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Ireland: Kerry Ann McCreery Wins Junior Eurovision Éire Semi-Final 2

Kerry Ann McCreery has won the second semi-final of Junior Eurovision Éire 2018 and will take part in the final on November 11.

Tonight seven artists took to the stage in the second semi-final, which was filmed earlier this month in Dublin. Returning to the judging panel for the third year in a row was Fiachna Ó Braonáin. Joining him as a regular judge this year was singer and actress Gráinne Bleasdale. Fiachna and Gráinne will also be joined by a guest judge each week, all of whom are former Irish Eurovision entrants. This week’s guest judge was Linda Martin, who represented Ireland in 1983 and won the contest in 1992. Aimee Banks, the first ever Irish Junior Eurovision entrant in 2015, returned to perform her entry “Réalta na Mara”.

For the first time ever, the audience were able to see the judges’ scores. Each judge could give up to 5 stars to each performer. The two performers with the highest scores would move on to the final battle.

Tonight’s performers, along with their scores, were:

  • Cailíní K.L.L – Grá Go Deo (Love Forever) (10 stars)
  • Sarah Kenny – Áit Ach Bith Ach Anseo (Anywhere But Here) (13 stars)
  • Julie Cole – Fadhb (Problem) (13 stars)
  • David Bradley – Bí Cróga (Be Brave) (12 stars)
  • Kerry Ann McCreery – Tóg Mo Lámh (Take My Hand) (13 stars)
  • Ellen Keane – Tusa Amháin (Only You) (12 stars)
  • Erin Ní Rosach – Cuireann Tú Isteach Orm (You Annoy Me) (10 stars)

Sarah and Kerry Ann both qualified for the final battle. Linda and Fiachna voted for Kerry Ann while Gráinne voted for Sarah.

Kerry Ann will now compete against Jessica Doolan, the winners of the two remaining semi-finals and two wildcards chosen from the participants who originally did not qualify from the semi-finals in the final on November 11. The winner will become Ireland’s fourth participant in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and will take part in this year’s contest in Minsk, the captial of Belarus.

Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Ireland debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the 2015 contest in Sofia, Bulgaria. The countries participation is organised by the Irish language broadcaster, TG4. At the 2015 contest in Bulgaria Ireland was represented by Aimee Banks with the song “Réalta na Mara”, she finished 12th in the final. The country’s best result came at the 2016 contest in Malta. Ireland was represented by Zena Donelly with the song “Bríce ar Bhríce”. She finished 10th in the final scoring a total of 122 points, including receiving the countries first 12 points in the contest.

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