Two acts have now qualified from the first Junior Eurovision Éire heat in Ireland.
This year, the format for the selection changed. The competitors are now required to sing Irish covers of well known English language songs, rather than original songs. Each participant was scored out of 30, and the highest scoring participant advanced through to the next round. The next two highest point scorers then faced one another in a sing-off, with the jury selecting their favourite to continue to the next stage.
The jury consists of Gráinne Bleasdale, who returns for the second year as well as Chris Greene and a guest juror each week. This week’s guest juror was Brendan Murray, who represented Ireland at Eurovision in 2017.
Here is the full list of participants:
- Anna Kearney – Symphony – 25 points
- Mollie Kennedy – Stay with Me – 22 points
- Aoife McNelis – Always – 24 points
- Arabella Dolan – Take Me To Church – 26 points
- Ciara McShane – Take My Hand – 18 points
- Joya Hobson & Priya Hobson – Wake Me Up – 21 points
- Riaghan Boardman – Shotgun – 19 points
Arabella Dolan received the highest points and will therefore continue to the next stage. Anna Kearney and Aoife McNelis participated in the sing-off, where Brendan voted for Aoife, and Chris and Gráinne voted for Anna. This means that Anna will continue to the next round.
There has been the addition of a semi-final to the process, and as such, the final will be pushed back to October 6th. The winner of the competition will have their Junior Eurovision song composed after the competition ends.