Stars in their eyes in Athboy as talent heats create excitement

The senior heat of the 'Athboy's Got Talent' show organised by the transition year (TY) class at Athboy Community School attracted a huge audience of students, parents, staff and members of the Athboy public. The new school's general purpose area was awash with colour and excitement as 16 acts battled it out for a place in the finals later this spring. MC was TY student, Josh Reid. The whole TY class had backstage roles ranging from sound, lighting and filming to make up and running a shop. First on stage was Rút Ní Theimhnean who got things going with a rousing rendition of Katie Perry's 'Last Friday Night.' She was followed by third year, Emma Reilly, with a beautiful rendition of a Garth Brooks song and Sean Raymond and Jesse Mooney who performed Tenacious D's 'The Greatest Song in the World.' Next up was fifth year student, Claire Murphy, who sang Adele's 'Chasing Pavements' followed by Roy Quinn, Meghan Ennis and Louise Smith. Third year student Leanne Weir completed the first half of the programme. Leaving Cert student, Patrick Conlon, started the second half on a high with a beautiful piano piece. He was followed by Aoife Flynn's powerful rendition of the Christina Perry anthem 'Jar of Hearts.' Next up was Shauna Murphy who brought the auditorium to a standstill with a stunning performance of Andrea Boccelli's 'Con Te Partiro (Time To Say Goodbye)' Melissa Cooke was next on stage, followed by Aine Mooney's contemporary dance routine. Kasey Corrigan sang a beautiful version of Adele's 'Someone Like You' and Riona Fox produced a fantastic rendition of some of the songs from the musical 'The Wizard of Oz.' The final act on stage was the TY class who had organised the event so magnificently. They did a brilliant version of the Beyonce classic 'Put a Ring on It' complete with lively dance moves. As the audience submitted their voting papers there were two more acts on stage. First up was the Junior Choir conducted by music teacher Jacqui McGowan who sang a selection of carols with soloists including second years Saidhb Farrelly and Chelsea Nolan. But the final act was the biggest surprise of all with the teaching staff taking to the stage to perform a few carols of their own much to the delight and amusement of the watching students. The programme of events finished on a real high with the announcement of the acts to carry on to the finals. After the cheering died down the voting commenced and amidst scenes of much tension and excitement Claire Murphy, Aoiffe Flynn, Shauna Murphy, Kasey Corrigan, Riona Fox, Louise Smith and the TY Class were the lucky ones to scoop finals slots. All the students in the show would like to record their thanks to the TY class and musical director Ms Jacqui McGowan for all their help in preparing for the show. Meanwhile, the students are busily looking forward to the junior heats which promise to be just as entertaining.