hopeful , who’s representing Ireland, has recalled how she had ‘no opportunities’ in music after competing on UK.
Tonight, the is due to take place, with countries including Finland, Israel, Romania, Belgium and Sweden vying for a place in Saturday’s grand final, where the finalists will include ’s and the UK’s .
Brooke, 23, will be performing her track That’s Rich, after winning RTÉ’s Eurosong contest to earn her spot as one of this year’s competitors.
This week, after the singer’s arrival in Italy, Metro.co.uk caught up with her to hear how she’s feeling ahead of the semi-final.
She admitted that she felt ‘exhausted’ amid the intense preparation, clarifying that it was ‘in a good way’ as she packs in interviews, dress rehearsals and social media coverage as part of the ‘unbelievable’ experience.
Brooke’s road to stardom hasn’t always been smooth-sailing, though. After she starred on the ninth series of The Voice UK in 2020 – where she was mentored by Meghan Trainor and finished in third place – she struggled to find work as an musician.
‘Before The Voice, nobody really knew I could sing, so The Voice really catapulted me into realising that this dream could actually become my reality,’ she said.
‘After The Voice, there were really no opportunities for work, no opportunities for me to sing anywhere with Covid, and I didn’t have a repertoire of music to pick from, so basically, I just started writing music, and that’s where That’s Rich came from.’
Explaining that her Eurovision track was the first song she ever wrote, Brooke shared that she decided to submit it for the event ‘because I knew it was a brilliant song and I knew it needed the platform that it served’.
‘I have an EP that I’ve had for over a year, and there was no point in me releasing that, because who the hell’s going to want to listen to Brooke from Ireland? Who is she? Eurovision has given me a massive stage to just get my name out there,’ she added.
Being accepted as Ireland’s representative at Eurovision gave Brooke the ‘boost’ she needed.
‘Up until that point I was like, “Maybe singing is not for me. Maybe I’m just not meant to be a singer,” because nothing was happening, nothing was shifting,’ she said.
Recalling how ‘pessimistic’ she became as she tried to break into the ‘hardest industry in the world’, the artist said that performing in cities including London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Amsterdam while on tour ahead of Eurovision has ‘boosted her confidence’ and made her feel ‘ready’ for the contest.
After her stint on The Voice UK, when the pandemic was continuing to hinder her music career, Brooke found herself questioning where her career would lead as she was hired to work in an estate agent’s office.
‘I would take every Wednesday off to write music, so I was keeping the dream alive but I was holding on by a thread I suppose,’ she recollected.
‘When I got accepted to compete in Eurosong, I was like, “I know the amount of hard work I’ve put into this, and I know that I deserve it, but if I don’t get this, it mustn’t be for me, I mustn’t be able to win the public over.” I needed to win the public vote, and whenever that would happen, I knew that I was on the right path.’
So what’s next on the agenda for Brooke? Straight after Eurovision, she’s preparing to release new music… and has no intentions of slowing down as she looks forward to heading home to record a music video.
‘I have music ready to go and it will be like two weeks after Eurovision,’ she said.
‘I don’t want to stop, because at the minute I’m going at 100 miles an hour and if I go any slower I feel like I’m going to fall off a cliff, so I just really want to keep going at this pace.’
The second Eurovision semi-final airs tonight from 8pm on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
