Tag Archives: Ireland

Éire/Ireland selects Anna Kearney for Junior Eurovision

The Éire/Ireland national selection for Junior Eurovision 2019 came to a conclusion this evening.

Resident judges Chris Greene and Grainne Bleasdale were joined by guest judges  Eurovision 1992 winner Linda Martin and Hothouse flowers vocalist Fiachna Ó Braonáin.

Anna Kearney Banshee

After a first round in which the 3 finalists  Anna Kearney, Orla McDermott and Savannah Phoenix-Munroe performed a cover song of their own choosing, the second round saw them each perform a famous Irish Eurovision entry.

Anna Kearney and Savannah Phoenix-Munroe were then chosen by the judges to go into a final sing off where Anna Kearney emerged  victorious.

The show concluded with a video of the winner performing ‘Banshee’, the song which will represent Ireland in the final in Gliwice, Poland on November 24th.

 

Ireland Junior Eurovision selection – The final three

Ireland came a step closer to selecting its artist for Junior Eurovision 2019 earlier this evening as the selection show reached the Semi Final stage.

Eight acts; in two groups of four, performed with one act from each group being chosen by the judges to automatically go through to the final and two further artists facing a ‘sing off’ for the third place in the final.

Judges Chris Greene and Grainne Bleasdale were joined by guest judge,  Eurovision 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh.

The first four acts to perform were:

Anna Kearney
Alison McGrath
Caoimhe McBride
Seisear Séiseach

Anna Kearney was chosen to go through to the final.

The second group consisted of:

Savannah Phoenix-Munroe
Arabella Dolan
Orla McDermott
Skye Murphy Darrer

With Savannah Phoenix-Munroe getting the judges vote to progress to the final.

Alison McGrath and Orla Mcdermott were chosen to take part in the sing off with Orla Mcdermott coming out victorious by two votes to one to also progress.

The Final will take place next Sunday when the winner will be chosen.  A song will be specially written for the winner and will be revealed at a later date.

 

 

 

WHAT’S ANOTHER YEAR – OG3NE

OG3NE {copyright: og3ne.com}
OG3NE {copyright: og3ne.com}

Dutch group OG3NE, who represented the Netherlands at the 2017 Eurovision song contest in Kiev with Lights And Shadows, covered the 1980 Eurovision winner, WHAT’S ANOTHER YEAR by Johnny Logan from Ireland.

The cover of What’s Another Year is part of the Beste Zangers Songfestival.

OG3NE are Lisa, Amy and Shelley. They are currently engaged in a long tour covering this year and 2019 in the Netherlands.

You can hear OG3NE sing What’s Another Year below.

Source: ESC Covers

 

Muireann McDonnell impresses in gigs at Temple Bar, Dublin

Muireann McDonnell {copyright: Instagram/muireann.mcd.music}
Muireann McDonnell {copyright: Instagram/muireann.mcd.music}

Muireann McDonnell has been a busy girl performing at many gigs including the Trad Fest at the famous Temple Bar area in Dublin, Ireland. At just 13 years old she has impressed many with her own compositions and unique cover versions of songs.

Muireann performed Linger by the Cranberries and also the song Too Long that she originally recorded when she was 11 years old at the Declan Sessions.

It was at the Rhythm & Roots at the Beardfire Studios that Muireann showed her versatility with the song A Little More with Rohan and Al.

Muireann represented Ireland at the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Georgia with Súile Glasa.

You can see Muireann perform Linger and A Little More below.

Source: ESC Covers

 

Taylor Hynes to represent Ireland at the 2018 Junior Eurovision Song Contest …and some familiar faces in the video clip!

Taylor Hynes {copyright: TG4}
Taylor Hynes {copyright: TG4}

Taylor Hynes has been selected to represent Ireland at the 2018 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with the song IOU. He has also released the official music video featuring a couple of well known faces to the Eurovision world!

In the video clip for IOU we see former Eurovision winner from 1993 for Ireland, Niamh Kavanagh, and the Irish ESC representative in Lisbon, Ryan O’Shaughnessy.

IOU is composed by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff and Taylor Hynes.

You can see the video for IOU below.

Source: ESC Covers; junioreurovision.tv; TG4

Brendan Murray makes it to the X Factor UK live shows

Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV}
Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV}

Brendan Murray impressed his mentor, Louis Tomlinson, and his guest judges, Liam Payne and Nile Rodgers, at the Judges Houses phase of the X Factor UK.  He has earned himself a place in the live finals beginning tonight.

Brendan performed the Sinead O’Connor 90s song, Nothing Compares 2 U.

It was in 2017 that Brendan represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine.

You can see Brendan perform Nothing Compares 2 U below.

Source: ESC Covers

Brendan Murray receives the Golden Buzzer in X Factor UK – Six Chair Challenge

Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV/X Factor}
Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV/X Factor}

Brendan Murray made a big impression on the judges at the X Factor UK – Six Chair Challenge. So much so that the boys mentor Louis Tomlinson pressed the Golden Buzzer enabling Brendan to pass straight to the Judges Houses phase of the competition.

Brendan performed the REM song Everybody Hurts and the judges and the audience at Wembley Arena loved it.

We will see how Brendan progresses in the X Factor.

Brendan represented Ireland at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine with his song Dying To Try.

You can see Brendan’s X Factor – Six Chair Challenge performance below.

Source: ESC Covers; ITV

Brendan Murray got a second chance to impress on X Factor UK

Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV}
Brendan Murray {copyright: ITV}

Brendan Murray appeared on the X Factor UK audition show at the weekend. He eventually got the chance to progress after impressing the judges with a second song called This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush.

When Brendan first took to the stage he appeared nervous as he sung We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off in the style of Ella Eyre. Simon Cowell stopped the performance and said he should try another song as there was something not right.

He went to learn This Woman’s Work and therefore got a second chance to impress. However, even with this song there was drama at the beginning as Brendan forgot the lyrics. Simon told him to sing reading the lyric sheet. This time Brendan did a good job and eventually threw the paper lyric sheet down.

Brendan was passed to the next phase but how will he do? Do you think his voice is strong enough or is it maybe too lightweight? We will see in the coming weeks.

Brendan represented Ireland at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with Dying To Try.

Check out Brendan’s performance of This Woman’s Work below.

Source: ESC Covers; ITV

SEMI FINAL ONE QUALIFIERS

19 songs were performed last night in semi final 1 – only 10 could go through to the final

Song 1 – X MY HEART from Azerbaijan    FAILED TO QUALIFY – Big surprise for me. Disappointed it did not make it.

Song 2 – OUR CHOICE from Iceland    FAILED TO QUALIFY – Sang with a lot of emotion. But the vocals were at time weak.

Song 3 – MALL from Albania   QUALIFIED – Strong performance. Deserved to qualify.

Song 4 – A MATTER OF TIME from Belgium   FAILED TO QUALIFY – Disappointing performance. Vocals were weak.

Song 5 – LIE TO ME from Czech republic   QUALIFIED – Strong stage performance.

Song 6 – WHEN WE’RE OLD from Lithuania   QUALIFIED – The song is a little boring but it was sung with a lot of emotion and very well.

Song 7 – TOY from Israel   QUALIFIED – One of the big favourites. All sorts of fun happening on stage. Deserved to make it.

Song 8 – FOREVER from Belarus   FAILED TO QUALIFY – Very poor performance and the staging with the roses did not work.

Song 9 – LA FORZA from Estonia   QUALIFIED – Very powerful vocals and visually stunning.

Song 10 – BONES from Bulgaria   QUALIFIED – Contemporary and strong performance.

Song 11 – LOST AND FOUND from F Y R Macedonia   FAILED TO QUALIFY – Disappointing live performance and the styling and staging were very poor.

Song 12 – CRAZY from Croatia   FAILED TO QUALIFY – Strong performance but the song was too weak.

Song 13 – NOBODY BUT YOU from Austria   QUALIFIED  – Positive stage performance and good vocals.

Song 14 – ONIRO MOU from Greece    FAILED TO QUALIFY – Maybe this was a little too ethnic for a lot of people. But I kind of liked it.

Song 15 – MONTERS from Finland    QUALIFIED – Outstanding vocals and magnificent staging. Very much deserved to qualify.

Song 16 – QAMI from Armenia    FAILED TO QUALIFY – Not strong enough.

Song 17 – STONES from Switzerland    FAILED TO QUALIFY – The staging and styling were perfect. Great performance. Shame it did not qualify.

Song 18 – TOGETHER from Ireland    QUALIFIED – For me vocals were poor. Did not deserve to make it.

Song 19 – FUEGO from Cyprus    QUALIFIED – Powerful and exciting stage performance. A big hit.