The Apple Blossoms sail into next round of contest
BRAY singer Allison Saul has sailed into the next round of Ireland’s Got Talent as one of the singing trio ‘The Apple Blossoms’.
On Saturday night’s show on Virgin Media One, Allison and her fellow blossoms Carly Coonagh and Kerry Ann Sheridan made it through the audition stages, securing three ‘yes’ votes from the four judges.
US native Allison has lived in Bray for the past eleven years and teaches English at Youthreach. Kerry is from Navan and Carly is from Dublin.
Allison was born in Hollywood. Her dad, a musician, and her mum, an accountant, didn’t want to raise a child in Hollywood so they moved to rural Virginia.
The Apple Blossoms have a very positive outlook and are ‘hoping to share our energetic positivity with the people of Ireland. With so much doom and gloom in our faces most days, we want to be a little sparkle among the clouds.’
The group met through the Dublin music scene. They had another group which someone left, so Carly is the newest member. This is their fourth year together and not their first foray into the world of talent competitions. Last year, they did two shows in the UK – Sing: Ultimate Acapella on Sky One and All Together Now on BBC One.
‘Myself and Kerry also did the Voice of Ireland years ago,’ said Allison. She said that the experience, particularly in Ireland, has always been wonderful.
‘The crew are just lovely and everyone does their job with a smile. They are so good to all of us and not cutthroat at all.’
While the audition process can involve long, gruelling days, when it comes time to perform, the ladies always pull it out of the bag.
‘When you perform a lot you get used to being able to turn on the adrenaline,’ said Allison, adding that the three of them get on really well, which is a bonus when waiting for a long time at studios.
Their musical evolution has come to involve a wide range of songs from across the genres. ‘We started off with vintage music and branched out,’ said Allison. ‘We’re constantly finding ways to justify anything as vintage!’
Their audition song was ‘Don’t Let Go’ by En Vogue, although The Apple Blossoms were dressed in vintage costumes. ‘It’s like a bait and switch!’ said Allison.
She said that they know each other and their voices so well that it has gotten to the point that they can take requests at gigs. ‘Kerry is very good at finding harmonies out of thin air,’ said Allison. ‘We’ve done it so much we can wing it, and subsequently ended up with a big set list!’
On Saturday’s show, Michelle Visage and Louis Walsh gave the girls the goahead, with Denise van Outen given them a ‘no’, saying unfortunately that there was ‘something missing’.
It came down to Jason Byrne to decide whether the group would go on to the next stage of the competition and he sent them on their way with the necessary ‘yes’.
Also last Saturday, Wicklow town husband and wife duo Alice and Noel performed an unforgettable version of ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, complete with radio prop facing the wrong way! ‘It was really, really good fun, you really got the audience going,’ said Denise after their act. Even though Michelle wasn’t keen on the singing, she said that she would love to party with Alice and Noel.
‘We didn’t say we were singers,’ said Noel afterwards.