Get Claudia Rose to Sing at Pairc Uí Rinn

10th Feb 2015

The PROC was very proud to see Ballyphehane girl Claudia Rose Long put in a superb performance on The Voice UK last Saturday night. In typical Cork fashion she didn’t bother with the Dublin version of the show and went straight to the big time on the BBC singing a stunning version of Jenifer Hudson’s Love You I Do from the movie Dreamgirls.

We have to say we loved the shots of Claudia’s family as they waited for the judges to react were priceless:  egging them on to hit their buttons with the passion and enthusiasm of a Town End full of Rebels in Semple Stadium on a championship Sunday.
 

On hitting the perfect high note as the song ended (if you haven’t seen the video online you really have to check it out) Tom Jones slammed his button and immediately took Claudia under his wing for the next stage of the show.

Being from Cork, we cannot come up with any reason that Claudia should not now go on and win this year’s competition (if she doesn’t, don’t worry, we’ll do our best to uncover the anti-Cork conspiracy) and we have the perfect gig for her this weekend to get the Rebel county behind her.
 
Before the big clash between Cork and Kilkenny on Saturday night in Pairc Uí Rinn we’ll be subjected to the Irish national anthem played on the Cork County Board’s official gramophone (which, judging by the sound quality, was possibly purchased at a flea market on the day the GAA itself was set up in 1884) and a vinyl recording of The Solider’s Song that would serve a far better purpose as vinyl on the floor of the stadium’s kitchen where crumbs from Captain Nash’s post-match sandwiches could be collected more efficiently and sold for hundreds to adoring fans on eBay.
 

Tom Jones hits the button as Claudia Rose hits the high note

What better way to generate a bit of extra marketing hype and local goodwill for the league opener than to invite Claudia Rose to sing Amhrán na bhFiann (or preferably The Banks!) in front of the big crowd at Pairc Uí Rinn. It would definitely bring more than a few fans of The Voice to the game too who might have otherwise stayed at home and it might cheer up some of the cranky hurling fans that have just woken up out of their winter hibernation.

Almost no one in the crowd or on the pitch sings the national anthem anyway just in case they’d be accused of having been good at Irish in school and not maintaining the national consensus that it was taught too badly in school to be sung or spoken in public – wink, wink.

With an incredible soulful voice like Claudia’s there isn’t a single Cork player that couldn’t be inspired to reach their own high notes during what will be a very tough challenge for JBM’s troops against the black and amber Stepford Wives.

Legendary soul singer Tom Jones was clearly gobsmacked by her talent and described our Claudia as a “powerhouse”. That’s what Nash and the boys will need to be to pull off a victory against the All-Ireland champions on Saturday night.
 

Cork V Kilkenny: sure where else would you be going on Valentine's night?

The county board may not have heard of Claudia before, at just 17 years old few have, but they’ll have no doubt heard of her coach, the well known opera singer, Mary Hegarty – used by many the priest around the county to juice up Sunday mass now and then. The national league will always find new young hurlers so it’s time we let the next generation take over the musical reigns too.

There’s no need for the some atrocious backing track to keep Claudia in tune either – this girl is pitch perfect – all we need is a wireless mic from one of Cork’s several excellent audio equipment hire gafs and away we go.

And if Cork are victorious Claudia might even give Nash and the lads a rendition of The Banks as they stroll off the field followed by a thousand screaming smallies with little hurleys looking for autographs.

And if he’s around maybe we could persuade Tom Jones to join us for a Beamish or a Murphy’s afterwards to see if he’d be ok with Claudia Rose coming back to Cork to sing from the stage on the South Mall when the hurlers bring Liam McCarthy back in September.

More info on Saturday night's game here:
http://gaacork.ie/news/351654/Cork_v_Kilkenny_Allianz_Hurling_League_Sat_Feb_14th_Pairc_Ui_Ri