What's another year? It's that time again, when a bunch of Eurovision hopefuls throw their names into the ring and cry why me when they don't make the grade. Oh well, Jedward aren't in the running this year so someone else might actually stand a fighting chance of making it to Sweden for the Semi-Final on May 14th. Whether they'll make it out of the first round or not is anyone's guess...

Anyway, the five acts who'll battle it out on The Late Late Show on February 22nd have been chosen by those lovely Eurovision mentors.

First up is Mairead Farrell and her and her choice for this year's competition is 22-year-old singer songwriter Kasey. She has a surname, but just like RhiRhi she doesn't seem to use it. This fills the young and hip quota, obvs. Anyway Kasey was in Kian Egan and Louis Walsh's failed girl band, Wonderland, but since they went their separate ways she's been off to Nashville recording with producers who worked with the likes of Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum. We're guessing she's got some set of pipes so, and her 'choon' Kiss Me There is probably a little less All Kinds of Everything...

Eurovision mogul Shay Healy is next with Ichequin, a band with a whole host of instruments and a Turkish twist. Hugh O'Neill and Sinead Bradley have been touring and writing songs together for over 19 years while Tevfik Kulak's played with the likes of Whitney Houston, Pavarotti and Diana Ross. They're working on a soundtrack for a Turkish-Irish film about the Ottoman Empire now apparently. Healy says their song Son Kez is perfect to sing at any gathering (there's one for Enda) from the "U2 sound-alike jangling guitars opening, to the winning combination of Turkish and Irish whistle and fiddles, played a la Riverdance." Sounds a bit Dervish to us now, but we'll reserve judgement until we hear it.

Mark McCabe, the man behind Manaic 2000 (and many memories of fateful nights at junior discos) has picked out 17-year-old Aimee Marguerite Fitzpatrick from Swords. She's a bit hit on the YouTube where she performs her own adaptations of well-known popular chart songs by artists who inspire her and her YouTube channel is only huge so it is. We're pegging her as this year's Jedward (aka the one with the huge fan following as is), which is fitting given she's a dancer who has actually performed with the errr, dynamic duo. Mark says Ireland has lost it's way at Eurovision and thinks Aimee's Crashing Down could be the one to beat in Malmo on May 18th.

Niall Mooney (who co-wrote Ireland’s 2009 Eurovision entry Etcetera and 2010's It’s For You) is backing Zoe Alexis Bohoroquez, a Mullingar girl who's an oul friend of Niall Horan and recorded her first song with Bressie himself. This young wan was apparently even scouted by Timbaland. Mooney says she's the complete package and thinks she and her song Fire will be perfect for the competition. Did we mention she's a Diva Next Door calendar girl? And sure isn't Mullingar the home of Joe Dolan himself like? It wouldn't be too hard to rock it like Rihanna when you're born and bred in the pop mecca of the Midlands.

And then there's Stuart O'Connor, the man who is essentially responsible for Jedward. See, we knew they'd still be involved somehow. Anyway, Stuart is the one behind all those Jedward pantos and live tours, and even devised that Waterline performance in Azerbaijan. He's gone down the 'and now for something completely different' route this year though and picked up a young singer songwriter from Strabane in Co. Tyrone. Ryan Dolan is the only act who has written his song himself, teaming up with Dublin's Wez Devine to give us Only Love Survives. This young fella is no stranger to the stage, having supported Tinchy Stryder, Jedward (there they are again) and many more.

So there you have it, a TOTALLY Jedward bunch of hopefuls who have absolutely no connection to any previous winners, contestants or people within the biz. And they say we're useless at finding totally new talent in Ireland....

You can hear all of the songs from 3pm tomorrow Thursday February 7th on Mooney on RTE Radio 1. We're HUGE fans of Eurovision Derek, so we'll definitely be listening in.