication to the Eurovision Song Contest which we do not see in any other artist. Fans should be grateful for this and support Jedward.
• This website is of the opinion Ireland's score in 2011 would have been higher had we not been drawn in front of Sweden
• For fans of Eurovision (rather than Jedward fans): 2009 and 2010 saw two very successful winners emerge from the contest. They topped charts in many countries and charted across Europe. This in turn helped the contest. Sadly Ell & Nikki did not exactly do this. Jedward doing well or winning the contest would be a huge victory for the contest as Jedward are ready to go and will not struggle to promote themselves after the contest.

So as I say unless U2 or someone turns up out of the blue we will be supporting Jedward for Baku!!! #Jeds4Baku