Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

participated in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the fifteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place on 26 November 2017 at th ...

, which took place on 26 November 2017, in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The Irish broadcaster

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

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 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...

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 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 12th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Malta. This was the third time that the contest was hosted by the winning country. Maltese nationa ...

, but required funding from the

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) ( ga, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann) was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) ( ga, Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann). The BAI is ...

(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 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 Brendan Hugh Francis Murray (born 16 November 1996) is an Irish singer and former member of the Irish boy band HomeTown. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Dying to Try" but failed to qualify for the fina ...

and

Dustin the Turkey Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a former star of RTÉ television's ''The Den'' between 1989 and 2010 and from 2020. He has been described as "the most subversive comedy force on Irish television". A turkey-vulture w ...

were the guest judges. 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 John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward (a portmanteau of their first names), are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth s ...

were the guest judges. 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

and Brian Kennedy were the guest judges. 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 Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" to ...

was the guest judge. 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 Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song " Why Me?". She is also known within Irelan ...

was the guest judge.

Final Duel

For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders. 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

Detailed voting results

References

{{Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2017 in Irish television