Irish Got Talent is the Irish equivalent of the global Got Talent franchise. The series premiered on Virgin Media One (formerly known as “TV3”) on February 3, 2018, and was hosted by Lucy Kennedy. It was accompanied by a sister show called “Irland’s Got Mór Talent,” which was hosted by Glenda Gilson and James Cavanagh.
A panel of judges, which included Denise van Outen, Jason Byrne, Michelle Visage, and Louis Walsh, will judge contestants of any age with any talent. Those who pass the audition compete in a series of live semi-finals against other performers, with the two winning performers in each semi-final advancing to the live show final.
The winner will receive a €50,000 cash prize as well as their own prime-time Christmas television special on Virgin Media One. It has been announced that current The X Factor judge Louis Walsh will produce a new Irish talent show alongside Simon Cowell. The show was supposed to debut in 2017 or 2018.
Walsh later stated that he would like to air an Irish version of Got Talent, though the untitled talent show was still in its early stages of development. RTÉ One and TV3 expressed interest in commissioning the show, but TV3 initially canceled it in 2016. During the series’ premiere, Simon Cowell announced that he would be a special guest judge on the show.
