EUROVISION 2011:JEDWARD BOUNCED, strutted, and cartwheeled to qualification last night in the second semi-final of the 56th Eurovision contest.
The twin brothers John and Edward Grimes gave a terrifically energetic performance of their song Lipstick, which, combined with the act's stunning stage design, had the audience in the Esprit Arena singing, clapping and cheering along.
“OMG, this is the best thing in the world!” said the pair. “We want to thank all the countries who voted for us, our fans, our mentor Caroline, the songwriters and RTÉ.
“We can’t wait to perform again on Saturday. Go Team Jedward!”
Before the performance in the arena’s press centre, Jedward’s manager Louis Walsh expressed uncertainty about their chances of qualification.
“I just want them to get through tonight,” he said.
While acknowledging that the reaction in the past number of weeks to Jedward had been “incredible”, Walsh called Eurovision “just another chapter” in a career that he predicted would be “global”.
While it was he who put Jedward forward for the Eurovision contest, Walsh underlined the central role that Caroline Downey Desmond – their mentor in the RTÉ selection process for Eurovision – has played in bringing their act together, and in shepherding the singers through the maelstrom of attention that has come their way since arriving in Düsseldorf.
Overall last night, Europe’s voters and expert juries came out clearly on the side of the up-tempo entries: Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Denmark, and Moldova together with Ireland all qualified for the final, with energetic, and in some cases anthemic, numbers.
Quirkier qualifiers included Bosnia and Herzegovina's catchy, folksy Love in Rewind,written and performed by 49-year-old Dino Merlin, and Ukraine's high-concept Angel, which features artist Kseniya Simonova making pictures in sand with her hands as Mika Newton sings. Austria and Slovenia also qualified.
The highest-profile act not to qualify last night was Israel's Dana International, who was returning to the contest having won in 1998 with Diva(she also composed and co-wrote Israel's 2008 entry, which placed fifth).
Dana International is transsexual and her victory 13 years ago is considered a landmark in the public visibility and acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.
Her song this year, Ding Dong,however, did not capture the public's attention.
Jedward will be the only pair of identical twins singing on Saturday night: Daniela and Veronika from Slovakia, who perform as the act Twiins, were also relegated.
Last night’s 10 winners will perform alongside the 10 songs chosen on Tuesday and songs from the five automatic qualifying countries: France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Most major bookmakers last night were still tipping France to take home top honours on Saturday, with Ireland placing second in most polls.