14-year-old Lottie O’Driscoll Murray from Cork will represent Ireland at this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest, marking the country’s tenth year competing in the contest.
Hundreds of young hopefuls auditioned for the judges of the five-part series, and ten finalists were chosen.
Lottie, who emerged victorious, will compete for Ireland in Tbilisi in Georgia, on Saturday with the brand-new song Rúin.
A total of 18 countries will be taking part in the singing contest, including:
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Croatia
Cyprus
France
Georgia
Ireland
Italy
Malta
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Poland
Portugal
San Marino
Spain
Ukraine
Israel will not be represented at this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest after broadcaster KAN confirmed that it would not return to the song contest in 2025.
Israel previously took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions – in 2012, 2016 and 2018.
Amongst Irish entrant Lottie O’Driscoll-Murray’s achievements are appearances on the Late Late Toy Show and performances at the Cork Opera House.
She is also seen regularly using her singing talents to raise money for charitable causes in Cork.
Last year, she made it to the final stage of the national selection for Junior Eurovision on TG4, before narrowly missing out to Kilkenny’s Enya Cox Dempsey.
This year saw her return to the competition and was selected to represent Ireland with the song Rúin, written by songwriting duo Ian James White and Nicky Brennan, who together bring over 20 years of experience in the music industry.
The duo joined forces with acclaimed singer-songwriter and native Irish speaker Jenny Ní Ruiséil to work on the song, blending lyrical authenticity with soaring, contemporary pop production.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live on TG4 on Saturday, December 13 at 7.30pm.
Viewers can help decide the winner of this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest by voting online at JESC.TV and, unlike the senior competition, fans can vote for their own country.