Donna and Joseph McCaul

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Donna and Joe McCaul

Donna and Joseph McCaul represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 which was hosted by Kiev, Ukraine. They were not pre-qualified for the final, due to the result of the 2004 entry, so they had to take part in the semi-final on 19 May 2005, they were the first Irish act ever to take part in a Eurovision Song Contest semi-final.

The decision for Donna and Joe to represent Ireland was voted on by a TV audience in Ireland and was announced on RTÉ's You're A Star on 6 March 2005 at 21:37 WET.

[edit] Donna and Joe

Donna and Joe are from a traveller background in Athlone, County Westmeath in Ireland. They grew up in a large family, being raised by their Mother. Donna had with some pushing from family and friends starting gigging around the country with friend and father figure Doc Carroll of showband fame (Noted for the song Old Man Trouble). Joe has been performing and winning awards and admirers since he was a small boy, including several spots over the years on RTÉ.

"Donna and Joe" was their stage name and is their artist name on the "Eurovision Song Contest - Kiev 2005" 2 disc album. Recently they have been billed as simply "The McCauls".

The brother-and-sister act are from Athlone, Westmeath in Ireland's midlands. Their initial aim would have been to finish in the top ten at the semi-final, and thus qualify for the final on 21 May 2005.

Despite being as little-known as the 2004 Irish performer Chris Doran, Donna and Joe and the Irish audience were hoping that their lively song, which marked a radical departure from the country's traditional faith in Eurovision ballads would appeal to voters across the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) audience. However, this was not the case and they were not voted through to the final. The general feeling in the UK & Ireland was that the current way voting for the Eurovision contest is handled makes it impossible to win if you aren’t in one of the two main voting blocks of the Germanic States or the Eastern European States.

After their performance You're A Star panelist, and all-round music "expert" Dave Fanning claimed that Ireland would be better off to have sent chimpanzees and nuns to the Eurovision,(a referance to the other acts not Donna And Joe) which was backed by the people of Ireland. Pop Svengali Louis Walsh was quoted as saying that Ireland should not send amateurs to do the job of professionals.

Donna McCaul made headlines in Ireland again several months after the contest when she revealed to Star Sunday that she is a lesbian.