No Direction secure X Factor title for Moate
Donie Malone and Richard Price steal the show!
It felt as if the whole of Moate had moved to the Hodson Bay last Friday night as the Westmeath Ladies Football Team hosted their own X Factor Fundraiser.
Three large screens and the appropriate branding, video clips of the contestants, the X Factor voiceovers, and of course the judges all blended together to provide what was a very entertaining evening for all who did attend.
The judges were senior football star Denis Glennon, Dancezone director Sandra Julian, Westmeath Ladies Camogie team captain Aisling Conaty and Pearse Corroon from Mullingar as Simon Cowell.
The night was full of humour from start to finish with Sean Allen introducing the acts and former Rose of Tralee finalist and Westmeath footballer Edel O'Connor interviewing the judges.
Oisin Foley, Chris Reid, Daragh Kinsella and Jack Quinn all performed very well with Jack Quinn leaving the ladies screaming as he eventually managed to secure third place on the night. His second performance during the top three playoff really connected with his audience. Jack was backed by the Golden sisters.
Aisling Conaty was in charge of the girls and had a wonderfully talented quartet representing her on the night. The girls were Sarah Foster (granddaughter of Mick Foster); Rachel Watts who was the lead singer when Dancezone won the TV3 Glee competition, thus earning an appearance at the Childline concert; Aoife Harten, also a member of the Dancezone Stage School and a pupil of Ciaran Brady at the Academy of Music in Tullamore and the very talented Aoife Gavin from Tyrrellspass who we were told was a winner of an U16 county title this year. Although none of the ladies made it through to the final three they all performed really well on the night.
Sandra Julian was in charge of the over twenty fives who really had a "difficult" time from Pearse Corroon. The experienced Robbie McManus, Jean Keenan and Derek Feery all performed really well.
Jean Keenan, a star of many productions over the years surprised many with a very up-tempo song compared to what the audience expected from her. She should do this more often!
Finally, the groups. Pearse Corroon, who I am told does a mean Johnny Cash, was on a winner from the start. He had the cute pair of Jessica Slevin and Clare Molloy who belied their tender years with a great version of the Amy Winehouse hit Valerie and the all singing, all rapping Mairead Mc Cormack and Laura Newman who performed as Lairead. With Mairead localising a well known rap (I am reliably informed) and bounding down from the stage and through the audience they had everyone bopping along with them.
Then we had No Direction, inspired by Michelle Malone (what did Michelle do to deserve this stain on her character?) , this group from the Moate area started off with a clever dance routine and the Coughlan sisters Jennifer and Arlene singing very pleasantly to an appreciative audience, suddenly, it happened, the song changed to the Jedward Eurovision entry Lipstick and two apparitions, resplendent in the most wonderful, body hugging, pink patterned tights, bounded onto the stage and the evening changed completely.
Donie Malone has appeared in many productions over the years but, in years to come he will possibly be best remembered for this particular moment of madness.
I don't know his partner in crime Richard Price but I am sure he will also have many reminders of this night coming back to haunt him in the years ahead. The camera phones were out and I believe the video clips were online as soon as the performance finished.
When I tell you that the four judges all had their phones out to record the moment as well it will give an indication of the reaction in the hall. The crowd loved it. The clapping and the laughter was infectious.
The voting, at one euro a vote, was a tense affair. The acts were all called back to the stage and the top three were announced. No Direction, Lairead and Jack Quinn were the top three and would perform once more before a final audience vote would decide the winner. Cutting a long story short, Jack Quinn finished in third place, Lairead finished in second place and No Direction, the biggest group on the night were then announced as the winners, bringing a fun-filled night to a fitting close.
