Mr Reggae set to star on Ireland’s Got Talent
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A RETIRED roofer with a passion for reggae will make a star turn on this week’s Ireland’s Got Talent TV show on TV3, after being turned down for a Late Late Show performance last October.
Originally from Crumlin, Philip Murphy – also known as Mr Reggae – has lived in Tallaght for over 20 years and is a familiar sight to karaoke fans in Morton’s Pub in Firhouse, where he regularly belts out reggae hits by his favourite performers, Bob Marley and Eddy Grant.
The 72-year-old will perform a cover of Eddy Grant’s ‘Gimme Hope Joanna’ on the nationwide talent show, which will finally give Philip an opportunity to bring his reggae covers to the small screen after his hopes of a Late Late Show performance were dashed last year.
The talented signer won a month-long talent contest as part of a nationwide search by The Late Late Show for a singer to represent Ireland at the World Karaoke Championships last year, with the winner believing he would be performing on the popular RTE show as a result of his win. However, this was not to be due to a last minute editoral decision by RTE.
Now the father-of-five is hoping to wow the Ireland’s Got Talent judges with his note-perfect reggae singing voice, which he has described as a “crowd pleaser”.
Tallaght is all also being represented by a group of young ballroom dancers from local school Xquisite Dance, who aged between nine and 11 years, will attempt to gracefully step their way closer to the live shows.
The group has been working together for two years and practice five days a week, with some of the group dancing since they were three and four years of age.
You can catch Philip and Xquisite on Ireland’s Got Talent on TV3 on Saturday, February 10, at 7.30pm.
