The grand final of Ireland’s Junior Eurovision Éire, the country’s pre-selection for Junior Eurovision 2023, came to an end a few moments ago. Jessica Mckean was the lucky artist to win the show and will travel to Nice to represent the Gaelic nation at the European contest next November. Two other performers narrowly missed out on a ticket to the coastal city. Although the programme had a panel of top experts in charge of assessing the different performances, it was the sovereign public, through their votes, who were responsible for deciding the results of the broadcast.
JURY, HOSTS AND FINALISTS
The final, which culminates a marathon of six consecutive Sundays full of emotion, music and Irish tradition, was presented by journalist and radio presenter Louise Cantillon and her partner Darragh Ó Caoimh, who returned as master of ceremonies after joining the format last year. The jury line-up on set included Niamh Ní Chróinín, Aindriú de Paor and Mickey Joe Hart as guest expert. Despite the expert panel’s valuable advice and assessments of the finalist performances, the jury had no say in the outcome of the gala.
In the first round, the contestants gave us different interpretations of international pop songs. Afterwards, the three artists took to the stage again to try to win the audience’s favour by singing covers of Irish Eurovision hits of all time. Once the musical part of the gala was over, the voting lines were closed and Jessica Mckean was announced as the overall winner of this year’s competition and Ireland’s representative at Junior Eurovision 2023.
| Contestant | Song Round 1 | Song Round 2 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica Mckean | Always | Hold Me Now | Winner |
| Clare Keeley | Someone You Loved | Why Me? | Eliminated |
| Niamh Beatrix Smith | Waiting For Love | Together | Eliminated |
The youngster will travel to Nice this November, where she will try to impress the whole of Europe with her charisma, voice and stage presence, qualities that have helped her to win out over her two rivals in the popular vote. Despite their angelic voices and great performance on stage, Clare Keeley and Niamh Beatrix Smith have fallen just short of the dream ticket to France in November. The song with which they will take to the stage at Junior Eurovision 2023 will be announced in the coming weeks.
A FINAL FULL OF SURPRISES
The Junior Eurovision Éire night rolled out the red carpet to close the season in style. Throughout the night there were several very pleasant surprises for fans of the show and the European children’s festival. During the evening, the last Irish representatives of the senior and junior Eurovision Song Contest, Wild Youth and Sophie Lennon respectively, came together for a magical performance. It is a memorable moment, as Lennon returns to her former stepping stone to Junior Eurovision a year later, having achieved the country’s best ever place at the European Youth contest in Yerevan last December. Other memorable moments during the event included the presentation of the show’s season trophy to the winner amidst cheers and applause from the jury and audience.
THE BROADCASTING SCHEDULE OF JUNIOR EUROVISION ÉIRE 2023
Once again this year, Junior Eurovision Éire has been one of the main highlights of TG4’s autumn schedule, with 6 consecutive weeks of music, excitement, surprises and Irish tradition. The journey culminated tonight with the election of the Irish representative for Junior Eurovision 2023. The full schedule of the Irish pre-selection was as follows:
| Date | Programme No | Programme |
|---|---|---|
The broadcast dates for this season of Junior Eurovision Éire have been brought forward considerably compared to last year, which started on Sunday 18 September. These changes are most likely due to the move in dates that the Junior Eurovision Song Contest itself has also undergone since last year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The European festival will return to the end of November for the first time since 2021, when it embraced the Christmas spirit by moving to December. With this tightening of deadlines, the Irish delegation has more time to find the right song to shine on the Nice stage, work which will begin immediately once their new representative has been nominated.
ABOUT JUNIOR EUROVISION ÉIRE
Junior Eurovision Éire was launched in 2015 with the mission to select the Irish representative for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest each year. The format, which has changed its mechanics throughout its 7 editions, consists of a variable number of galas in which a group of young talents showcase their musical talents in front of a prestigious panel of experts and former Irish Eurovision representatives.
Although until 2018 the contestants performed their own unreleased songs , from 2019 the competition will be based on the performance of covers of popular songs in the Gaelic language duringthe 6 weeks of competition that each season consists of. In this way the organisers aim to attract as many children as possible without the need for them to own a song and to encourage the use and standardisation of the Irish language. After the contest, the broadcaster TG4 will ensure that an original song tailored to the performer is found to perform on the Junior Eurovision stage.
The format, produced by Adare Productions, is already a classic on TG4’s autumn schedule, with eight editions since 2015. The show’s organisers aim to create a platform for showcasing the nation’s young talent as well as a space to showcase and normalise the Irish language, in line with the objectives of their respective broadcaster’s focus on producing Gaelic language content. The tour culminates on the Junior Eurovision stage, which gives the local language unrivalled international exposure and exposure.
We have a wonderful opportunity to bring Gaelic to the Eurovision stage through our young talentsLouise Cantillon (co-presenter of Junior Eurovision Éire)
IRELAND AT THE JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Ireland has a total of seven Junior Eurovision Song Contest entries, joining the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 and participating almost continuously until today, only missing the 2020 edition. The country has a poor record in the competition, usually ranking in the lower-middle of the leaderboard. So far, Ireland has never won the crystal microphone of the European competition or hosted the festival on any occasion. The nation’s moment of glory came precisely during its last participation last year 2022, where the talented Sophie Lennon climbed to a great fifth place in the ranking thanks to her song Solas.
The Irish entry in 2019, which was one of the favourites for the event, is also well remembered by the fans of the Junior Eurofestival. The young Anna Kearny and her Banshee, a carefully crafted ballad with Celtic sounds, only obtained a 12th position, which was too low but understandable given the high level of that year’s competition.
JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2023
The magic of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest returns to the screens all over Europe to unite in its 21st edition a whole continent through music, culture, friendship and illusion. The date chosen for this new edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is Sunday 26 November, which means that the contest will no longer be held in December after two consecutive editions during the Christmas holidays.
The chosen venue is Nice, which under the banner of “Heroes” is hosting a Eurovision event for the first time at the imposing Palais Nikaia events venue following the victory of the charismatic young Lissandro in Armenia this December. This will be the second time that France has hosted the music event, having done so in 2021, just two years ago. A colourful web of fireworks and holi powder form a logo marked by urban and art-deco style, a perfect symbiosis that shows the youthful and contemporary spirit of the festival without leaving aside its French essence.
A total of 16 countries will take to the festival stage in a tightly contested competition. This time, Estonia joins the competition for the first time in 21 years of celebrating European music and youth, once again opening the event to Northern Europe. On the other side of the scale, Kazakhstan and Serbia are leaving the contest, leaving the door open to rejoin in future editions. Who will take the crystal microphone and join the prestigious family of Junior Eurovision winners?