When it comes to Eurovision, I’m your man. Junior Eurovision, though, not so much.

It’s hard to believe that the kids’ version of our favourite contest has been with us since 2003 already. It’s a lovely idea – what’s not to like about showcasing young songwriting and performing skills?

But it became clear pretty early on that the target audiences for Eurovision and its junior counterpart didn’t quite overlap. Yes, there’s still the flag-waving excitement of a national competition. There’s still the razzamatazz of an expensive, slick TV extravaganza. But it can all feel a bit… twee. Great for other showbiz-minded kids (I’d have loved it as a theatrical pre-teen) and cooing grandparents, but not quite the banger-factory Eurovision proper had become.

Irish Surprise

So, imagine my surprise when Ireland popped up this year with a song that made me rethink the whole shebang. The country has tasked Irish-language station TG4 with selecting its junior entry since its 2015 debut, which has meant a stream of non-anglophone entries that are joy to polyglots’ musical ears. In fact, Junior Eurovision has been flying the flag for non-English entries well into ‘daddy’ Eurovision’s broken English-heavy, post-language rule phase.

It turns out that Junior Eurovision is very much a contest of two camps. On one hand, you do have the saccharine, milk tooth and pigtails contingent (which often wins thanks to a seemingly sentimental jury vote). On the other, you have a more grown-up side to the contest with the slightly older kids entering sometimes quite sophisticated pop. And so it is with Ireland this year, represented confidently by Enya Cox Dempsey and the Eurovision-worthy Le chéile (Together).

It’s the kind of tune you can dance to. It’s a mature, well-produced mix. And it has hooks for days. This is no cookie-cutter junior bop—it’s a song that could hold its own on the adult stage.

In the end – perhaps predictably – it didn’t fare so well in the voting, ending up 15th out of 17 (again, it’s those sentimental juries). But it was fresh, catchy and authentic, and well worth adding to a Gaeilge pop playlist.

In any case, props to TG4 for providing a stream of Irish-language bops to a wider European audience. There’s a lesson here for the grown-up event: Eurovision needs to reclaim its roots and embrace more authentic language diversity.

Let’s see that role reversal!