Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Ireland
|
|||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Junior Eurovision Éire | |||
| Selection date(s) |
Semi-final 11 October 2015 18 October 2015 25 October 2015 1 November 2015 Final 8 November 2015 |
|||
| Selected entrant | Aimee Banks | |||
| Selected song | "Réalta na mara (Star of the sea)" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 12th, 36 points | |||
| Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
|
||||
|
"Réalta na Mara (Star of the sea)" |
|
|---|---|
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) |
Aimee Banks
|
| Languages | |
| Composer(s) |
Aimee Banks, Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Brendan McCarthy
|
| Lyricist(s) |
Aimee Banks
|
| Finals performance | |
| Final result |
12
|
| Final points |
36
|
Ireland selected their Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry through Junior Eurovision Éire. The competing songs were broken down into four semi-finals. On 23 March 2015 it was announced that Ireland would debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015.
Junior Eurovision Éire was won by Aimee Banks, who sang "Réalta na mara" for Ireland at the contest. She placed 12th with 36 points.
Along with the winners from the four heats, two wildcard acts were entered into the final. They were Lisa-Rose McMahon who came second in week 1 and Aislí Moran who came second in week 3.
For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders.
Aimee Banks (born 14 February 2002) is a young soprano from Moycullen, in County Galway. She represented Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with "Réalta na Mara", (lit. Star of the sea), a song which she co-wrote and composed with Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff and Brendan McCarthy.
Banks had recently been awarded first place for the International Vocal Competition "American Protege" and was to perform in Carnegie Hall on 19 December. She secured eight National Titles at Ireland's Classical Festival Feis Ceoil 2015 and was also awarded Overall Vocalist Award and Bursary 2015 for Midlands Feis Ceoil. She had recorded her debut album My Classical Spirit and donated the proceeds to "Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice".
Banks is in third year in Coláiste na Coiribe. She can sing in eight different languages.
At the running order draw which took place on 15 November 2015, Ireland were drawn to perform seventh on 21 November 2015, following Australia and preceding Russia.
There was a deep purple background with a lot of stars. The 'star of the sea' also appeared in bright light towards the end of the song. The other important notice was that the waves in the sea behind Aimee were less rough, becoming as the song progressed to match with the lyrics. The stage for the performance was covered in dry ice, giving a mystical effect to the performance.
At the end of the voting, Ireland finished 12th with 36 points.
The voting during the final consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was 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 individual rankings of each jury member were released one month after the final.
...
Wikipedia