| "In Your Eyes" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byNiamh Kavanagh | |
| B-side | "In Your Eyes (instrumental)" |
| Released | 1993 |
| Length | 3:10 |
| Label | Eureyes |
| Songwriter | Jimmy Walsh |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1993 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist | |
| Language | English |
| Composer | Jimmy Walsh |
| Lyricist | Jimmy Walsh |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 1st |
| Final points | 187 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Why Me?" (1992) | |
| "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) ► | |
"In Your Eyes" is a loveballad recorded by Irish singerNiamh Kavanagh written and composed by Jimmy Walsh. Itrepresented Ireland in theEurovision Song Contest 1993 held inMillstreet, winning the contest.
"In Your Eyes" was written and composed by Jimmy Walsh. In the song, the singer tells how, after being lonely, she has found love and heaven in her lover's arms and how it has changed her.[1]
In 1992, Walsh, who was based in New York, recorded a demo of the song in a studio there. One of the engineers suggested a girl singer who he knew to record it. A then-unknownIdina Menzel came in and listened to the song. She suggested a key change for the chorus as she found it rather flat. Walsh was concerned that this would make the song too difficult to sing, but Menzel insisted she could do it. She duly recorded the demo and this was sent toNiamh Kavanagh, who was recommended to Walsh as being a singer who could handle the difficult ranges within the song. Kavanagh loved it, but was unsure of wanting to compete in theEurovision Song Contest. Eventually, Walsh said that he would withdraw the song if she did not do it, so she agreed to enter with it.[2]
On 14 March 1993, "In Your Eyes" performed by Kavanagh competed in thenational selection organised byRaidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to select its song and performer for the38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became theIrish entrant –and Kavanagh the performer– for Eurovision.[3]
Despite winning the national selection, Kavanagh found it difficult to find a record label willing to release the record due to its association with Eurovision. Eventually, she partly funded the recording herself and released it in limited numbers in Ireland under a made-up label name, Eureyes Music.[4][5] During the run-up to the contest, she metSimon Cowell, who was present with the British entrantSonia. He signed her up toArista Records and the song was released internationally by them.[2][6]
On 15 May 1993, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at theGreen Glens Arena inMillstreet hosted by RTÉ, and broadcast live throughout the continent. Kavanagh performed "In Your Eyes" fourteenth on the evening, followingSweden's "Eloise" byArvingarna and precedingLuxembourg's "Donne-moi une chance" byModern Times.Noel Kelehan conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Irish entry.[7]
At the close of voting, the song had received 187 points, first in a field of twenty-five, winning the contest.[8] Kavanagh had a home win, since the contest took place in Ireland due toLinda Martin's winthe previous year. It was the second of Ireland's three victories in a row in the early 1990s, the third being in1994 with "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" byPaul Harrington andCharlie McGettigan.
Kavanagh returned to the contest in2010 with "It's for You", which came twenty-third out of twenty-five countries in the final (39 in the overall contest), with 25 points.
It was not until 2017, during a documentary on the Irish winners, that Kavanagh learned that the singer on the demo she had heard all those years ago was a young Idina Menzel, who was by then internationally famous.[2]
Alan Jones fromMusic Week wrote that "the winner of the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest has lots of old-fashioned qualities – it's a good song well sung by a striking colleen". He added, "Kavanagh is a talented and gutsy singer."[9]
"In Your Eyes" reached No. 1 in Ireland in 1993. It also reached No. 24 in theUK Singles Chart and was a minor hit in the Netherlands and Germany.
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] | 31 |
| Germany (GfK Entertainment Charts) | 83 |
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[11] | 27 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[4] | 1 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[12] | 2 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] | 42 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14][6] | 24 |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest winners 1993 | Succeeded by |
