Very best of talent on show as 16 acts go through to grand final
TOP talent and plenty of variety will be centre stage at the Wexford Has Talent 2020 grand final in Clayton Whites Hotel later this month.
That’s the message from a weekend of super semi-finals when 16 acts were selected to compete in the Saturday, February 29, final of the competition sponsored by the ‘Wexford People’.
More than 30 acts took part in the semi-finals at Clayton Whites on Saturday and Sunday, battling it out for a chance to win a fabulous €2,000 cash prize for the winner, or one of three €500 runner-up prizes. The panel of judges with the difficult task of picking the finalists included Catherine ‘Biddy’ Walsh, Eric Hayes, Carmel Corish Wallace, Eddie McCarthy, Vicky Barron and Tony Carty, while Mayor of Wexford, George Lawlor, who is no stranger to the stage, acted as MC. A wide variety of performances was showcased, with skills ranging from contemporary dance, ballet, hip hop,
Irish dance, singer-songwriter, full bands, gymnastics, trad and lots more from performers young and not so young.
In the solo singer category, the finalists are: Gwenaelle Noval from Kildare, 13-year-old Leah Gammell from Gorey, 15-yearold Evan Roche from Taghmon, 18-year-old Jack Gladney from St Mullins, 17-year-old Jenny Murphy from Enniscorthy, 15-yearold Ciara Doherty from Wexford town, 11-year-old Eabha Keane from Murrintown and 10-yearold Sarah Deevy from Tagoat.
Variety category finalists are: 18-year-old dancer Alex Saunders; the Presentation School Choir; Tulua, a trad group from Bannow, featuring Cian O’Grady, Caoimhe Moran, Kayleigh Moran and Diarmuid Murphy; 12-year-old harpist Úna Walsh from Barntown; the Sheila Grace Dance Academy; the Sullivan School of Dance from Murrintown and Castlebridge, including dancers Anna Jeffares, Ella Grant, Annie Kelly, Hollie Audsley, Katie Audsley, Katie
O’Connor, Lilli Mai Harrisson, Lilly Mai Garry and Aoide Hore; 17-year-old dancer Corey Lacey from Barntown; and Enniscorthy based band TradeMark.
• Tickets to the grand final are in high demand and go on sale this coming Thursday, February 6, from 6 p.m. at Clayton Whites Hotel. Bookings will also be taken via text message to 086 606 0100. The ticket desk will also open at Whites on Friday, February 7, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, February 8, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
All of the semi-finalists did themselves incredibly proud. The other performers included BMC Dance Group from Gorey; the Fleming School of Irish Dance from Gorey; fourpiece band The Quarrymen from Enniscorthy, including Michael Davitt (19), Cameron Allan (16), Liam Ascott (18) and William Dunne (19); the Gymnastics dance group AcroCATS featuring Cathy Quigley and Angelica and Tabitha McGee; Synergy dance group from Gorey,
including Megan Dunbar, Tiernan Jackson O’Toole, Emma Stacey, Caitlin Keane, Elizabeth Gahan, Emma Cooke, Isobel Levingstone and Rachel Augustt; 15-year-old Lili O’Brien Dobbs from Castlebridge; 16-year-old Caoimhe McLoughlin from Foulksmills; 17-year-old Josh Hayes from Wexford town; 11-year-old Jodie Tectar from Enniscorthy; 15-year-old Ciara Smith from Adamstown; Luke Hayes from Wexford town; 17-year-old Katie Louise Murray from Gorey; Steven Hamilton from Wexford town; and singer Sinead Doyle from Enniscorthy.
Wexford People Wexford Has Talent competition performer sponsors are Whelan Cleaning, Mark Boggan Motors, Wexford Credit Union, Sinnotts Bar, Hanrahan’s Londis, The New Ross Standard, The Gorey Guardian, The Wexford People, INM, Bugler Doyles, David Mooney Kitchens, Kearney’s Undertakers, Paul Harrington Physical, Sarsfield GFC and Gateway Consulting.