You may remember last year that the Rose of Tralee festival decided to scrap the Regional Finals in favour of a new revamped televised selection process which saw 65 Roses whittled down to 32.
They did this in an X Factor-style system (shown on documentary Road To The Dome) whereby they had the successful roses in one room, and not-so-successful Roses in another. Brutal, 'eh?
The festival faced criticism at the time from Roses and viewers alike, with even Rose of Tralee festival director Anthony O'Gara admitting that "the manner in which the announcement was made was insensitive."
Thankfully they have decided to drop this new aspect of the competition this year. The first sixteen will be announced at a new Celebration of Roses event at the Festival Dome on Thursday, August 17, while the final sixteen will be revealed at a private breakfast event on the morning of Saturday, August 19 which will be attended by all 64 Roses their parents and the Rose Centre coordinators.
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Sounds like a much more civilised way of doing things.
