Back in April Irish broadcaster TG4 announced that Ireland would compete at Junior Eurovision 2016. They’ve now revealed that they will once again stage Junior Eurovision Éire — a televised national selection contest — to find their representative for this year’s contest in Malta. Full details are available on TG4’s website.
The criteria and pre-selection are actually rather similar to last year’s, with the notable reduction of the maximum participant age to fourteen. Nationwide auditions to appear on Junior Eurovision Éire will commence at the end of June. The kiddy artists who emerge from that selection will have a number of weeks to write an Irish-language song.
Like last year, there will be thirty-two singers advancing to the televised stages of the competition. Four semi-finals will be held, with only one of the eight singers advancing to the final from each heat. Last year two extra acts were added to the final, so it is possible that there will be more than four acts in the final. TG4 want to keep y’all on your toes…
Ireland debuted in Sofia last year, with Aimee Banks singing the song, “Réalta na mara”. While only finishing twelfth, Aimee impressed us with her powerful operatic voice.
Ireland has one of the lengthiest selection processes in Junior Eurovision, so we hope that this will pay off with a quality act from the Emerald Isle.
Aimee interview with wiwibloggs
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Source: TG4
