Junior Eurovision: TG4 reveals details of Irish national final

TG4 (the Irish broadcaster) has revealed details of Junior Eurovision Éire: Ireland’s Junior Eurovision selection. The show will be presented by Eoghan McDermott and will feature 32 participants all singing to represent Ireland over several weeks of rounds. The series will be judged by Linda Martin, Niamh Kavanagh, Sandie Jones, Dustin and Jedward.
Linda Martin won Eurovision in 1992 for Ireland with the song “Why Me?”. Linda also finished second in 1984 with “Terminal 3”, written by Johnny Logan, only losing out to Herreys by eight points.
Niamh Kavanagh won Eurovision for Ireland the year after Linda with the song “In Your Eyes”. Niamh returned to the contest in 2010 with the song “It’s For You” and finished 23rd with 25 points.
Sandie Jones participated in the 1972 contest for Ireland and finished 15th out of 18 songs. She sang the song “Ceol an Ghrá” – “The Music of Love”. This was the only time Ireland performed in their native language until Aimee Banks sang “Réalta na mara” at Junior Eurovision 2015.
Dustin the Turkey represented Ireland in 2008 with the song “Irelande Douze Pointe” after winning the Irish national final – Eurosong 2008. It is worth mentioning that Dustin the Turkey is a comedy puppet character performed by John Morrison. The song only finished 15th out of 19 countries in the first semi final with 22 points: failing to qualify for the final.
Jedward are a singing duo made up of the identical twins John and Edward Grimes. Jedward finished 6th on the X Factor in 2009 before going on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2011, “Lipstick” peaked at number one in Ireland before finishing in 8th place in the grand final in Düsseldorf. Jedward returned in Baku the next year with the song “Waterline”, finishing in 19th place in the final.
Ireland made their debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest last year with Aimee Banks who sang “Réalta na mara”. Aimee finished in 12th place with 36 points. Can one of this year’s 32 participants do better?