Wannabe pop idols hope to hit a high note

STARMAKER Louis Walsh's latest talent competition is set to turn this year's Rose of Tralee Festival into Tinseltown for thousands of wannabe young singers.

Billed as a main event at the festival, the aptly-titled Rose Pop Idol will be open to people between 11 and 17.

The winner, who will be announced on Monday, August 26, in Tralee, will be spring-boarded to fame, and possibly fortune, with the opportunity to sing live at the festival, record a single and get huge media coverage.

Louis will also be on hand to give the winner a bit of advice on how to reach for the stars, as will members of his latest pop band, Six, who are among the festival’s star attractions. Meanwhile, Kerryman and Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’Donoghue, yesterday defended the Government’s decision last December to make a once-off payment of 320,000 euro to the festival. The festival has also been offered 75,000 under the Festivals and Cultural Events Initiative to develop and implement a strategy that secures its long-term future.

The minister said he was aware of criticism about the festival benefiting from the funding, but Kerry, after all, invented festivals, he said. He pointed out that it cost about 952.50 to stage the first festival in 1959, when it had just five entrants from Kerry, Cork, Dublin, New York and Boston.

Mr O’Donoghue said the festival now attracted almost 100,000 visitors, about a quarter of whom travel from overseas, and contributes almost 25 million to the local economy each year.

Festival chief executive Noreen Cassidy said the funding was being used to underpin the festival’s future and not to clear accumulated debts, which at one stage totalled 500,000. Steps had been taken to significantly reduce those debts over the past three years. The 28 Roses will arrive in Dublin on Tuesday, August 20, from where they will embark on a whistle-stop tour of Ireland before arriving in Tralee on Friday, August 23.

Marty Whelan will again host the televised event. The festival will literally start with a bang on Friday, August 23, with a huge water, light and fireworks show accompanied by Extreme Rhythm, of Riverdance fame.