LIFFORD man Kenny Crawford is tuning up to appear this evening on TG4’s country music talent search Glór Tíre.

Kenny will be mentored by country star Johnny Brady in the televised competition.

The show, now in its 18th season, returns to a new studio, set and format. The seven-part series filmed in Studio 5, Cue One in Claregalway, features Ireland’s biggest names in country music including Johnny Brady, Ciarán Rosney, Olivia Douglas and Mike Denver, who will each mentor two contestants.

This year’s winner will receive the much sought after title and a cash prize fund of €5,000. In addition, they will join Mike Denver and friends for one week of shows and performances in Portugal.

The new format features eight contestants in an initial four concert programme. At the end of each of these programmes the judges will choose four contestants who are safe in the competition and four contestants who will face the intense public live vote as part of the first elimination. Voting will only open live during the first elimination programme and all votes are zeroed after each elimination. Ultimately five contestants will make it to the semi-final and three will go on to the final when the winner will be announced on February 22.

Wishing Kenny and all the contestants well, reigning Glór Tíre title holder Emma Donoghue said, “I’ve had an amazing year, since winning the Glór Title.  I’ve learnt so much about the country music industry from my mentor Mike Denver, I’ve grown in confidence and built a fantastic, loyal fan base and it’s all thanks to the brilliance of TG4 and the Glór Tíre series.”