Public Image Ltd. will not represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision after losing in a qualifying round held on RTE’s The Late Late Show on Friday. The band finished in fourth place.
For their entry, PiL performed “Hawaii,” a new song described by frontman John Lydon as a “love letter” to his wife of nearly five decades, Nora, who is living with Alzheimer’s.
Six finalists competed to represent Ireland at Eurovision during the episode of The Late Late Show. The winner — Wild Youth — was decided by a combination of votes from the public, a national jury, and an international jury.
It’s hard to know how disappointed Lydon actually is about losing. In an interview ahead of the competition, he blasted Eurovision as “disgusting,” “phony,” and “absolutely awful.”
“The whole thing of it is disgusting to me. I’m a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows just come across as so dreadfully phony to me,” Lydon said. “But look, we’re giving it a chance to break out of that mould.”
Watch video of PiL’s performance of “Hawaii” below.