Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017


Ireland participated in 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, 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.
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.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Muireann McDonnell"Súile Glasa"Final Duel
02Hayley Keogh"Is Cuimhin Liom"Eliminated
03Junior Sensation"Can Os Ard"Eliminated
04Judy Langan"Draíocht An Cheoil"Final Duel, Wildcard
05Rachel Haughney"Táim Níos Láidre"Eliminated
06Kane Dunne"Ar Chuala Tú"Eliminated
07Eloise Judge"Domhain Foirfe"Eliminated
08Amy 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.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Mini Mix"Cairde Go Deo"Wildcard
02Gwanaelle Noval"Lig Dom Lonrú"Final Duel
03Adria Gannon"Sólás"Eliminated
04Róise Devlin"Anonn agus Anall"Eliminated
05Aoife Goodson"Diamaint"Final Duel
06Cailín Ní Thréinir"Ní Mhaireann Aon Rud Go Deo"Eliminated
07Adam O’Connor"Do Lá Úrnua É"Eliminated
08Chloe 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.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Úna Ní Mhistéil"Álainn"Final Duel
02Cúigear Ceolmhar"I Mochroí"Eliminated
03Holly Owens"Saoirse"Final Duel
04Annie Bolger"Éire Álainn"Eliminated
05Nutsa Bidzishvili"An Bháisteach"Eliminated
06Logan McConnon"Slán Leat"Eliminated
07Cathleen Garland"A Ghrá Mo Chroí"Eliminated
08Ciara 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.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Sinéad Carr"Cén Fáth"Final Duel
02Walter McCabe"Saor"Eliminated
03Orla McDermott"Cairdeas"Final Duel
04Ella Pepper"Ach Eolas Ar Ár nDuchas"Eliminated
05Nessa Markham"Mamó"Eliminated
06Jirat O’Neill"Spraoi As An Saol"Eliminated
07Olivia Foley"Cróga"Eliminated
08Leah Keenam"Táim LáidirEliminated

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.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Úna Ní Mhistéil"Álainn"Eliminated
02Muireann McDonnell"Súile Glasa"Final Duel
03Mini Mix"Cairde Go Deo"Eliminated
04Sinéad Carr"Cén Fáth?"Eliminated
05Gwenaelle Noval"Lig Dom Lonrú"Final Duel
06Judy Langan"Draoícht an Cheoil"Eliminated

Final Duel

For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders.
DrawArtistSongResult
01Muireann McDonnell"Súile Glasa"Winner
02Gwenaelle 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.

Artist and song information

Muireann McDonnell

Muireann McDonnell is an Irish singer and songwriter. She represented Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia on 26 November 2017 with the song "Súile Glasa".

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

The results of the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest were determined by national juries and an online audience vote. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury were asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The first phase of the online voting started on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances were shown on junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting stopped on Sunday, 26 November, at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and started right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers could vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five. They could also vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points. The number of points was determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 20% of the votes, thus it would receive 20% of the available points. The public vote counted for 50% of the final result, while the other 50% came from the professional juries.

Points awarded to Ireland

12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Split voting results