Irish broadcaster TG4 has revealed the names of the eight acts competing in the second heat of the national final to decide the act who will debut for Ireland at Junior Eurovision.
The eight acts will battle it out in the heat to grab one spot in the final. The songs will be heard by the panel of three judges, Niamh Kavanagh, Brian Kennedy and Stiofán Ó Fearail. They will decide their two favourites, who will go head to head, with the winner of that progressing to the grand final, along with heat one winner David Kennedy.
The acts in heat two are:
- Aimee Banks – “Réalta Na Mara” (13)
- Ellie Power – “Mo Ghrá” (14)
- Na Cork Rappers – “Is Maith Liom É” (11-13)
- Ashley Tubridy – “Múr Samhraidh” (13)
- Kelly Irwin – “Fíor Chairde” (15)
- Maude Adams – “Dubh ‘is Gorm” (14)
- Ruby Buckley – “Síocháin” (13)
- Ellie Quinlan – “Taisteal an Domhain” (12)
As with last week’s line-up, none of the acts are well known, but many of them have substantial performance experience.
Aimee Banks is due to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall in December, after winning first place and Judges’ Distinction Award at the American Protégé International Vocal Competition. Earlier this year, Na Cork Rappers released “I Like It”, an anti-cyber-bullying song. At the age of nine, singer-songwriter Ashley Tubridy performed on The Late Late Toy Show, with her song “Friends Forever” reaching No.2 on the Irish iTunes chart. She was also involved with the charity single “Tiny Dancer”, which reached No.1 in Ireland in 2012.
Each round will be broadcast on Sunday from 20:30 Irish time (21:30 CET) and you can watch live here to find out Ireland’s debut entry at the contest.
Heat one winner David Kennedy
https://youtu.be/W_M_Bfm87_Q
Is Maith Liom É means I Like It in Irish so it’s probably the same song
Fun fact, I actually know Aimee Banks and have even performed with her very recently (besides being a Eurovision fan I am also an aspiring singer) we have met each other through singing and its amazing how far she got.