{{Infobox television , image = , caption = , genre =

Talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

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Marty Whelan Marty may refer to: Names * Marty (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters, also includes stage names * Marty (surname), a list of people Places in the United States * Marty, California, a former settlement * Marty, Min ...

, opentheme = , endtheme = , composer = , company = , distributor =

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

, country =

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, language = English , num_series = , num_episodes = , list_episodes = , executive_producer = , producer = , editor = , location = , cinematography = , camera = , runtime = , network =

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

, picture_format = , audio_format = , first_aired = {{Start date, 2006, 3 , last_aired = {{End date, 2006, 12, 31, df=yes , preceded_by = , followed_by = , related = ''Celebrity Jigs n' Reels'' was an Irish

reality entertainment Reality Entertainment is a Philippine production company founded and managed by the Filipino filmmaker Erik Matti and his producing partner Dondon Monteverde (son of the film producer Lily Monteverde Lily Yu Monteverde, nicknamed Mother Lil ...

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

broadcast on

. It was produced by Mind The Gap Films.

Format

The series started out with seven celebrities paired with professional

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...

rs. Each week they were given a contemporary Irish rock or pop song (as chosen by producers), to which the professional Irish

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

had to choreograph a traditional Irish dance. They would then dance for the judges, who would give feedback and subsequently award points. The dancers then faced a public vote, with the two couples who received the lowest number of votes having to face the judges again. When the judges revealed the number of points they were awarding, the couple with the lower score were eliminated.

Series one

Series one launched in March 2006, in the slot regularly occupied by ''

You're a Star ''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as ''Idol'' and ''The X Factor''. For its first three se ...

''. With a mix of high-profile celebrities such as the singer Dana and Olympic gold medallist

Michael Carruth Michael Carruth (born 9 July 1967) is a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer from Dublin. He is best known for winning the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He turned Pro in 1994 but retired in 2000. Amateur boxing ;Ol ...

, as well as relative unknowns, such as

Emma O'Driscoll Emma Louise O'Driscoll (born 23 March 1982 in Limerick, Ireland) is a former Irish pop star, turned children's television presenter and reality television personality. O'Driscoll rose to fame in the 2001–2002 RTÉ One television series '' Po ...

and Suzanne Walshe, the show slowly climbed the ratings and achieved a reported 43 per cent audience share. The following year in March 2007 with more high-profile celebrities it was

Gavin Ó Fearraigh Gavin Ó Fearraigh (born 5 May 1980) is an Ireland, Irish actor, dancer and model. He is most notable for his role as ''Conall Daly'' in the TG4 soap ''Ros na Rún''. He came first in the Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) reality show ''Celebrit ...

actor and model from the Irish TV drama Ros na Rún who won the crown along with his dance partner Dearbhla Lennon.

Judges

Jean Butler Jean Butler (born March 14, 1971) is an American stepdancer, a master of Irish Dance, choreographer, and actress. She is best known for originating the principal female role in the Irish dance theatrical production ''Riverdance''. In January 202 ...

George Hook George Hook (born 19 May 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He formerly hosted ''The Right Hook'' and ''High Noon'' on the Irish radio station Newstalk. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, be ...

Colin Dunne Colin Dunne (born 8 May 1968) is an English-Irish dancer and choreographer who is a leading figure in the world of traditional Irish dance, as well as a theatre actor and contemporary dancer. Best known internationally for his performances and c ...

, Robert O'Byrne

Celebrities and dancers

and Dearbhla Lennon ''(winners)''(2007) * Killian O'Sullivan and Nicola Byrne ''(winners)''(2006) * Dana and Ronan McCormack ''(2nd place)'' *Paul Byrom and Susan Ginnety ''(3rd place)'' *

and Dearbhla Lennon ''(4th place)'' *Jen Kelly and Paula Goulding ''(5th place)'' *

and Mick Donegan ''(6th place)'' *Suzanne Walshe and Scott Porter ''(7th place)'' *Kevin Dundon and Rachel Byrne – 2007

New Year's Party

On 31 December 2006, ''Celebrity Jigs n'Reels'' returned to ring Ireland into the New Year live on

. Seven brand new celebrities danced for one night only to raise money for charity and bring in 2007. The format differed from series one in that no celebrity represented a specific charity; instead all the money raised went to

Focus Ireland Focus Ireland is a nonprofit organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that provides services for people who are homeless and people at risk of homelessness in Ireland. It was founded by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985, and is one of the largest hou ...

and The Simon Community, both of which look after the homeless.

Hilda Fay Hilda Fay is an Irish actor. She was nominated for an IFTA for best supporting actress for her role in whistleblower in 2009. She graduated from Trinity College, Dublin's Samuel Beckett Centre. She has appeared on stage in the Gate Theatre's "Th ...

(from ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

'') was crowned champion, beating former '' Big Brother'' star

Ray Shah Ray Shah (born 31 January 1978) came to prominence in public life as a contestant on the Channel 4 reality programme Big Brother, in which he finished second. Since his exit from the Big Brother house, Shah entered a career in the entertainment ...

, model Celia Holman Lee, GAA All Star

Oisín McConville Oisín McConville ( ga, Oisín Mac Conmhaoil; born 13 October 1975) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Wicklow county team since 2022. McCoville played at senior level for the Armagh county team ...

, and ex Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan. The results show ran for an extended period of 50 minutes and included a live singing performance from Paul Byrom (second runner up from series one), as well as a four-minute ensemble dance routine from the shows professional dancers. The results show also marked the return of 2006 winner Killian O'Sullivan, who danced with his former partner Nicola Byrne to the

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) as dr ...

track "

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" is a song by American pop band Scissor Sisters. It was released in August 2006 as the first single from their second album, ''Ta-Dah'' (2006). The song was written by Jason Sellards, Scott Hoffman and Elton John, t ...

". This marked the first time a song by a non-Irish artist or band was featured in the show. The New Year's Party show stood out as it was the first live show to ring in the New Year on RTÉ in more than five years. In previous years recorded shows were played "as live" on 31 December and usually involved a standard format of musical entertainment and chat with an invited audience.

Judges

Panellist Robert O'Byrne did not return for the New Year's Special.

External links

''Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels''
at

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

2006 Irish television series debuts 2007 Irish television series endings Irish variety television shows RTÉ original programming