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Rose of Tralee bosses BAN dated party piece

65 Rose of Tralee hopefuls lined out yesterday for the official launch of the Co Kerry festival – and learned that the competition is going to be a little different this year.

While the group of 65 will be whittled down to 32 finalists, the girls will be banned from performing one particular party piece at the live televised final on Monday and Tuesday night.

While party pieces from previous years have showcased a wide range of weird and wonderful talents, this year, Rose of Tralee bosses have issued a ban on traditional poetry – because they want to appeal to a younger, more modern, audience.

Spokesman John Drummey said, “The real reason is because in the olden days, poem were seen as a form of entertainment before all the modern entertainment we now see. They had their place in time.

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“The Rose of Tralee is constantly evolving to stay modern and relevant. We found there weren’t as many people who wanted to do poems anyway. We just made a decision, in consultation with RTE of course.

“That was it really. We’ve nothing against poetry or the creative skills of our Roses who like to write their own poems.

“The show will be a little more fast moving without the poems as well. It’s a decision we made and we might add something to it next year instead,” the spokesman said, according to the Irish Sun.

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Meanwhile, Rose of Tralee host Daithi O Se is excited for the festival, as always.

“I’ll do this as long as I’m asked. It’s a great gig, a labour of love more than anything else.

“It’s a great show to do. First of all I’m on home territory which is always kind of nice. You’ve Roses who are up for anything on stage, within reason of course.

“When you’re doing a show like that it’s really easy to go out on stage and have fun,” he added.

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