Mullingar girl will be pitch perfect on TV

Niamh O'Shea from Marlinstown has been part of the Mullingar theatre and musical scene since she was knee high to a grasshopper, and now she features in a new TG4 series called Pitch Perfect.Niamh, fluent Irish speaker and soon to be fully qualified primary school teacher, was part of a 30-strong choir that took centre stage in Croke Park on all-Ireland final day.Hitting the screens on November 7, Niamh was filmed every weekend in August, culminating in the choir singing the songs of the opposing teams.Mentors like renowned Irish Soprano Niamh Murray and composer and former musical director with Riverdance Colm O Foghlú, travelled the country to find the best selection of altos, sopranos, basses and tenors, and trained the 30 voices over a tough eight weeks.And Niamh was one of the lucky chosen!Filming for the series was in locations such as Maynooth College, the Gaiety Theatre and the National Concert Hall, featuring notable guests including Anuna, Colm Wilkinson, River Dance percussionist Ian McTigue, Barber Shop Quartet Four in a Bar and Rock Band Stand. Niamh told the Westmeath Examiner it was a great experience but she didn't realise what she was letting herself in for at the beginning. "I was in the Gaeltacht for the summer and a friend of mine said his bean an ti's friend was putting a choir together to sing at the all-Ireland and if any of us were interested to get in touch, which I did."It was only after I auditioned that I realised that they were making an eight-part series, kind of like a reality TV show," Niamh explains."It focused on how the choir were put together and how we worked together, and on the big day in Croke Park of course, so I really didn't know what I was getting myself into," she laughs.What was it like having a crew following her every move?"You kind of forget about them after a while and it definitely gives you a different view of watching the X-Factor and shows like that - some of it can be quite staged," she smiles."But the actual day of the all-Ireland was unbelievable!"I've sung in Croke Park before for the ladies final, but it was nothing like the big one - there was such a huge crowd!"Even when we were just walking in, we could just see a tiny section of the crowd, the stand packed full of people, and when we walked out of the tunnel there's just so many people everywhere."You know, when you hear people talk the emotion of singing, well it was definitely true on that day, like I don't know how any of us managed to actually sing without bawling our eyes out, you could just feel the surge of emotion from everyone!"You feel proud that you've got that far, it's just a big deal to be at Croke Park on all-Ireland final day.I don't how the players go out and play, the pressure is just immense."All the Kerry supporters started joining in singing the Rose of Tralee with us and then all the Dubs started shouting from the Hill, it was just crazy, it was amazing."Tune into TG4 on Monday November 7 at 7.30pm for Pitch Perfect.