EMMY is ready to launch Ireland into the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with her song ‘Laika Party.’ She’ll be voyaging to Basel, with a song that will boldly go where no dog has gone before.

Countdown to Basel

Never mind Katy Perry’s trip beyond Earth’s atmosphere, Eurovision fans know what the space flight of 2025 is – and that’s EMMY’s Laika Party.

Singer-songwriter EMMY, who’s Norwegian, was at a songwriting camp in Norway when she met an Irish songwriter, Larissa Tormey. They put their heads together with EMMY’s brother Erlend Guttulsrud Kristiansen, and two other Norwegians, Truls Marius Aarra and Henrik Østlund. By the end of the camp, they had a real shining star – Laika Party.

EMMY took the song to Ireland’s Eurovision selection contest, Eurosong, which takes place as a special edition of the prime time TV programme, The Late Late Show. She was among 6 acts hoping to represent Ireland, including singer-songwriter Samantha Mumba of Baby Come On Over fame.

When the votes came in, EMMY took the public and national jury vote, with Samantha snatching the international jury vote. Overall, EMMY took the crown, along with the ticket to Basel. It quickly became what she says is her most memorable moment as a musician.

Cosmic dreams

EMMY has always been a big Eurovision fan, and has got past experience in the Eurovision universe. In 2015, she took part in Melodi Grand Prix Junior , which was once upon a time the way Norway found its Eurovision artists.

Then in 2021, she moved up to big Eurovision, and competed in Melodi Grand Prix, Norway’s national selection final. She sang Witch Woods, an R&B-pop take on a fairytale baddy. She missed out to TIX and Fallen Angel, but little did she know that she'd soon be casting a spell on Ireland.

Since then, she’s written songs for other artists competing in their national finals. And she’s been building up her own profile on social media, singing TikTok live streams from her bedroom, where she’s got her keyboard set up.

She says: “It’s so cool and weird at the same time to be able to do performances from that little room!”

When she’s not singing, EMMY might be found checking the football scores. She’s a huge football fan, and played when she was younger. With the UEFA Women’s Euros being held in Switzerland in summer 2025, will EMMY ever get round to leaving the country?

The flight of a disco dog

Europe might ask itself, what could possibly follow Bambie Thug? And the answer is a dance bop telling the story of an astro-dog having a party in space.

It all began with the weekly quiz that EMMY’s family have been doing since the Covid pandemic. When Laika the dog came up in one of the questions, she was reminded about the sad story. Laika was the first living creature to be launched into Earth’s orbit, and she met a grim fate.

EMMY says: “Laika’s story made me sad, so I wanted to create a scenario where she doesn’t die, but lives on and is having her own party in the sky.” The answer, for her, was to write a song.

She hasn’t forgotten about her brother either – if you look closely at the keyboard player on stage, you might spot a close family resemblance.

Planet Eurovision

One of EMMY’s strongest Eurovision memories is watching Ireland’s Jedward perform Lipstick in 2011. She also says they’re her Eurovision heroes. She says they’re loads of fun, and that their music and hair is iconic. You might think she has to say all this as she’s representing Ireland – but really, who could forget Jedward?

If she could have dinner with any three celebrities, she’d even choose John and Edward of Jedward for the first two spots. She’d give the third invitation to Selena Gomez.

In EMMY’s orbit

EMMY’s Eurovision fan credentials check out, as some of her favourite songs include hits from the Contest. She loves Slimane’s Mon Amour (from France in 2024) , Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira’s Run Away (from Moldova in 2010), and Kati Wolf’s What About My Dreams? (from Hungary in 2011). And of course, as previously discussed, Jedward’s Lipstick.

She also loves non-Eurovision pop, especially Ellie Goulding’s Lights, David Guetta and Sia’s Titanium, and Birdy’s Wings.

Space shuttle to Switzerland

EMMY can’t wait to meet the other contestants, and she’s also excited to eat chocolate and Swiss food.

She does say she has a bad habit of always running late for the bus – which shouldn’t impact her Eurovision performance too much, as she’ll obviously be arriving by rocket, right?

You can hear EMMY on Episode 3 of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast .

You can learn more about EMMY from Ireland right here .