{"id":472715,"date":"2026-05-07T09:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/472715\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:33:15","slug":"theyre-watching-from-heaven-co-armagh-harpist-through-to-bgt-semi-finals-hopes-to-make-late-grandparents-proud-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/472715\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019re watching from heaven\u2019 – Co Armagh harpist through to BGT semi-finals hopes to make late grandparents proud \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Co Armagh<\/a> singer, harpist and songwriter returns to the Britain\u2019s Got Talent stage this weekend, as she prepares a new song hoping to make her late grandparents proud.<\/p>\n

17-year-old Niamh Noade<\/a> has secured her place in the live semi-finals at London\u2019s Apollo Theatre<\/a>, with her sights firmly set on reaching the final.<\/p>\n

Mary (85) and Joe (86) Murphy passed away last year after an illness. They were Newry natives, and a huge part of their family\u2019s lives, including Niamh\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Niamh said she has prepared her new song in the hope that they\u2019ll be watching from heaven as her \u2018biggest supporters.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/a>\"Housing<\/a>\"NiamhNiamh Noade appeared on Saturday night’s edition of Britain’s Got Talent. <\/p>\n

Known for blending the harp with her distinctive vocals, Niamh has already made a strong impression on the judges. <\/p>\n

During her first audition<\/a>, Simon Cowell told her: \u201cYou\u2019ve got an amazing voice. Some people are just born with great voices, and you have that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niamh is no stranger to high\u2011pressure stages. She was crowned All\u2011Ireland singing champion in January 2025 and previously reached a wide international audience on The Voice Kids UK. <\/p>\n

All the while, she\u2019s juggled a rapidly rising music career with the demands of her A-Level exams.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News<\/a> ahead of the semi-final, she described getting the call as incredible.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt honestly was a dream come true. I was jumping up and screaming about it. I know I\u2019ll be a lot more nervous on Saturday, but right now I\u2019m really excited to just perform on that big stage again and do the best that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niamh added: \u201cWinning would be a dream come true. It would be amazing to make my country proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family and I, we\u2019ve had a pretty tough year. I lost both of my grandparents within a close timeframe. Granny and Granda Joe – they were always my biggest supporters. So to have all this to focus on and just be something to uplift us all has been amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing another song and I\u2019m doing it in a different style, kind of making it my own. It\u2019s going to be a lot different from the original. I know that Granny and Granda Joe will be watching me from heaven. I know that I will definitely do them proud with this song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niamh\u2019s mum, Deirdre told The Irish News<\/a> she couldn\u2019t be happier for her daughter.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe fact that she made it to that big stage on one occasion\u2026 to think that she gets to do it again, we are absolutely over the moon. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so proud of her, not just for her musical ability, but for how she handles herself as a lovely young woman and how she balances everything. From her A-levels, music, her over and back to London, songwriting, and she does it all with such confidence and grace and humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum and dad were Niamh\u2019s biggest supporters. If they were here it would have been massive for them. Regardless of whatever happens next Saturday, we\u2019re very proud of Niamh for who she is as a young woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current series of Britain\u2019s Got Talent is hosted by Ant & Dec, with judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and KSI. <\/p>\n

The winner will receive a \u00a3250,000 prize and a place at the Royal Variety Performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Co Armagh singer, harpist and songwriter returns to the Britain\u2019s Got Talent stage this weekend, as she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[10613,18,117,36515,19,17,11057,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-472715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-armagh","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-harp","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-talent","15":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116532610240508627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}