Ireland was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017, which took place on 26 November 2017, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Irish broadcaster TG4 is responsible for organising their entry for the contest through a national selection show entitled Junior Eurovision Éire. The national final took place on 19 November 2017, while the semifinals took place between 22 October and 12 November. This was Ireland's third appearance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice since its debut in . TG4 previously attempted to participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but required funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), which was rejected.
Before Junior Eurovision The Irish broadcaster was included in the final list of participants of the EBU, which revealed that they would be participating at Junior Eurovision for the third time in their history. The mechanism for selecting their entrant and song was through the national selection show Junior Eurovision Éire, like in their two other appearances. The selection process is scheduled to take place every Sunday starting on 22 October, where thirty-two participants competed, and culminated into a final which took place on 19 November 2017.
Jury members TG4 published details on the names of the professional jury who would determine the winner of the Junior Eurovision Éire 2017 and the representative for Ireland at the 2017 contest in November. They had all represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest at least once in their careers.NFformat
Artist ESC Year(s) Song(s) Place (semi-final) Points (semi-final) Place (final) Points (final) Linda Martin "Terminal 3" rowspan="3" colspan="2" 2 137 "Why Me?" 1 155 Niamh Kavanagh "In Your Eyes" 1 187 "It's for You" 9 67 23 25 Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" 10 93 10 79 Dustin the Turkey "Irelande Douze Pointe" 15 22 colspan="2" Jedward "Lipstick" 8 68 8 119 "Waterline" 6 92 19 46 Brendan Murray "Dying to Try" 13 86 colspan="2"
The judging panel consisted of Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Bláthnaid Tracey, as well as a different guest judge each week.
Junior Eurovision Éire
Semi Final 1 The first semi final took place on 22 October 2017, in which Brendan Murray and Dustin the Turkey were the guest judges. Draw Artist Song Result 01 Muireann McDonnell "Súile Glasa" Final Duel 02 Hayley Keogh "Is Cuimhin Liom" Eliminated 03 Junior Sensation "Can Os Ard" Eliminated 04 Judy Langan "Draíocht An Cheoil" Final Duel, Wildcard 05 Rachel Haughney "Táim Níos Láidre" Eliminated 06 Kane Dunne "Ar Chuala Tú" Eliminated 07 Eloise Judge "Domhain Foirfe" Eliminated 08 Amy Hehir "Féileacán I Mo Chroí" Eliminated Muireann McDonnell and Judy Langan both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Muireann McDonnell as the winner of semifinal 1 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017. Judy Langan who lost the final duel received one of the two wildcards and advanced the final on 19 November 2017.
Semi Final 2 The second semi final took place on 29 October 2017, in which Jedward were the guest judges. Draw Artist Song Result 01 Mini Mix "Cairde Go Deo" Wildcard 02 Gwanaelle Noval "Lig Dom Lonrú" Final Duel 03 Adria Gannon "Sólás" Eliminated 04 Róise Devlin "Anonn agus Anall" Eliminated 05 Aoife Goodson "Diamaint" Final Duel 06 Cailín Ní Thréinir "Ní Mhaireann Aon Rud Go Deo" Eliminated 07 Adam O'Connor "Do Lá Úrnua É" Eliminated 08 Chloe Winters "Cá Bhfuil Tú Anois?" Eliminated
Gwanaelle Noval and Aoife Goodson both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Gwanaelle Noval as the winner of semifinal 2 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017. Mini Mix who was eliminated in Semi Final 2 but received one of the 2 Wildcards and proceeded to the Final.
Semi Final 3 The second semi final took place on 5 November 2017, in which Dustin the Turkey and Brian Kennedy were the guest judges. Draw Artist Song Result 01 Úna Ní Mhistéil "Álainn" Final Duel 02 Cúigear Ceolmhar "I Mochroí" Eliminated 03 Holly Owens "Saoirse" Final Duel 04 Annie Bolger "Éire Álainn" Eliminated 05 Nutsa Bidzishvili "An Bháisteach" Eliminated 06 Logan McConnon "Slán Leat" Eliminated 07 Cathleen Garland "A Ghrá Mo Chroí" Eliminated 08 Ciara Doherty "Tá Mé Anseo" Eliminated Úna Ní Mhistéil and Holly Owens both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Úna Ní Mhistéil as the winner of semifinal 3 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017.
Semi Final 4 The second semi final took place on 12 November 2017, in which Niamh Kavanagh was the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Result 01 Sinéad Carr "Cén Fáth" Final Duel 02 Walter McCabe "Saor" Eliminated 03 Orla McDermott "Cairdeas" Final Duel 04 Ella Pepper "Ach Eolas Ar Ár nDuchas" Eliminated 05 Nessa Markham "Mamó" Eliminated 06 Jirat O'Neill "Spraoi As An Saol" Eliminated 07 Olivia Foley "Cróga" Eliminated 08 Leah Keenam "Táim Láidir Eliminated Sinéad Carr and Orla McDermott both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Sinéad Carr as the winner of semifinal 4 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017.
Final The grand final took place on 19 November 2017, in which Linda Martin was the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Result01Úna Ní Mhistéil"Álainn"Eliminated02Muireann McDonnell"Súile Glasa"Final Duel03Mini Mix"Cairde Go Deo"Eliminated04Sinéad Carr"Cén Fáth?"Eliminated05Gwenaelle Noval"Lig Dom Lonrú"Final Duel06Judy Langan"Draíocht an Cheoil"Eliminated
Final Duel
For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders. Draw Artist Song Result 01 Muireann McDonnell "Súile Glasa" Winner 02 Gwenaelle Noval "Lig Dom Lonrú" Runner-up Gwenaelle Noval and Muireann McDonnell were chosen by the judging panel to advance to the final duel. Muireann received the majority of votes from the panel and was awarded the Irish ticket to Tbilisi.
At Junior Eurovision During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 20 November 2017, Ireland was drawn to perform seventh on 26 November 2017, following Portugal and preceding Macedonia.
Voting
+ Points awarded to Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point Ireland received 42 points from the online vote
+ Points awarded by Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Detailed voting results + Draw Country Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points 01 9 10 13 7 1 9 2 02 5 2 1 5 3 1 12 03 13 14 2 12 7 11 04 3 7 12 14 13 12 05 12 8 11 3 10 10 1 06 8 11 14 13 6 13 07 08 7 9 6 8 9 7 4 09 1 5 3 2 5 2 10 10 2 1 5 9 14 4 7 11 6 6 7 6 15 8 3 12 11 15 15 15 12 15 13 10 12 8 4 4 6 5 14 4 3 9 10 8 5 6 15 14 4 4 1 2 3 8 16 15 13 10 11 11 14
References