Back to reality for TV star Lauren

Little Lauren Murtagh from Navan wowed the audience in the live semi-finals of the 'All-Ireland Talent Show" on RTE Television on Sunday and, although she did not make it through to the final, her family and friends are very proud of her achievements. The seven-year-old thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and was delighted to have made it so far in the competition. Lauren, who is a daughter of Linda and Darren Murtagh from Ferndale, narrowly missed out on getting a place in the wildcard show after judge Dana chose Rachel Goode to go through to the wildcard stage. While Lauren was a 'little bit upset' not to get through, her mother Linda said she had forgotten about it 20 minutes later and was running around and joining in the singsong with the other acts back in the hotel. Lauren sang 'Valerie", the song made famous by Amy Winehouse, and impressed judges to get joint second place on her judge"s scores on Sunday evening. Her mentor on the show was Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh. More than 50 family members and friends travelled to the studios in Wicklow to support Lauren at the live show and her parents have thanked everyone who supported her and all those who voted for her. The little girl also got lots of good luck cards and her mum said there had been a 'great buzz'. She added: 'We are very proud of Lauren. We were absolutely delighted with her. It was a fantastic opportunity for her and a great experience for us all. We had a ball and Lauren made loads of friends with the other acts.' Despite being only seven and singing live on television in front of tens of thousands of viewers, Lauren was not at all nervous before the show and Mrs Murtagh said she thought she"d never get out on stage to sing. One of the highlights of the experience for Lauren was getting to meet Dustin the Turkey who interviewed her on the follow-up show last Friday night. Lauren returned to school yesterday morning (Tuesday) to a great welcome from her school friends and teachers.