Ireland: Maiú Levi Lawlor is off to Paris for Junior Eurovision 2021

Sunday, 17 October 2021

• Maiú Levi Lawlor won the the Irish national final Junior Eurovision Éire 2021 and will be the country's JESC hopeful this December in Paris. 

  After four qualifying rounds and a semi final show the Irish national final for Junior Eurovision 2021 was broadcasted Sunday evening, having been filmed in RTE's studios. The show was hosted by Louise Cantillon, successing Eoghan McDermott, who presented every edition of the show until 2019. 

  Like in  previous rounds a panel of judges includes two permanent jurors while the third spot is  filled in by a guest judge every week. Namely, the two permanent jurors are:

  • Niamh Ní Chróinín – Radio presenter, manager of Irish-language youth radio station Raidió Rí-Rá
  • Fiachna Ó Braonáin – Member of Hothouse Flowers (interval act at Eurovision 1988) and has been serving as a judge for the  Junior Eurovision Éire 2016-2018. Fiacha was also behind the composition of the Irish JESC 2019 entry “Banshee” 

  In this semi final heat the third judge's seat was filled in by Linda Martin who represened Ireland in Eurovision 1983 and 1992 when she brought the trophy home. 

  Three contestants took the stage where they had to perform one of the songs they had performed previously in the national selection and one past Irish Eurovision entry. The three judges evalauted their performances and picked two direct qualifiers to a final sing-off through which the final winner was selected. 

  The three acts along with their respective songs and results are:

  • Sophie Lennon – “Circle of Life”/ “It’s For You” – 3rd
  • Maiú Levi Lawlor – “Hold Back the River” / “Only Love Survives” – Qualified to the Sing-Off round
  • Lilyella Buckley – “Someone You Loved” / “Rock’n’Roll Kids”  – Qualified to the Sing-Off round

   

  The final sing-off round saw Maiú Levi Lawlor  and  Lilyella Buckley giving the final battle for the ticket to Paris , with the first one winning the competition and securing the right to represent the Ireland in Junior Eurovision 2021 in Paris. 

  The song the Irish hopeful will perform in Paris on December 19 will be relesed the following weeks. Unitl then you can enjoy his winning performance in the national final: 

  Ireland in Junior Eurovision 

  Ireland has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times since their first appearance in the 2015 contest. The Irish language broadcaster, TG4, is responsible for the country's participation in the contest, and uses the national final Junior Eurovision Éire to select the Irish entries.

  Ireland debuted in the contest when TG4 participated in the 2015 contest in Sofia, Bulgaria, when the song "Réalta na mara" performed by Aimee Banks placed 12th in a field of 17 countries.  Ireland has achieved one top ten placing, in 2016 when the song "Bríce ar bhríce" performed by Zena Donnelly placed 10th.

  Despite having initially confirmed their participation in the 2020 contest in Warsaw, Poland in January 2020, TG4 announced in August 2020 that they would not participate in the contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Ireland's last participation was in Gliwice-Silesia at JESC 2019 with Anna Kearney and her song "Banshee"  which finished 12th receiving 73 points. 

  News Source: TG4

  Image: TG4