Eurovision 2018 | Ryan O'Shaughnessy Launches #LoveIsLove Campaign
On Tuesday night, he got Ireland, Eurovision's most successful nation back into the final for the first time since 2013, with a stirring song and performance about young love, now Irish entry Ryan O'Shuaghnessy wants everyone to join him in showcasing and spreading the love around the continent with the campaign #LoveIsLove.
Ireland's entry this year has received a lot of attention from its music video and on stage performance, mostly due to the inclusion of an same sex couple dancing in a street and expression feelings of love and togetherness, the inclusion of the same sex couple, portrayed by dancers Alan McGrath and Kevin O'Dwyer on stage has been well received across the board, and it is very simple to get involved with their message of togetherness and equality.
All is required is a photo of yourself and a special someone, a partner, relative or friend (ideally a park bench in their words), with the following hashtags in the photo #LoveIsLove #Together #Ireland. Several of the Irish delegation have shown their support for the idea on their own social medias including Ryan himself. Below is a photo of the on stage dancers Kevin and Alan. Ryan has also included a photo of two parrots close by to each on his Instagram with the hashtags @ryan_acoustic
Photo by Andres Poveda.
Ryan's decision to include a same sex couple on stage has gathered media attention and was even asked about it at the Eurovision Opening Ceremony by the hosts on Sunday evening, when asked about the LGBT support in his act and what they were doing on stage that was helping community he said the following:
"So we've all seen the visual of a guy and a girl dancing and having a romantic intimate interaction, but it's very rare that you see it between two other lovers that might be of the same sex, so these two guys (Alan and Kevin) displayed that really well, and their good friends from years ago, so they actually have a good connection! So I think its important for someone to show this, because it really hasn't been done before. It's going to carve a way for people to really show that same sex relationships are just the same as straight relationships"
As fore-mentioned this is the first time Ireland will feature in Saturday's Grand Final since 2013, when Ryan Dolan got them to the final with "Only Love Survives" before unfortunately finishing the bottom of the pack in Malmo. Ireland were the final act to be announced as a qualifier and will perform in the second half of the final, alongside fellow semi final qualifiers Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland and Israel.
