TG4 has just broadcast the first heat of the Irish national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The show featured seven candidates but only Lilyella Buckley and Eva Norton will compete at the semi-final stage.
These are the seven entrants that performed at today’s show:
- Eva Norton – “This is me” (9+10+8 = 28) – Qualifier 2
- Roman Spencer – “Always” (9+9+9=27)
- Lilyella Buckley – “Someone you loved” (10+10+9=29) – Qualifier 1
- Orla Mcdermott – “Ghost” (9+9+10= 29)
- Katie Hardiman – “Catch and release” (8+9+9 = 26)
- Aimee & Grace Gillard – “Feel it again” (7+8+9 = 24)
- Saoirse Garrihy – “Shape of you” (7+8+7=22)
Today’s qualifiers were decided by a professional jury panel, made up of Niamh Ní Chróinín, Fiachna Ó Braonáin, and this week’s guest judge Niam Kavanagh, who represented Ireland at Eurovision 1993 and 2010. The experts rated the performances from 0 to 10 stars and the top 1 automatically qualified for the semi-final. Then, a sing-off decided the second qualifier after a new voting procedure that included ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
Remember that this year’s edition is only aimed to select who will sing for Ireland at Junior Eurovision 2021 as the song will be chosen internally by the broadcaster. That’s why Junior Eurovision Éire is being broadcast earlier than ever.
Next week, the Irish national selection will continue with the second heat, with another seven candidates.
What do you think about today’s qualifiers? Who was your favourite?