The Irish national final ended, not really surprisingly, in the victory of John and Edward. What is more surprising is that RTÉ bothered to have a national final at all.
Jedward was the first Irish act to get a positive buzz at Eurovision since... ehm... since Marc Roberts or so. Since then, the twins have turned into a record-selling phenomenon on the continent and will attract attention aplenty in Baku.
It is not necessarily unproblematic to go to Eurovision twice in a row. Ask Lena. Ask Family Four. Ask Hot Eyes. What works once does not necessarily work twice.
Last year, Jedward had so much surprise factor and their song was obnoxious and packed with punk attitude. This year, nothing new has been added to the mix but the song is harder to sing and require more straight singing which, in all fairness, is not Jedward's forte.
On the other hand, the twins have built themselves a strong fanbase that would vote for them if they read the phonebook out loud.
It will be most interesting to see how far this will carry in 2012, but I wouldn't book The Point Theatre just yet.
Jedward - Waterline (Ireland 2012)
