Kennedy will now have to steer 'Every Song Is A Cry For Love' through a qualifying round in Athens on 18 May, when 24 countries will compete for 10 places in the final.

These 10 will join the 14 countries which have already qualified for the final, which will be held on Saturday 20 May.

On last Friday's Late Late Show, the Irish viewing public voted by telephone and text for the Belfast singer's song to represent Ireland. Kennedy had also performed two other compositions, by songwriters Jimmy McCarthy and Don Mescal, but his own won out.

RTE yesterday said that an independent scrutineer, Gerard Moran from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, monitored the voting process.

"I am so delighted that the public have chosen this song but I would have been proud to bring any of the three songs I performed to Athens, " said Kennedy on hearing the result.

Kevin Linehan, commissioning editor of RTE's entertainment programmes, said:

"Brian did justice to all three songs. Any of them would have given us a great shot on the Eurovision stage."

RTE this year departed from its recent unsuccessful policy of having its Yo u ' r e A Star competition winner represent Ireland at the Eurovision. The decision to allow Kennedy to perform his own song in Friday's final sparked controversy last week.

Responding to the criticism, he said: "It is a matter of pride for me to be singled out to represent my country. Over the last few years, our music has become more and more homogenised with most people now singing in midAtlantic accents. It will be great to go there and sing in my own Irish accent."

Asked on RTE yesterday about his chances of Eurovision success, Kennedy replied by singing: "You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mr In-Between."