Sophie Lennon wins Junior Eurovision Éire and will travel to Yerevan thanks to the public’s favour

The grand final of Ireland’s Junior Eurovision Éire, the country’s pre-selection for Junior Eurovision 2022, came to an end a few moments ago. Sophie Lennon was the lucky artist to win the show and will travel to Yerevan to represent the Gaelic nation at the European contest. Two other artists narrowly missed out on a ticket to the Armenian capital. 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.

The grand final, which continues a marathon of six consecutive Sundays full of music, joy and fun, was presented by journalist and radio broadcaster Louise Cantillon and newcomer Darragh Ó Caoimh, who joined the format for the first time. The jury that determined the night’s results consisted of Niamh Ní Chróinín, Chris Greene and Brian Kennedy as guest expert

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 Sophie Lennon was announced as the overall winner of this year’s edition and the Irish representative at Junior Eurovision 2022.

The youngster will travel to Armenia this December, where she will try to impress the whole of Europe with her angelic voice and remarkable stage presence. The song she will perform at Junior Eurovision 2022 will be announced in the coming weeks.

You can enjoy her winning performances from tonight’s gala below:

A NEW SEASON FULL OF CHANGES

Tonight’s gala broadcast concludes an extensive marathon of six consecutive Sundays full of music, fun and Irish tradition. After four qualifying galas and a semi-final, the format tonight held a spectacular final gala in which the sovereign public determined the nation’s representative at Junior Eurovision 2022. Ireland’s TG4 and the competition’s undefeated performer will be looking for the song that will represent the country at the European contest on 11 December, which will take place from Yerevan, Armenia.

The full provisional schedule for the Junior Eurovision Éire 2022 galas is as follows:

ABOUT JUNIOR EUROVISION ÉIRE

Junior Eurovision Éire was born in 2015 with the mission to select the Irish representative for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest year after year. The format, which has changed its mechanics over the course of its 6 editions, consists of a variable number of galas in which an array of young talents showcase their musical talents in front of a prestigious panel of experts and former Irish Eurovision representatives.

While until 2018 the contestants performed their own unreleased songs , from 2019 onwards the competition will be based on the performance of covers of popular songs in the Gaelic language. In this way, the organisation aims to attract as many children as possible without the need for them to own a song; furthermore, the use and standardisation of the Irish language is encouraged. Following the contest, broadcaster TG4 will ensure that an original song tailored to the performer’s needs 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 six editions having been produced 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 talents

Louise Cantillon (co-presenter of Junior Eurovision Éire 2022)

IRELAND AT THE JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Ireland has a total of six 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. The nation’s moment of glory came just one year after their debut, when they made it into the top 10 of the festival with young Zena Donnelly and her catchy Bríce Ar Bhríce. The country would score a total of 121 points for a tenth place finish at the festival in La Valleta.

The Irish entry in 2019, which was one of the favourites of 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, would finally only obtain a 12th position, which was too little but understandable given the high level of the competition that year

The last Irish appearance at the festival came from the last winner of the traditional national Junior Eurovision Éire pre-selection format, Maiu Levi Lawlor. His song Saor, an energetic, youthful uptempo track, failed to climb from 18th and penultimate place in the ranking, leading the country to its worst ever placing.

will Ireland make a comeback this year and return to the top 10?

JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2022

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will be held in Yerevan, Armenia on Sunday 11 December. The Karen Demirchyan Complex will host the show in which artists aged between 9 and 14 from across Europe will battle it out to win the coveted crystal microphone, the trophy for victory at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The organisation of the show by Armenian public broadcaster ARMTV follows the victory of Malena and her “Qami Qami” on stage in Paris on 19 December, which sparked a collective euphoria in her homeland and made the whole country take on the challenge of organising the festival with great enthusiasm and responsibility, which promises to be more special than ever as it celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2022. It will not be the first time that Armenia has hosted a Junior Eurovision, having had the opportunity to do so in 2011, also at the Karen Demirchyan Complex.

A total of 16 countries will finally take to the festival stage to bring a magical evening full of music, dance and fun to the whole of Europe, highlighting the accession of the United Kingdom as a stellar return and regretting the withdrawals of Bulgaria, Germany, Azerbaijan and Russia. Precisely, full of magic will also be the corporate identity and the motto of the edition, Spin The Magic. In this way, ARMTV invites us to travel to a fantasy universe where all the countries become innocent spinning tops, leaving light and hope in their wake. It is also a nod to the 20th anniversary of Junior Eurovision, which has been spinning and promoting European children’s talent year after year for 20 editions.