Wild Youth members had a disagreement with a Swedish songwriter during a session for We Are One. 

Frontman Conor O’Donohoe and guitarist Ed Porter travelled to Stockholm to collaborate with Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Westlife songwriter, Jörgen Elofsson. 

O’Donohoe recalled thinking at the time that Elofsson didn’t understand that Wild Youth preferred to be involved in the writing process of all of their songs, after Elofsson had already written a song for the band. 

Speaking to The Euro Trip, he said: “He’s such an incredibly interesting guy and he’s become a very good friend. It was an interesting day. We were in Stockholm and he said that he had the perfect song.” 

Elofsson told O’Donohoe and Porter that he had already written a song for the band that the Swede said was “perfect” for them. 

“It took a bit of adjusting and we eventually got to a point [where we agreed]. It was a bit sensitive in the room at the time. 

“I played the piano riff from We Are One and he said: ‘I love it’. 

“At the end of the day we went for dinner and he said: ‘I knew if I pushed you hard enough I’d get the magic’. 

“He pushed me so hard I was about to leave.” 

Elofsson has previous Eurovision experience having co-written Ireland’s 2017 entry, Dying To Try, with the UK’s 2020 and 2021 representative, James Newman. The song failed to qualify for the Grand Final. 

Wild Youth won the right to represent Ireland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in February after completing a near clean sweep of the jury and televote results in Eurosong. 

O’Donohoe decided to write a song for Eurosong after being in contact with Ireland’s Head of Delegation for Eurovision, Michael Kealy. 

Asked by The Euro Trip if he had considered other songs to submit, O’Donohoe said: “It always felt like We Are One to me. This was fresh and exciting.

I had written a bunch of other songs over a long period of time but this was just the one that always felt right.” 

Wild Youth will participate in the first Semi-Final of Eurovision in May.

Featured image – Mollie McKay / RTÉ