Cork school celebrates musical talents of students in Schoolovision Song Contest 

This Valentine’s Day was extra special in one Douglas primary school, as its annual celebration of its students musical talent reached a significant milestone in a joyous show of hard work and fun.

Scoil Bhríde Eglantine NS held its 20th Schoolovision Song Contest on Friday, February 14, and it was a huge hit with pupils, teachers, and parents alike.

The competition was open to pupils from the school, and the children wrote and composed their own original songs and submitted them before Christmas.

This year’s Schoolovision Song Contest received a whopping 42 entries, and as ever the quality of entry was stellar, with one teacher describing the high standard as “a huge achievement for kids aged as young as nine”.

The almost impossible job of narrowing down the 42 entries to 10 finalists went to members of the school staff, who received some assistance from an outside adjudicator from the TTU Cork School of Music.

The 10 finalists recorded their songs on the school website eglantine.ie and by the time the big day came, the whole school had been listening and everyone was singing along to their tunes.

On the morning of song contest, the audience of pupils, parents and families arrived for the show, with banners and posters of their favourite bands held aloft as the acts took to the stage.

Many of the pupils had t-shirts printed in their band name, with more than a few trips to Penneys needed to get the right outfit.

The pupils sang songs inspired by a wide range of topics, ranging from animals, to friendship, to ice cream, and to holidays.

The young musical stars were ably guided through the show by its presenters, Ellie Calliss and Maria Boland, and, as usual, the Schoolovision Song Contest proved a fun day for all the school.

After the show, Ms Maxwell’s fifth class performed a dance to Bruno Mars and Rose’s song, ‘APT’.

Then, to wrap the entire production up in a beautiful Valentine’s Day bow, there was the hotly anticipated secret act, which is always a challenge to keep quiet ahead of the show, but this year the act featured two friendly aliens who visited the school to offer their congratulations on 20 years of Schoolovision.

Schoolovision is an annual event at Scoil Bhríde Eglantine NS, curated by teacher Rosie O’Shea and supported by school principal Geraldine O’Brien, who encouraged staff and pupils to “have fun and reach for the stars”.