A Song for Europe (Father Ted)

The episode was based on Ireland's winning streak in the Eurovision Song Contest during the 1990s. The plot featured Ted and Dougal trying to write a song for the contest (its name was not mentioned) to settle a rivalry with Father Dick Byrne. The pair tried unsuccessfully to write their own song before deciding to use an old song they thought no-one would remember. This plan backfired and they had to perform their original brief and tuneless song, but they still won the Irish selection contest.

The episode began with Dougal having "Eurosong fever" weeks ahead of the competition. After initially rejecting Dougal's suggestion that they write a song to represent Ireland in the competition, on the grounds that they were not skilled at songwriting, Ted discovered that his nemesis Father Dick Byrne planned to enter a song. Ted decided that if Byrne could write a song, he and Dougal could write a better one. After working all night, they came up with "My Lovely Horse", a tuneless dirge with ridiculous lyrics lasting less than a minute. When they tried the song out on Mrs Doyle and Father Jack, Jack was so enraged that he blasted Ted's guitar with a shotgun. Disillusioned, they were about to give up when Ted discovered that their lyrics fitted a tune by "Nin Huugen and the Huugen Notes", an obscure B-side of an entry from the fifth-placed act in Norway's Eurosong preselection in 1976. Ted thought that because the whole band had died in a plane crash, including all the record company staff and everyone involved in the copyright, they would get away with stealing it.

At the Dublin theatre where "A Song for Ireland" was being hosted, Ted and Dougal listened to Dick Byrne's entry, "The Miracle Is Mine". It was extremely impressive, with a full choir, huge band and a passionate performance from Byrne. Ted was worried and went backstage for a smoke, where he heard the Norwegian tune first being whistled by a maintenance worker, then played in a lift. He was horrified, realising that the song was better known than he thought. He and Dougal were forced to adopt "Plan B" and perform their own composition.

Despite their dismal performance with what must have been an out-of-tune guitar (Dougal was seen making random adjustments to the tuning before they went on stage^[3]), and against the obvious wishes of the audience, the show's producer Charles Hedges selected "My Lovely Horse" as Ireland's entry. He laughed off Byrne's suggestion that he wanted to make sure that Ireland would lose the main competition, it being too expensive to keep hosting the competition every year after Ireland had won the previous five contests. (Ireland won the real Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, 1993 and 1994, and had the costly obligation of hosting it in 1993, 1994 and 1995.) The episode closed at the Eurosong contest, with Ted, Dougal, Jack and Mrs. Doyle listening to every country awarding them "nul points".

When Ted and Dougal demonstrated the finished song to Jack and Mrs Doyle, Ted played two chords on the guitar in the key of G. Most of the song was performed on a G major chord, which alternated briefly with C major. The change from G to C produced the awkward pauses. A third chord, A minor, appeared once in the "Wait, I can do this bit" section at the end, on the repeat of "night". A small keyboard provided an out-of-time, samba-style click track.^[4]

It has been widely claimed that this episode was inspired by real events surrounding Ireland's selection of its entry for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest.^[5] Faced with the daunting and expensive task of hosting its third consecutive Eurovision, RTÉ were said to have chosen an inferior quality song (Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan's "Rock 'n' Roll Kids") over vastly superior ones, in order to prevent the possibility of an unwanted third victory.^[6] In the event, "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" not only won the contest but also became the highest scoring song in Eurovision history up to that point.

A month after this episode was first broadcast, Ireland won the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest to secure the country's fourth victory in five years. The Norwegian broadcaster NRK branded the 1996 contest as "Eurosong 96" in its logo.

The song was written by Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. It was produced by Darren Allison and Neil Hannon during sessions for The Divine Comedy's Casanova album and released on CD as a B-side to the band's 1999 single "Gin Soaked Boy".^[7]

According to the writer's commentary, the video for "My Lovely Horse" was based on a 1975 lifestyle video for "That's What Friends are For" by The Swarbriggs, which was Ireland's entry for the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which they consider the funniest music video of all time. Some of the shots are even copied down to every last detail.

The climax of the clip features the sudden appearance of the horse's head to the cacophonous wail of a saxophone, surrounded by a typically 1970s-disco-style burst of multi-coloured lights. Dougal and Ted wake up in horror simultaneously, with Ted panting "We have to lose that sax solo!"

The outdoor sequences were shot in the grounds of the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, County Clare, Ireland. In the background the cascade waterfall in Ennistymon can clearly be seen. Steve Coogan was intended to play compère Fred Rickwood but was unavailable, so Irish comic Jon Kenny was his replacement. Kenny had appeared in Father Ted previously, as Michael the cinema owner in "The Passion of St Tibulus".

Declan Lowney, who directed most Father Ted episodes, was also director of the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.

The scene in which Ted loses his temper at Dougal's failure to play the correct note is a reference to "The Troggs Tapes", a notorious out-take from a recording session by The Troggs. In the Father Ted script book, Graham Linehan notes that he initially wanted the scene to run longer, but that it was ultimately cut down to just long enough for people familiar with the out-take to get the reference.

Ted mentions Icy-Tea and Scoopy Scoopy Dog Dog meaning Ice-T and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

The tragic story of Nin Huugen and the Huugen Notes' deaths in a plane crash could be a reference to similar events with past musician artists such as "The Day the Music Died" (deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper) and the loss of multiple members of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the 1977 Convair CV-240 crash.

Ted mentions that there was a priest named Father Benny Cake who scored a Number 1 hit single in England – after changing his name so nobody would know he was a priest – with a song titled "Vienna". This joke references Midge Ure of Ultravox, although in reality "Vienna" was famously kept off the British Number 1 spot by Joe Dolce's "Shaddap You Face", and Midge Ure has no connection to the priesthood. The song did reach No. 1 in Ireland, where the series is set.

The entries for "Song for Ireland 1996" were: (only songs 1 & 2 are shown being performed; the names of 3 to 6 are seen on a sign)

1. "The Miracle is Mine" by Fr. Dick Byrne and Fr. Cyril McDuff
2. "My Lovely Horse" by Fr. Ted Crilly and Fr. Dougal McGuire (winner)
3. "If I Could Wear My Hat Like My Heart" by The Grand Girls
4. "You Dirty English Bastards" by The Hairy Bowsies
5. "The Drums of Africa Are Calling Me Home" by Sean O'Brien
6. "Sha la la la la la la la la la la la la" by Death Pigs

The Hairy Bowsies are a real band featuring Paul Woodfull (aka Paul Wonderful), a comedian friend of Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews. Their songs are traditional Irish ballads with republican lyrics.

The episode is often regarded as one of the most popular,^[1] appearing on the Best Of video, with one of the most memorable moments being the video for "My Lovely Horse".

In May 2014 a petition to make "My Lovely Horse" Ireland’s entry for Eurovision 2015 was formally submitted to the government, but was rejected by the Oireachtas petitions committee.^[8]

• "A Song for Europe" at IMDb
• My Lovely Horse video clip by Channel 4 on YouTube