Eimear Quinn, the 1996 Irish Eurovision winner, is getting into the festive spirit with a series of special concerts.

First off is an appearance at the Pavillion Theatre next Thursday evening, 19 December. The Irish singer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, will perform the carols and songs from her 2007 album, O Holy Night. The album contains both new and established seasonal songs in English, Irish and Latin. It was recorded following the rapturous reception of her performance of the traditional Christmas carol, O Holy Night, a translation of the Cantique de Noël, on RTÉ Radio 1’s Tubridy Show Christmas special the year before.  She will be joined on stage by Mamisa String Quartet.

Eimear will then take to the stage of Ireland’s National Concert Hall, Dublin, as part of the Christmas Concert featuring the Snowman from Friday 20 until Sunday 22 December. With narration from actress Pauline McLynn, as well as live shadow puppet animation, Eimear Quinn and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra will perform music from the 1982 animated film based on Raymond Brigg’s famous picture book for children, the Snowman. Perhaps most notable in the film’s soundtrack is the song Walking in the Air, recorded in 1982 by operatic tenor Peter Auty, and made a hit in 1985 by Welsh treble, Aled Jones. The concert will also feature music from the Nutcracker.

After recording two albums with Irish choral group Anúna,who performed the opening Cloudsong of  Riverdance at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 in Dublin, Eimear Quinn won Ireland’s National Song Contest 1996 with the song The Voice. She went on to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo later that same year. Her subsequent victory in Norway was Ireland’s fourth in five years.

The experience of singing in the Eurovision was character building to say the least, she would later say in an interview with celticcafe. It was wonderful, and scary, and terrifying, and challenging, and glamorous, and hectic, and thrilling, all at the same time. In the auditorium there was an audience of 8,000 and at home, on the other side of the TV cameras, there was an audience of 200 million. Even though all the polls said that the Irish song would win I still didn’t believe it until it happened. Although it is just a lot of fun, I did feel a sense of national pride that was very fulfilling. The experience was massively intense and something which I will value all my life.

Eimear performing The Voice 

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest information on Ireland and the Eurovision Song Contest.