Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
This party-piece is dead,
The audience says....phew!
A spokesperson for the Rose of Tralee festival says the decision to ban poetry party-piece's from this year's TV shows was made in a bid to keep "momentum" and to "keep the show moving".
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Rose of Tralee International Festival spokesperson John Drummey, says the decision to ban the recital section will be reviewed again in two years.
"Last year there were 14 poems over the two nights and while they were all very good and the Roses go to great trouble to write them, they actually slow down the momentum of the show," Drummey said.
"We are trying to keep the show moving and keep the entertainment levels high. It's not that we had anything against poetry because it is very very cultural and very artistic. In terms of this year we are trialling it out for a couple of years to see how it goes.
"The Roses knew about our decision early on because we introduced this at the regional sectional stage - so nobody came here with the intention of reciting a poem. We will review our decision again in two years," he added.
In 2013 the Darwin Rose almost had the audience and viewers asleep after reading Nick Blend's bedtime story, The Very Cranky Bear, as her party piece. Her performance involved tucking Dáithí Ó Sé into a bed, who later joked that he was about to "doze off".
The Rose of Tralee live shows, presented by Daithí Ó Sé, will take place on August 22 and 23 from the Festival Dome on RTÉ One at 8pm.
Check out the profile videos of all 65 Roses here.
