Draft:Next In LIne Band

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2024/0112/1426068-next-in-line-revealed-as-final-eurosong-act/

Next In Line are an Irish boyband formed after an open audition call in Dublin in February 2022. The audition was held by esteemed talent manager Louis Walsh and had 2000 auditionees. The five band members are Conor Davis, Conor O'Farrell, Neung Kelly, Harry O'Connell and Joshua Regala. Despite not knowing each other before the audition, the band are now the best of friends according to sources around the group. After being selected for the group, the band cited their main musical influences as One Direction, the Jonas Brothers, Five Seconds of Summer and Westlife.

The group were revealed to the Irish public in Life magazine of the Irish Independent in July 2023. They made their first television appearance in September 2023 performing a cover of 'When You Love Someone' by James TW on The Late Late Show on RTE. They also performed it on the Six O'Clock Show that same week. Their performance was met with positive feedback from the public and many said they were excited to see more.

In January of 2023 the band performed at the Junk Kouture World Final in Abu Dhabi in the Etihad Arena. This is said to have been their first non-televised performance in front of an estimated 5000 people. The group then promised fans they were going to head back into the studio and begin writing and recording their own original material. In June of 2023 the band took to Instagram to announce to fans that they had been working with songwriter Bill Maybury and producer Joe Rubel on original material and teased that it would be released soonafter.

Toward the end of 2023, rumours began to circulate that the group was in the running to be selected as part of the Eurosong finals in Ireland with the hope of representing Ireland at Eurovision. These rumours were confirmed on the Ray D'Arcy Show on January 12th, where the group unveilved their debut single 'Love Like Us', their entry into the competition. The song was met with positive reviews, leading the band to reveal it would be released the following week. Upon release, the song shot straight to the top of the Irish ITunes chart within 8 hours, a feat no Eurosong entry had ever managed before.

The Eurosong competition took place on the 26th January 2024 televised live on RTE One. The group performed 'Love Like Us' for the first time and got a great reception on the night. They finished second overall after winning the International Jury vote and coming second in the televote, though inexplicably finishing last in the national Jury vote. They promised fans this setback would only make them stronger and they would be back with more original music.