The Aussievision team have listened and ranked all Junior Eurovision songs and we have our final rankings. Ireland have finished in 13th place. Details, individual rankings and comments below.
The entry
Maiú Levi Lawlor - 'Saor (Disappear)'
This year Ireland is being represented by 14 year old Maiú Levi Lawlor.
Maiú is from County Wicklow in eastern Ireland. Alongside singing, he loves swimming, basketball and is in the Scouts. He has also performed on RTE’s Late Late Toy Show and Britain's Got Talent. He won the Irish National Final Junior Eurovision Eire to earn the right to represent Ireland at Junior Eurovision this year.
Ireland's entry this year is called 'Saor', and it means 'Free' in Gaelic. It was written by a team of Irish and Maltese songwriters. The team included Ireland's JESC 2019 representative Anna Kearney, and Anna Banks, who is the sister of their 2015 JESC representative Aimee.
The Aussievision team rankings
5th - Ford
6th - Craig
8th - Cooper
8th - Hayley
11th - Josh
11th - Laura
11th - Steve
11th - Tim
12th - Kyriakos
14th - Estelle
15th - Hugo
17th - Dale
17th - Mike
18th - Emma
The comments
It feels weird to say it, but I didn't really picture Ireland being this high when I did my rankings. But something about the song was memorable and stood out to me, and in such a large field of entries, that's often what you need. The song has that bit of a rock and roll vibe, and the singer's voice is deeper than everyone else's competing. It's just those memorable things that stand out in your mind that rank it higher. I don't have a lot of hope for Ireland winning the contest, but it's not a bad song, and it should do okay. ~ Ford
I think people are sleeping on this. My criterion for JESC is always "Can I see this lifting the roof off at a primary school disco?", and I can absolutely see kids bopping along to 'Saor' in December. While perhaps a touch dated, it's kid-friendly without being patronising and has a really memorable chorus. I have no idea whether Maiú is a strong live performer, but if he can give this some wallop in Paris, I see no reason why Ireland shouldn't do well this year. ~ Craig
I like the pop punk element of this song but again I think it lacks a few key moments to hang on to and the bridge feels super clunky. But high energy and a bit of fun. Not the worst! ~ Dale
'2000's Disney Channel' pop rock isn't something I was expecting to hear at Junior Eurovision in 2021, but here we are. I really like the song and it stands out in the pack. Can't wait to see how they stage it. ~ Cooper
Ireland at Junior Eurovision
Coming in for their sixth appearance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Ireland first debuted alongside Australia at the 2015 Contest in Sofia, Bulgaria. They have competed almost every year since, taking off the 2020 Contest due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The nation have not been the most successful country at the Contest, though, with their highest placing to date being Zena Donnelly's 'Bríce ar bhríce', which finished in tenth place in 2016.
Despite English being one of the official languages of the country, Ireland's entries to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest must be sung mainly in Irish due to their representative broadcaster, TG4, being an Irish-language broadcaster.
"The entry" written by Ally, and "Ireland at Junior Eurovision" written by Ford
Aussievision team's Junior Eurovision 2021 rankings
Aussievision Podcast - Junior Eurovision 2021 Preview
Our bonus preview episode of Junior Eurovision 2021 is out. We run through the Contest, the top 3 songs from the Aussievision team and make predictions.
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts here:
And on Spotify here: