Wild Youth "Devastated" To Miss Out On Eurovision Final

Head of Ireland's Eurovision delegation Michael Kealy has said that Wild Youth are "devastated" to have missed out on a place in Saturday's Grand Final of the song contest.

The band fronted by lead singer Conor O'Donohoe, performed their track 'We Are One' at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena. 

Ireland's were one of five countries to have missed out on a place in the final, with Portugal,Serbia, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Israel, Croatia Moldova, Czech Republic, and Sweden securing their place in Saturday's showpiece.

Speaking about the band's obvious disappointment at being eliminated, Michael Kealy insisted that he is still proud of Wild Youth's efforts.

"Obviously people are devastated. What happened last night was that after the arena, we all got in the bus back to the hotel and sat around the bar and had a late night drink", he said. "A lot of family and friends of the band are over". 

"It’s quite an emotional thing... a lot of time and effort and emotional capital is spent on our Eurovision effort every year, and it’s devastating when we don’t get through to the final", Kealy continued.  "The guys were all geared up and focused on the show last night but they had one eye on getting to the final on Saturday night.

"When that doesn’t happen, it’s tough. It is tough on them. I feel for any artist who has to go through it. It’s a pressure cooker out here". 

The Eurovision final takes place on Saturday (May 13).