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Shannon Murphy strutting her stuff onstage at The Helix in her last performance in The Voice of Ireland competition. Shannon appears in the competition again this Sunday night. Photo: Kyran O’Brien

Shannon Murphy is primed and ready to return to the stage at The Helix for the next round of the live shows on Sunday night in the Voice of Ireland. The Castletownroche girl says she's still hugely enjoying the experience of performing in such a high profile competition. Her song this week is a newish one, she says but she's performing a slowed down and stripped back version of it which she hopes the audience and of course the all-important voters like.

"I hope I get the emotion across," she said. "It was Andy MacUnfraidh who told me I should sing this song, he would have been singing it if he's stayed in the competition," Shannon explained this week. "You need to sing my song, it would suit you better than the one you've chosen," he told her. She's hoping now to do it justice for Andy whom she was sorry to see not making it to the next round of the competition.

"It's hard, I was really upset to see him going out," she said. Shannon said competitors have grown very close to one another and have 'great craic' as well as putting in a lot of hard work. "It's very intense, apart from the rehearsals you're thinking about it all week, how you're going to perform, how the public will vote, it's very draining," she said.

Shannon has had to pull out of her music performance course at Coláiste an Chraoibhin due to the demands of the competition. "I'm a college dropout!" she says ruefully. That said, she is thrilled at the support the college has given her. "They are 100% behind me." She is also very gratified by the level of support she's receiving from her area. Posters of Shannon now adorn retail and business premises throughout her area.

Shannon's Mam, her Nana and brother have travelled to the Helix every week she has performed to support her. Her Dad and his wife and an uncle and his wife were there to cheer her on during her most recent performance. As she prepares to take the stage again this weekend, Shannon says she is hoping for the continued support of the people of north Cork.

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