Athlone father and daughter aim to please

Athlone singing duo Bernard and Eva Coyle have a whirlwind five days ahead of themselves. The Cornafulla father and daughter, representing the West, are finally getting their chance to shine in the fourth live show of the All Ireland Talent Show this coming Sunday on RTÉ One. The pair are travelling to Dublin today (Wednesday) to begin rehearsals before taking to the stage for their live performance in front of the judges, studio audience and the viewers at home on Sunday evening. They"re battling it out with four other acts to win a place in the grand final taking place on March 14 and be in with a chance of winning €50,000 in prize money. 'We"re very excited and a little bit nervous,' said Bernard. 'Eva is looking forward to it as well. It"s a great opportunity and we"ll do the best we can.' Bernard and Eva, who"s in St Joseph"s College, Summerhill, are hugely optimistic and have picked a well-known song to perform - the identify of which has to be kept under wraps until the show. 'It"s a lively number, we want to make the audience happy and there"s a bit of a traditional feel to it with the accordion,' said Bernard. A large crowd of extended family and friends from Cornafulla and Athlone will also be in the audience to provide noisy support. The family act were one of five from the west of Ireland category to make it through to the final rounds of the hit talent show. Their mentor is Daithí O"Shea who so far has had two of his acts get through to the final, something Bernard thinks, could go either against them or for them. 'It"s a little easier performing half way through the live shows having seen what"s happened already, but in a way it"s more difficult as two are already through from the West so we have to be aware of that, it might be time for acts from the other areas to get through,' he said. 'But the level of talent at the Galway centre was so high, we"re very proud to get this far.' And perhaps Daithí"s success so far shows that he has a knack in picking what the public loves to hear. Bernard said he"d 'heartfelt appreciation' for the people of Athlone, the business community and Athlone IT for all the support and best wishes they have received since entering the talent show. 'There"s so many people I could single out for thanks, but it wouldn"t be fair to those I"d miss. We"ve received unprecedented support locally and can"t believe what"s happened from just a simple talent show.' Two acts will go through on Sunday night, one will win outright with a combination of public and judges" votes, while the second act will be picked as a wildcard by judges. Don"t miss Bernard and Eva"s performance next Sunday night from 6.30pm on RTÉ One, and make sure your phone is on hand so you can add your crucial vote. Voting numbers will only be given out on the night during the broadcast so stay tuned.