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 20 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "We've Got the World" performed by Mickey Joe Harte 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).

The broadcaster has consistently used a national final procedure to choose its entry at the contest, with several artists and songs being featured.

[3][4] 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, television personality and former member of Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona, music publicist Darren Smith and music manager Louis Walsh.

The first phase involved over 5,000 candidates attending auditions held across Ireland in Dún Laoghaire, Belfast, Dundalk, Cork, Killarney, Kilkenny, Galway, Derry, and South Dublin.

Following the seventh show, the four contestants remaining in the competition were matched with a potential Eurovision Song Contest song selected by two of the competition judges Phil Coulter and Louis Walsh from entries received through established composers approached by RTÉ.

"We've Got the World" performed by Mickey Harte was selected as the winner following the final show and announced the day after on 9 March 2003.