Talent show semi-final slot for Daithí

A young North Clare man has outshone thousands of hopefuls to make it to the semi-final of the Sky 1 series Must be the Music.
Daithí Ó Drónaí from Ballyvaughan will be familiar to many people after reaching to the final of the All-Ireland Talent Show last year.
Last weekend however, Daithí made it to the final 15 of the Sky 1 show after being endorsed by all three judges in the competition – rapper Dizzee Rascal, Ivor Novello winner Sharleen Spiteri and Britain’s biggest-selling jazz artist, Jamie Cullum.
Daithí is competing for a prize of £100,000 and the opportunity to perform at Wembley Arena. “I haven’t even thought that far ahead,” Daithí told The Clare Champion.
“My aim is to live comfortably off music so that I wouldn’t have to work anywhere else and the £100,000 would be a good start,” he added. 
Music is in Daithí’s family. His brother plays the flute, his grandfather is well-known concertina player Chris Droney and he learned to play the fiddle from his aunt, Áine McGrath, before giving it up at 13. Daithí is now in his third year at NUIG Carraroe, where he studies Cumarsaid, or media through Irish. He also works part-time at Aillwee Cave.
It was in college that his interest in playing the fiddle reignited and he began experimenting with it using a loop station. Now his cross between electro and traditional Irish music is wowing the judges on the hugely popular talent show. The piece of music he will perform on Sunday’s show is called Carraroe.
After a friend suggested that Must be the Music would be good for his career, Daithí travelled to the Hackney Empire, London and auditioned for the judges, who all spoke very highly of him.
“So far the experience has been really strange. It is such a big competition and there are so many people involved. The big thing about the competition is that they really represent the artist. Through the show I have a publicist that sets me up with gigs. They will help me record a track and after the semi-final people can download it and the profits go to me,” Daithí explained. 
As well as the pieces being available on iTunes and Sky Songs, each of the finalists also has their own line of merchandise available for sale to the public on the official website sky1.sky.com/must-be-the-music. The show is one of the only British-made talent programmes to allow Republic of Ireland residents to vote and this is something Daithí hopes will stand to him.
“The semi final is on Sunday and it is one of the first times that Irish people can vote on one of these shows so that is a big deal. It would be great to get votes and to get an Irish act into the final would be fantastic,” said Daithí. 
The show is on Sunday at 7pm on Sky1 HD.