Ireland’s Aimee Banks turned the Junior Eurovisino 2015 stage into a maelstrom of emotion today with her song “Réalta Na Mara” (Star of the Sea). In the number her pain runs as deep as the ocean, so it’s only natural that she’d kick things off with a dark sky and crashing waves, and a ship bobbing out of control. Lost love will do that to you, people. But she’s keen to get back to her beloved: “Somewhere someday, across the wide open blue, through a strong gail, we set sail, warry me away back to you…” And she takes us there. The waves become less ominous as the song goes on, and the white sail becomes a symbol of hope that she just might make it home (wherever that is).
At times we were experiencing a lot of reverb in the press centre — we blame the equipment, not Aimee. But even so at times it seemed that Aimee was still figuring out how to best fill this big arena with her big voice. But hey that’s what rehearsal is for.
Junior Eurovision 2015: Ireland’s first rehearsal
Read all of our rehearsal reviews here
Read our JESC 2015 song reviews here
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Photo: EBU (Elena Volotova & Vladimir Dudakliev)
@Eva – that’s very kind of you to say. Much obliged…! We sometimes tend to get carried away with the national rivalries, but it’s mostly in good spirit. We know that the juries consist of adults and that a high percentage of the televote is made up of grown-ups, so it sometimes feels as if adults encourage kids to emulate their ESC peers by bringing out the big guns when it comes to the visuals and the showmanship and that’s unfortunate. The 2013 and 2014 winners suggest that powerful vocals and strength of character in a minimalist setting are more… Read more »
@Erin-thank you for the thoughtful response, and for your many other insightful comments, which I always enjoy reading. I have to admit that I am relatively new to Eurovision, and I am more of a fan to the JESC. I got hooked up last year, when I was Krisia’s fan, first having heard some of her covers of American songs. What I find so amazing and unique about JESC is the way most countries bring something of their own tradition and blend it with modern styles and presentation. I wish Europe could see the beauty of that and celebrate its… Read more »
@Eva – I full-heartedly agree with all the points you brought up. I think Federica’s act was more extrovert, gestural and grandiose to the point of a ‘show-off’ while Aimee’s act is more subdued, introspective and modest. This is just an observation and not a judgement as to which act is better out of the two. While these comparisons are unavoidable, they are unfair to both because each brings a different operatic pitch and approach. We know that Malena Ernman and Alenka Gotar took the modern grandeur pop-opera approach and ended up around 14th and 15th place on their respective… Read more »
I officially love this song and Aimee. For me, she is so good, I really do not care about the staging. I find this better than Malta’s song last year and Aimee’s personality appears more open and engaging than Federica’s. If there is any justice, she should be in the top three with the Jury. I can understand that televoters may gravitate towards flashier songs and staging. Irish language, by the way, is perfect for the song. This is a situation, where going with English would have taken away from the message and epic feel.
That ladies and gentlemen is how you cheapen a sophisticated song.