Face it, Ireland is a weird place.

They've been doing weird song competitions for many years. Theres a short story about one in The Dubliners by James Joyce.

I've only been involved in one, but I rank it as one of the strangest experiences in a fairly strange life.
After dragging me all the way from England as a a finalist - I seem to remember there had been a lot betting on the result in the surrounding towns, and there were dark mutterings about corruption in high places. One poor sod of a contestant was the guitarist in Crystal Gale's backing band - and he had come all the way from America to take part.

The judge turned out to be a cleric who bore a striking resemblance to Father Ted.