Ireland: The three finalists of Junior Eurovision Éire 2021 determined

Ireland: The three finalists of Junior Eurovision Éire 2021 determined
Sunday, 10 October 2021

  • The semi final show of the Irish Junior Eurovision 2021 national selection 'Junior Eurovision Éire 2021' took place Sunday evening determining the three finalists of the national final. 

    Ireland is a stone throw away from selecting their next Junior Eurovision act as the national selection 'Junior Eurovision Éire 2021' is reaching its final show after this Sunday's semi final which selected the three finalists. 

    Ireland is returning to Junior Eurovision after a year of absence and will be selection its JESC 2021 hopeful for Paris through the national selection "Junior Eurovision Éire 2021". The show will unfold over six successive weeks with all show been taped previously in the RTÉ studios in Dublin.

    Following last weeks' 1st  , 2nd 3rd , and the 4th qualifying round  the semi final round was broadcast this evening on RTE with the show hosted by Louise Cantillon, successing Eoghan McDermott, who presented every edition of the show until 2019. 

    Like previous year's a panel of judges includes two permanent jurors while the third spot is  filled in by a guest judge every week. Namely, the two permanent jurors are:

    • Niamh Ní Chróinín – Radio presenter, manager of Irish-language youth radio station Raidió Rí-Rá
    • Fiachna Ó Braonáin – Member of Hothouse Flowers (interval act at Eurovision 1988) and has been serving as a judge for the  Junior Eurovision Éire 2016-2018. Fiacha was also behind the composition of the Irish JESC 2019 entry “Banshee” 

    In this semi final heat the third judge's seat was filled in by Lesley Roy the Irish ESC 2021 representative.

    The 8 contestants of the night took the stage performing covers of well known songs in Irish. The three judges evalauted their performance and picked two direct qualifiers to the final. From the reamaining six candidates the judges selected two more that went in a   in a sing-off round from which the judges selected the last third finalist.

    The acts that competed in this third round along with their repsective results were: 

    • Shannon Copeland – “New York”
    • Maiú Levi Lawlor – “Grace” –  (Finalist after winning sing off  duel)
    • Alison McGrath – “Ghost”
    • Lilyella Buckley – “Lost Without You”  ( Direct Finalist)
    • Cora Harkin – “Shut Up and Dance”
    • Sophie Lennon – “Hold Me While You Wait”   (Direct Finalist)
    • Julie Cole – “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved”  (Sing-Off contender)
    • Eva Norton – “Hold My Hand”

     

    The judges picked as direct qualifiers to the final Lilyella Buckley and Sophie Lennon, while Maiú Levi Lawlor  and Julie Cole were selected to battle in a sing off round which saw Maiú Levi Lawlor  winning the last thrid spot of the final. Thus the three finalists who will compete in next week's final show of the right to represent Ireland in Junior Eurovision are: 

    1. Lilyella Buckley

     

     

    2. Sophie Lennon

     

    3. Maiú Levi Lawlor

     

     

    Ireland in Junior Eurovision 

    Ireland has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times since their first appearance in the 2015 contest. The Irish language broadcaster, TG4, is responsible for the country's participation in the contest, and uses the national final Junior Eurovision Éire to select the Irish entries.

    Ireland debuted in the contest when TG4 participated in the 2015 contest in Sofia, Bulgaria, when the song "Réalta na mara" performed by Aimee Banks placed 12th in a field of 17 countries.  Ireland has achieved one top ten placing, in 2016 when the song "Bríce ar bhríce" performed by Zena Donnelly placed 10th.

    Despite having initially confirmed their participation in the 2020 contest in Warsaw, Poland in January 2020, TG4 announced in August 2020 that they would not participate in the contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Lets remember below Ireland's last participation in Gliwice-Silesia at JESC 2019 with Anna Kearney and her song "Banshee"  which finished 12th receiving 73 points. 

    News Source:  ESC-Plus

    Image: TG4