![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0023c96b-614.jpg\"\/)
\nJohnny Logan congratulates Niamh Kavanagh following her win at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993<\/p>\n
Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh has said she respects RT\u00c9’s decision not to take part in, or broadcast, the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 after Israel’s participation was confirmed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).<\/p>\n
“I respect RT\u00c9 for making the decision to pull out before an artist is involved,” she told RT\u00c9 Entertainment, noting that recent years have been particularly difficult for performers who travel with a delegation and can find themselves expected to answer for issues far beyond their music.<\/p>\n
“When you go over there, you are technically representing you and RT\u00c9 and the delegation… and the country,” she said.<\/p>\n
“And the reality is you are held responsible for what’s happening in that space.”<\/p>\n
\nJohnny Logan congratulates Niamh Kavanagh following her win at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993<\/p>\n
Kavanagh, who won the Eurovision for Ireland in 1993 with In Your Eyes, said the contest can still be “worth it” for a young Irish artist.<\/p>\n
“I think anything that your heart is in is worth it,” she said.<\/p>\n
Even without winning, she believes there is value in the experience of performing on such a major stage and learning the discipline that comes with it.<\/p>\n
Her advice is simple: “Don’t try to be Eurovision. Don’t try to be anything other than yourself in that space.”<\/p>\n
Watch: Niamh Kavanagh and Stephen Vincent perform a foxtrot to Destination Anywhere from The Commitments.<\/p>\n
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Kavanagh is now three weeks into RT\u00c9 One’s Dancing with the Stars, where she has already had a noticeable jump in scores. She opened the series with a salsa that earned 17 points, before scoring 28 the following week with a quickstep. She also made it through Movie Week, dancing a foxtrot with professional partner Stephen Vincent, scoring 23 points.<\/p>\n
This week, the pair will take on a cha-cha-cha to Shania Twain’s That Don’t Impress Me Much for Country Week.<\/p>\n