Vivien looks back on her "Rose of Tralee Festival"
Wow, so this is what it is like on the other side
of the festival. My body aches, I have had something like
12 hours sleep in 9 days.
Our schedule has been absolutely full-on, and when
I did finally manage to get down time all I wanted to do was shut
my eyes and catch up on some sleep. I'll give a brief run
down on what was beyond a doubt, the best week of my life.
| Tuesday 20th (August) |
All contestants
and RTE Show crew met at Clarion hotel in Dublin. Spent
all day getting to know each other and organising the shows
for the final nights on TV. All the girls were gorgeous,
photos on the website do not pay any of them justice. We
met with OLAY reps who gave us Max Factor makeup and Olay
skincare products - it will all last me about 2 years. Had
dinner with one of the sponsors who gave us phone cards
which will last me a few weeks. Dinner turned into a late
night singing session. |
| Wednesday 21st |
Up at the crack
of dawn. Morning spent at RTE. It seemed like every
press photographer in Dublin was there to get a piece of
us. We all travelled on a big ROT bus and in getting to
the heart of Dublin we received a police escort. 28
girls in fits of laughter as we went screaming through Dublin
with 4 Garda motorbikes and 2 cars surrounding us, moving
traffic and running red lights so we could get to our engagements
on time. Madness.
Hung out listening to bands in the street
and then moved down to Carlow, stopping at various places
on the way. Escorted by police the whole way of
course!
Had an incredible reception in Carlow -
the whole town came out to welcome us and we all received
a rose from 28 4-year old boys in tuxedos, too cute!
Had a civic reception at the council buildings and then
paraded through town, loads of bands and street performers
etc.
Had dinner at the hotel we were staying
at with locals and the mayor, again several of the girls
got up to perform. A guy from Riverdance did a show
for us. By now all us girls had become pretty close
and were really beginning to enjoy ourselves. |
| Thursday 22nd |
Spent the day in
Carlow and surrounding areas, visited a couple of castles,
gardens and signed autographs. Had our photos taken
and drank Moet. The kids adore you and everyone wants
a piece of you, its like a crash course in stardom and is
extremely overwhelming. We toured
around the county in about 12 vintage cars. I was
in a Rolls Royce - gorgeous!
We then had a night parade on horse-drawn
carriages and dinner at a very palatial restaurant.
At dinner I sat with the UK, New York and Italian Roses
and swear it was one of the best times I had all week.
Just hilarious. And absolutely everything paid for!! |
| Friday 23rd |
Tralee Festival
opens tonight.
Spent the morning at the Olay factory and
lunched at another hotel. Traveled across Limerick
through to Tralee, stopping at villages along the way.
When we arrived in Tralee we had to go straight into the
Dome (a massive marquee where the show, ball and fashion
shows will be held).
Here we met our escorts. When we arived
the boys had to sing to us and we had to sing back to
them. It was so funny, they sang "You're too
good to be true" or whatever its called - we sang
" Who let the dogs out".
Ball night.
We had 30 minutes to get ready for the ball.
There was a champagne reception first and then we headed
over; around 1200 people there. We were all introduced
to the sponsors, supporters etc.
The band were excellent and we danced till
2 in the morning. My escort was fantastic, clicked
immediately and had a good laugh.
Stayed up in the girls rooms and ate pizza
till late (the cool thing is that we can call our escorts
at 3am and get them to run errands for us - priceless!) |
| Saturday 24th |
Once again - up
around 8am. Spent the day in interviews, visited our
"twinning pubs" (we were each paired with a bar
in town). Bayleys Corner was my pub and one of the
better ones. Loads of people came to see us and here
we were drinking Jamesons at 11am. The
fair was on in town, circus and always bands playing on
the main stage. Weather absolutely amazing - around
23-25 degrees every day.
Had dinner at a hotel in town and then headed
off for the parade. We were on massive fancy floats
and had bands in between us. You couldn't see for
people and everyone was taking photos and throwing books
at us for our autographs. There were lights all
down the streets and it was like being in a Christmas
parade or something.
I still can't believe how many people were
there and at the end we were all introduced individually
on stage.
There was a reception party afterwards and
again a great band and loads of dancing, in bed around
4am |
| Sunday 25th |
Up at 7am to head
to mass. We had to wear hats etc. Was quite a long
Mass with a lot of singing. I suspect many of the
girls hid their eyes behind their hats and had a few zzzzzzzz's.
Following that we had to attend a church
of Ireland Mass. Met a guy from Queenstown.
I was surprised and pleased by how many people were supporting
me who had been to New Zealand or had connections there.
Lunch after church(s) and then another parade.
Then we went to the Circus - just a bunch of freaks in
a tent. Was a good chance for a little shut-eye!
More interviews with judges etc. |
| Sunday night |
We went to a fantastic
old Irish pub and had dinner, met loads of people and had
a laugh. It was quite a relaxing night. We were
all presented with a gold pendant with our names inscribed
in ancient Irish wirting - it's beautiful. Following
dinner we headed to a fashion show in the Dome, another
after party followed and another 4am finish |
| Monday 26th |
Up early to visit
local hospitals, old peoples homes and sponsors. Busy
day and by now I was really running on adrenaline as I
had zero energy left. We had a fairly relaxing afternoon
as half of the girls had to get ready for their interview
on stage that night. I was to be on Tuesday night,
so was able to just chill out.
We had drinks beforehand and then headed
over. All the girls looked amazing. What a
mad night. Marty Whelan (the compere) was fantastic
- very funny. It was cool to see a live show in
the making. There were about 3,000 people in the
Dome and apparenty this years show had the hightest ratings
ever. We're talking around a million viewers.
Some of the girls sang or danced for their
items; they were all excellent and we had a great laugh.
Escort of the year was announced and there was an after
party to follow at this very cool old pub.
In bed around 4 and up at 8 again. |
Tuesday 27th
D Day |
Had rehearsals in
the Dome for the show; lunch with all of the judges and
the afternoon to get ready for the show. You should
have seen our rooms. We had a floor of the hotel to ourselves
and every room must have had about 14 bunches of flowers
in it. The rooms were all soooo messy. You only
ever spent about 5 minutes in there to change quickly and
get to your next event. I wore my blue dress and the
paua House of Travel gave me, everyone commented on it.
I had my hair up. I was 4th on the night.
14 of us were on that night and I was pretty chilled about
the whole thing. I had got to the point where I
was so tired and to tell you the truth was probably a
little tipsy the whole time anyway!
My time on stage went very quickly.
I had no nerves whatsoever, and enjoyed the experience.
Ian freaked out when the cameras went on him, (he he!!)
You sort of just think that you are only talking to everyone
in the room and not that everyone you have seen all week
and half the country is at home watching you!
My write up in the papers said I was "cool,calm
and collected and elegant in emerald green" so I
was pretty happy with that.
At about 11pm they announced the winner.
Wow, what a moment!
You could just feel this incredible tension
in the room and the suspense just killed everyone!
I was absolutely wrapped that Tamara won. She is
one crazy kid - completely nuts but 100% genuine - tells
it like it is and has loads of charisma. She looked
great and will be good for the Festival. They need
a whole new approach as a lot of people don't realise
how modern and funky it is. Its not the traditional
type of contest that most people think. She was
hilarious, the funniest chick ever, always caught her
smoking in the toilets and misbehaving, but she's real,
and I like that.
I wasn't really disappointed that I missed
out. Everyone deserved it and it just wasn't my
year. Everyone said that we were the best group
of girls they have had in years. Everyone got home around
10am on Wednesday morning after being out celebrating
all night. It was the hugest night ever! |
| Wednesday 29th |
Still a few people
around. Checked out of the hotel. Still had
no sleep, wandered around in a daze for a few hours and
then had a sleep for about an hour. Ian and I are
now staying with Triona's parents in Tralee for a couple
of nights. On Wednesday night everyone
who was still here went out - about 12 of the girls and
pretty much all of the boys.
It was so nice to just hang out and have
a few beers in our jeans, without any makeup!
Everyone was so relaxed it was great, danced in the streets
again till 6am and then came home and slept all day today. |
So thats it - all over.
When I look back on everything I don't know whether
to laugh or cry. I have met the most incredible people this
past week and made friends for life. Being a part of a festival
like this just overwhelms you, I could never explain it fully
but I just can't wait to come back next year and see it from the
other side.
Quite a few of the girls are staying on in Dublin
and most the guys are from there so we'll be heading back that
way. Have made loads of contacts for work and have sorted
a few places to stay which is cool.
I now have to do some washing and sort out what
needs to be sent home. I have so many gifts, crystal, jewellery,
books, CDs, China etc. - unreal.
Can't wait to see photos and when I can will have
them scanned and sent home.
My favourite memories are the parades, the numerous
people who stopped to talk to me in the pub and have a laugh,
eating pizza at 4am and hanging out with the girls and just singing,
constantly having someone peform or entertain or laugh with.
It's pretty sad leaving now. You get so close
and are thrown into this unimaginable world and then you have
to walk away from it and carry on as you were before. I'll
miss it, but have loads to look forward to over the next few months.
I'm now really pleased we did decide to stay on afterwards as
I have so many good friends here already and going back to work
would have been a little depressing. I guess you try to
hold onto some things for as long as you can.
Thanks for reading this far. I hope you've
got a feel for what it's been like. It will certainly be
a long time before I have another week like this one.
All the best to everyone at home - you're all in
my thoughts.
Love Always
Viv
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