THE Dublin Rose left the crowd in tears tonight after her "beautiful" performance and viewers have said she's their "favourite so far". The hit show returned last night with Kathryn Thomas and Daithi O Se taking to the stage to welcome each Rose to the competition. On Monday night, 18 Roses put their best foot forward, with women from places as far as North Carolina and Ohio.
The rest of the 14 contestants will be showcasing their talents tonight in the final in a bid to be crowned the Rose of Tralee . The Dublin Rose, Casey Harris, who's a music teacher and singer in the band The Ratzingers, stepped out in a jaw-dropping blue one-shoulder ballgown. The 24-year-old told viewers how she didn't feel like she "fitted" the criteria to become a Rose.
She explained her journey to becoming the Dublin Rose saying: "My journey to Dublin Rose came up out of nowhere. It was one of these things..
. I saw the form and I was like, 'I don't fit that'. "I had that preconceived idea in my head.
I passed it twice and it came up a third time I was like, 'There has to be something here that's jumping out at me'. "So I did it and I went for the selection and I met 24 incredible young women and my fantastic team and just being among them is just a privilege. "Being from Finglas, it wasn't something you've heard with Tralee going hand-in-hand.
"I have a lot of tattoos, it wasn't necessarily something I'd seen on a platform like this. It seemed like something very out of reach." The Finglas native spoke about her confidence journey saying: "As women, as people, it's so important to put your best foot forward all of the time.
"It's so easy to step into something and compare yourself to other people. I did it at the start of this journey and went, 'That's not for me', and I'm here!" Casey then belted out Bagatelle's hit song Summer in Dublin and had her family in the crowd in tears watching her. RTE viewers at home were completely blown away by her phenomenal performance.
Ashleigh wrote: "Loving the Dublin Rose, her voice is immaculate and she herself is a beautiful soul! she’s my winner." Robin said: "Dublin Rose for the WIN!! Beautiful voice." Sarah commented: "I’m praying to lord above that the Dublin rose wins!!! She has some voice!! What a sweetheart.
" Niall tweeted: "Ok she’s a good singer too! My absolute favourite so far but I stress I’m not a judge." Niamh added: "Dublin you are a legend. Be very proud.
".
