The 57th Rose of Tralee got underway last night with Daithi O'Se at the helm for the sixth year in a row, and yes we all know we should be so far beyond a Lovely Gir-tles competition but it's difficult not to tune in at some stage given that it lasts for about sixteen thousand hours.
The first 18 Roses were a charming enough bunch, all had a mildly amusing anecdote or two, some had a poem they wrote themselves that they read with great gusto over music - that's right, these Roses aren't just pretty faces folks.
Ah in fairness though, many were high achieving ladies up to their elbows in PhDs, and while there was some dodgy frocks and even dodgier jokes, all in all, your mam should have had a great time watching.
There is still another fourteen Roses to go tonight, but we are pretty certain we have found the lady who will take the crown. Similar to last year's winner Maria Walsh, it was easy to see this Rose was a clear contender as soon as she got on stage. Bags of personality, bit of craic, and smart enough to represent the title well - and that, Rose of Tralee fans, was the Meath Rose Elysha Brennan. She was the one who was mad about The Late Late Show and couldn't drive on roundabouts, if you remember (it was funnier when she said it). Elysha also managed to get 575 points in the Leaving Cert and sat it while she battled cancer. What a hero.
It was then we checked Paddy Powers online to discover that the Meath Rose was sitting on 2/1 favourite to win. Although she has now moved to 6/4, Elysha is still odds-on favourite to scoop the Rose of Tralee crown tonight.
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In case you are wondering, here's how the odds stand on the rest of the Roses, which you can see on PaddyPower.com.
Do you think the Meath Rose should take the crown home or who was your favourite?
Meath Rose - Elysha Brennan 6/4
New York Rose - Sophie Colgan 7/2
Dublin Rose - Aisling Finnegan 11/2
Dubai Rose - Marie Ryan 11/2
Cork Rose - Aoife Murphy 13/2
Perth Rose - Denise Lynch 12/1
Longford Rose - Daphne Howard 12/1
Galway Rose - Olga Lee 20/1
Kerry Rose - Julett Culloty 20/1
Darwin Rose - Caitriona Brennan 22/1
Louth Rose - Jenny Hanlon 25/1
Boston & New England Rose - Sarah Hogan 25/1
Wicklow Rose - Megan Swart 33/1
Monaghan Rose - Michelle Caulfield 33/1
Abu Dhabi Rose - Deirdre Ward 33/1
Queensland Rose - Niamh Healy 50/1
South Carolina Rose - Shannon Kelahan-Pierson 50/1
London Rose - Aisling Hillary 50/1
Scotland Rose - Brid Madigan 50/1
Melbourne Rose - Joy Kerrigan 66/1
Toronto Rose - Erika Healy 66/1
Sydney Rose - Ciara Rafferty 66/1
Western Canada Rose - Cassandra Sampson 80/1
Philadelphia Rose - Mairead Comaskey 80/1
South Australia Rose - Chelsea Thursby-Milovanovic 80/1
Chicago Rose - Maeve McSweeney 80/1
New Zealand Rose - Maggie Fea 80/1
Kentucky Rose - Emily Hughes 80/1
Derry Rose - Eimear Anderson 80/1
Southern California Rose - Lauren Waller 80/1
Germany Rose - Roisin Ni Mhathuna 80/1
Texas Rose - Siobhan Thompson 80/1
You can catch the second part of this year's Rose of Tralee tonight on RTE1 at 8.00pm. Will you be watching?
