The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest.

The competition consisted of 14 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "If My World Stopped Turning" performed by Chris Doran as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.

Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993, and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter).

[2] RTÉ has consistently used a national final procedure to choose its entry at the contest, with several artists and songs being featured.

[3] The shows took place in the Mahoney Hall of the Helix in the Dublin City University (DCU), hosted by Ray D'Arcy and featured a judging panel composed of composer and musician Phil Coulter, singer and former Eurovision winner Linda Martin and music manager Louis Walsh.

The first phase involved over 5,000 candidates attending auditions held across Ireland in Letterkenny, Ennis, Longford, Waterford, and Dublin.

[11] "If My World Stopped Turning" performed by Chris Doran was selected as the winner following the final show and announced the day after on 7 March 2004.

According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.