LISA Walsh has become an instant celebrity after her first visit to the Koroit Irish Festival last weekend.
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Ms Walsh won the 2017 Australian Danny Boy Championship on Saturday, beating a crack field in the final at the Koroit Theatre.
Originally from County Waterford in Ireland, Ms Walsh came to Australia three years ago.
She now lives in Melbourne and has permanent residency and found her way to the festival through family links.
Ms Walsh was presented with a trophy and the $1000 first prize by Irish Ambassador to Australia Breandan O Caollai.
She then got on stage with festival headline act, Irish singer Damien Leith, for a photo with the crowd.
Koroit Irish Festival coordinator Emma Riddington said the standard of the Danny Boy competitors was very high with judges having a difficult job selecting the winner.
Below, Ms Walsh tells the Moyne Gazette of a weekend to remember.
What was your preparation for the Danny Boy competition?
I was so nervous, the lady we were staying with actually gave me a warm whiskey to drink at ten to twelve in the morning to settle my nerves.
When I got in the theatre for the final, I couldn’t believe how many people where there, it felt like 5000, I thought I was on X Factor. I had no idea of the scale of it, with something like this in Ireland it would be sitting on a stool in the pub singing the song to a few people.
What is your Danny Boy history?
My father’s family love to sing and most of the singing in Ireland is done back in the house so my memories are hearing it sung and singing it around the kitchen table.
One thing I had to get used to on Saturday was using the microphone, I have hardly ever used one and never while singing Danny Boy.
Did you enjoy the whole festival?
It was like with the Danny Boy, the scale of it really surprised me, it was a lot bigger than I was thinking it would be.
It was very much like being back home for St Patrick’s Day.
It was like towns in Waterford and Cork with music in the streets, hay bales, the parade.
There was so much to do, it was amazing. I also loved the county flags, I got my photo taken next to the Waterford flag which was great.