Meath teens making a big impact on Junior Eurovision
Hannah McNamara
With the search on for the next Irish Junior Eurovision 2023 entry, three talented Meath teens are making impressions on the judges.
A Kildalkey teen who competed in this year's Junior Eurovision Éire 2023 has described it as "the best time of her life".
Sophia Connolly's performance was televised to the nation on 3rd September on TG4 with the 13-year-old Sophia going above and beyond to prepare for the event with lots of rehearsals and workshops with Carmel McKiernan of Limelight Theatrics while Sophia also brushed up on her Irish with a trip to the Rathcairn Gaeltacht over the summer.
She placed second on the night performing 'When the Party’s Over' by Billie Eilish and found herself in a sing-off with another contestant, Liza O'Neill, for the semi final. Liza was chosen by the judges to advance to the semi-final and Sophia is already looking forward to auditioning again next year.
She was a part of the choir in Kildalkey National School and in an upcoming show in the Swift Cultural Centre Trim, Sophia will play Patty from Greece and Ally from Mamma Mia.
Twelve year old Kiefer Byrne from Navan who also competed was the only boy left in the last twelve Eurovision contestants.
Kiefer sang Tom Walker's song 'Leave A Light On' but unfortunately didn't make it to the semi-finals.
He attends Helen Jordan's Stage School every Saturday based in Dunshaughlin and Tallaght. Helen who runs the stage school in Tallaght has been like a mentor to Kiefer for almost two years as has Linda, her daughter, who runs the Dunshaughlin school.
He is no stranger to the stage or crowds, every weekend Kiefer and his parents travel to different venues in Dublin with their karaoke singing friend James Brown who has provided so many opportunities to Kiefer to sing live.
Thirteen-year-old Teagan Nolan from Navan will be competing in the fourth episode of the Junior Eurovision series which airs this Sunday. Teagan competed in last year's series and almost made it to the semi-finals after a sing-off with another competitor.
Junior Eurovision is on TG4 every Sunday at 8.30 and the winner will go on to represent Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023, with over 7.5 million viewers across Europe. The winner will go to France on the 26th November with a song composed especially for their voice to take on Europe.