Mele Kalikimaka by Wexford based group The Ivy Sisters have been announced as the winners of The Aldi Christmas FM Song Contest for 2020.
Now in its thirteenth year, the song contest, on Ireland’s Christmas radio station, attracts hundreds of entries each year – vying to be crowned the winner by Christmas FM’s extensive national and international audience.
The Ivy Sisters are made up of three women living in Wexford Town, Aileen Donohoe, Jilly Cox and Sharon Clancy who formed in 2019.
Due to the pandemic, they were forced to delay their plans to launch on the live scene so winning the song contest has been a great way to end the year for them.
Speaking about the song ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ The Ivy Sisters said: “It has been a tough year for musicians everywhere and we are three chicks still waiting to hatch! Following two postponed launches due to COVID-19, we are over the moon to win the ALDI Christmas FM Song Contest for 2020. The talent was extraordinary this year and we want to congratulate the other finalists and say a big thank you to everyone who voted for us: We owe you all a kiss under the mistletoe!
This is the best Christmas present ever and we hope that 2021 brings back live music to Ireland and the world: The Ivy Sisters are gig-ready and if Santa Baby could hurry down the chimney with a manager and a full calendar of Ivy Sisters performances, we have our sleigh ready! Mele Kalikimaka to one and all!
You can listen to ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ and all the runners up in this year’s Aldi Christmas FM Song Contest at christmasfm.com/songcontest.
Walter Hegarty, Co-founder of Christmas FM, says: ‘As always, we are over the moon year after year to see such immense interest in the Song Contest. It’s always great to see the entries coming in. We were really blown away by the talent we received this year – it was really, really difficult to pick a winner! However, Christmas FM is delighted to name ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ by The Ivy Sisters as the official Aldi Christmas FM Song Contest Winner of 2020 and we know our listeners will love hearing it!’
This year, Christmas FM is raising awareness and funds for ALONE, the organization that supports older people to age at home. The radio station is aiming to raise over €200,000 which will go directly towards ALONE’s mission to provide 20,000 hours of vital support to older people in Ireland enabling them to live happily and independently in their own homes and communities, as there is no place like home – especially at Christmas time.
Christmas FM will be celebrating its 13th year on air this year and, since it began broadcasting, has raised almost €2.5 million for a range of charities. The costs of running Christmas FM are covered by various sponsors, ensuring that all on-air fundraising and listener donations will go directly to ALONE. Cadbury, Coca Cola and An Post are premier FM sponsors for 2020 and the radio station will broadcast from the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin, who have kindly given the studio space for free.
The main radio frequencies for Christmas FM are Dublin City and County 105.2FM, Cork City, part County 106.7FM, Cork North, part County 87.7FM, Cavan 99.4FM, Galway City, part County 87.9FM, Kildare North 88.1FM, Kilkenny City 104.3, Letterkenny 105.7, Limerick City 105.5FM, Midlands North 101.6FM, North East 104.2FM, Sligo town 95FM, South East 103.8FM, Tralee / Killarney 105FM, Waterford City 105.9FM, Wicklow North 99.5FM, Wicklow South 106.6FM, and Ennis/Clare 105.2FM.