TalentBase

HOLLY Carpenter is tonight enjoying her last few hours as Miss Ireland - before handing over her crown.

Thirty-four girls are in contention for the title at Dublin's Ballsbridge Hotel.

The Fibbs are providing the live entertainment.

READ TONIGHT'S HERALD ON THE SHOW... HERE

It was time, this week, to don catsuits and set phasers for fun - as the hugely anticipated Avengers Assemble had its Irish movie premiere.

TalentBase's own Mark Linehan was at The Savoy to interview the Oscar nominated Seamus McGarvey, Director of Photography on the biggest comic book adaptation of all time.

He also chatted to actress Orla Brady, 2FM DJ Rick O'Shea, Republic Of Telly star Eric Lalor and
some comicbook fans who dressed up for the occasion!

http://entertainment.ie/eiTV/ION/ION-at-the-Marvel-Avengers-Assemble/2580.htm

There was a warm response this week to the first public performance of Pop, which premiered recently in London to an invited audience.

Pop is the working title of a screenplay inspired by the memoir Home Fires (Atlantic Books, 2002) by Shivaun Woolfson.

It's the story of one of Dublin's most prominent Jewish families over the course of 1965, a year in which each of their lives changes forever.  Poignant yet humorous, tragic yet endearing, it delves into the complex and difficult areas of anti-Semitism, infidelity, divorce, mental illness and death, all the while painting a fascinating portrait of Dublin Jewish life.  

A staged reading of the play - which stars a number of Irish actors, including Dublin teenager Aela O'Flynn (pictured) - was held on Wednesday, April 25 in the Tristan Bates Theatre in  Covent Garden, London.

It's hoped that the play may now be taken up as a film or TV project.

Audience Response

A staged reading was hosted at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, London on 25 April 2012. Some responses from the audience...

“I would be interested in being involved further as I think the script is very theatrical and if you can retain the current cast then you'll have a good show for sure.” - John Donne, Director, London Irish Theatre

“Many congratulations on a most enjoyable reading. The main characters were very well played. Please pass on my special congratulations to Aela for a truly superb Roisin.” - Doug Holton, Director, In-Ter-Vention Theatre Practices

“A roller coaster of emotions! Very engaging and touching! Great job!” – Alexandra Santos

“It was wonderful - very funny and gripping too.” – Lisa Forrest, film editor

“Fascinating and the cast were so great.” – Jillian Edelstein, photographer/filmmaker

“I found it incredibly moving… I have seen too many plays where the characters lack any kind of positivity and are trapped, so that the message of the play is entirely negative. Yours wasn’t at all like that, quite the opposite. Lovely stuff.” – Gaby Charing

“I thought the reading was brilliant. I loved the writing.” - Mekella Broomberg, Coordinator, Jewish Book Week

“Wow,that was fantastic!! I was captivated by the play.” – Steven Leas, cantor

“I absolutely loved the production. It was exceptional and you could really feel that the audience were captivated with the script and also the phenomenal acting. Isabelle was really was truly fantastic. In fact the whole cast were outstanding! I’m keeping my fingers crossed with regards to seeing this in the theatre, on the box or even in the movie theatres.” – James Sellon

“Thank you so much for inviting us to Pop. I truly enjoyed the staging of it, the actors were brilliant.” - Sergio Forrenis

http://pop-staged-reading.weebly.com/index.html

More than 300 veterans of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress gathered in Dublin this week to remember an event which defined a generation.

Master of ceremonies Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh (81) quipped that there were not many events where he was the youngest person in the room.

The veterans, gathered at the Green Isle Hotel outside Dublin, watched archive footage of the event which depicted a week of celebration which attracted 350,000 foreign visitors.

MC Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh with TalentBase MD John O'Keeffe

Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, 92, recalled the 1932 congress...

READ The Irish Times Report HERE

THAT'S STYLE! Irish stylist Lorna Weightman is the latest edition to the TalentBase family.

A Dublin fashion journalist and popular blogger, Lorna writes a weekly column for the Galway Advertiser and presents the online fashion channel, stylenation.

Follow Lorna at...
@styleisleIRL

Or see her at these upcoming events...

Brown Thomas - store styling workshops 
Born Clothing Galway - in-store styling workshop May 5
The Green Magazine London - high summer photo shoot - April 27
The Westside - style savvy fashion feature - June issue 
Dublin Festival of Fashion - September

www.styleisle.ie

RTÉ.ie will have live coverage from Trabzon, Turkey, of the semi-finals of the AIBA European Olympic Qualifying tournament from 11.30am on Friday 20 April.

There are three Irish boxers in action with Adam Nolan and Tommy McCarthy looking to progress their chances of securing their Olympic berths, while Paddy Barnes’ focus can now turn to winning the tournament after he secured his spot in London with a 17-9 win over Stefan Caslarov of Romania on Wednesday.

Users on the Island of Ireland can watch all 20 bouts on the card via the Sports Player on www.rte.ie/sport

Marty Morrissey will also report on news and Radio with the latest on the Irish boxers hoping to qualify for the London Games.

Check out his reports...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/

http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/2012/0419/317695-olympic-boxing-qualifiers-live-on-rte-ie/

London 2012: “Get Energised Challenge”

The London 2012 Olympics officially get underway in less than 100 days and Electric Ireland, the Team Ireland sponsor, has been marking the occasion with a special "Get Energised Day" at ESB SportsCo.

PhysioNow's chief physiotherapist, Colette O'Flynn joined London 2012 Olympians Peter O'Leary, David Burrows and Deirdre Ryan at a special health and fitness training day in Ringsend...

The Electric Ireland “Get Energised Challenge” is a new initiative for people across Ireland to get “energised” through a series of simple tips from Team Ireland athletes to show how we can all put a little more energy back into our lives.

Amongst the crowd at Sportsco this weekend were the winners of a special Electric Ireland  competition, who got the chance to hear professional tips from physios, nutritionists, sports psychologists and fitness experts. 

For more, and a special set of stretching exercises, click HERE

Introducing the new Ballygowan television ad, encouraging the nation of Ireland to Drink it In.

The ad features TalentBase actor Aela O'Flynn, and other kids from the Independent Theatre Workshop (ITW) in Dublin...

Watch it HERE

Making of the ad Facts!
• It was filmed over a 15 hour shoot day. It required two days transcoding, 4 days editing and several days compositing and grading, together with several days animation time also. 
• It is a sophisticated blend of high end digital film with green screen compositing, computer generated assets, relighting tools and skilled retouching.
• The final look of the film is created with Lustre - a film grading tool regularly used on blockbuster films like Lord of the Rings and King Kong! 
• The ad would not have worked using CGI along - which augmented the real thing, so when people get wet in the ad -- they really do get wet! 
• The Aquagraphics installation consists of two layers made up of 380 separate nozzles per metre (the main screen was 9 metres long!) which are linked to a computer which then triggers the action of the nozzles by scanning the lines of a computer image. The nozzles trigger on and off in a fraction of a second, creating 'water pixels' which cascade downwards in the pattern of the original image. 
• The Aquagraphic screen recycles all of the water it uses from a small reservoir making it completely sustainable.

Two of Ireland's fittest young presenters plan a marathon effort for charity.

Brian Maher of Spin 1038 and Mike Sheridan of entertainment.ie / RTÉ’s TwoTube are planning to run 126 miles (the equivalent of 5 marathons) in one day in aid of Special Olympics Ireland. 

Pushing the limitations of physical and mental endurance, the pair’s journey will begin in Limerick City at 7am on Thursday, April 26. Approximately 30 hours later, they will arrive on Dublin’s Grafton St.

Mark Linehan and the ION TV crew went along to the launch - and showed them the way...

Donations to www.challenge126.com or by texting the word ‘Donate’ to 57252 (ROI) 
to give €2 (min. of €1 goes to Special Olympics Ireland).

From NI, text 85122 (NI) to donate £1.50 (min. of £0.75 goes to the charity). 

Limited tickets available for tonight's studio audience for RTE's 'The Social' with Craig Doyle.

Contact cdlivetickets@rte.ie for tickets

See Danny & Dave from The Coronas in studio chatting with Craig and performing their new single Mark My Words.

The show will be broadcast tonight on RTÉ Two at 10.50pm.