Fiddle Dee Dee

A couple of months ago, I happened upon the Myspace of Galway-based boyo, Daithí O' Droney. I'm not a very regular Myspace user and I'm pretty fussy about who I 'befriend' on there. (Just stay away from me, Conchita Marquez.) However, the electric violin tracks on Daithí's page, sounding like Final Fantasy crossed with Foals, caught my attention and I asked him to be my cybermate.

Somewhere on the page, he mentioned that somebody from RTE had advised him to set up a Myspace page and there was 'something big' coming in the new year. I didn't give it much thought until last week when, after a chance visit to his page, I twigged that he was one of the contestants on 'The All Ireland Talent Show'.

I'm fairly cynical when it comes to televised 'talent shows'. The programming itself can occasionally be entertaining enough (especially in the earlier stages when deluded wannabes disgrace themselves on national television) but the 'talent' is rarely all that exciting, particularly in Irish shows.

That said, I'm very tempted to tune in to watch this show to see how young Daithí progresses. I fear a more conventional 'talent' will triumph and we'll be subjected to the inevitable butchered cover version that becomes the year's biggest selling single but, all the same, for this sort of music to be provided with such a prominent platform is fantastic.

Check out Daithí's songs on his myspace. I've had them on loop all day. He also has some cool videos on his youtube channel like this one:



If Daithí progresses beyond the Connaught regional final in the contest, then he may end up facing DCU girl Holly Traynor from Drogheda. Holly did a great job directing DCU Drama's pantomime before Christmas but seemingly she's just as comfortable in the spotlight as she is behind the scenes. Her talent isn't easy to describe so it's probably best you check it out for yourself.


[Image: Myspace]