The All Ireland Talent Show is a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, completing on 15 March 2009. Modelled on Got Talent, it is produced by Tyrone Productions. Airing on RTÉ One, it was hosted by Gráinne Seoige.
Five judges take part and each regional judge, with the assistance of two other personalities who then disappear from the show, select five acts to be put forward to the live studio heats. In the second season this was changed to eight acts. Louis Walsh was approached to act as a judge before series one but refused to commit. On the opening night of series one, The All Ireland Talent Show had over 500,000 viewers, with Ireland only having a population of over 4 million people. The opening is similar to the Got Talent series. The twenty-five finalists in series one competed for a first prize of €50,000, which was eventually won by the Mulkerrin Brothers of the Aran Islands.
A second series was announced in August 2009. It was scheduled to avoid competition with UK talent show The X Factor which airs on competing channels ITV and Virgin Media One, and BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing. The series was also extended with the addition of eight heats, a wildcard show and two semi-finals. There was also the addition of The All Ireland Talent Show Backstage, a companion show presented by Aidan Power and Dustin the Turkey. Series 2 was won by County Tyrone's Chloe Coyle.
A third series was announced in August 2010. The winner of the third series was Daniel Furlong from Wexford. Furlong was the third child act to win the series.
The series was axed in July 2011 and replaced by The Voice of Ireland, based on the hit Dutch TV series The Voice of Holland.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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