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31 Dec 2025
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31 Dec 2025
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A talented Laois student has ended 2025 on a high, after singing on stage in the 3Arena to support Irish band Picture This.
Ellie O'Sullivan, 18, from Rathdowney won a competition to sing Karaoke for her favourite band, in front of 13,000 Picture This fans on Monday, December 29.
She told the Leinster Express / Laois Live how it all happened.
"A few weeks ago I saw the competition on Instagram, for fans to do Karaoke. I entered and didn't expect anything. Two weeks ago I got the email to say I had been selected. I had an exam the next morning. All over Christmas it was going through my head. It was very nervewracking, I thought what am I after doing.
"Once I got onstage I was fine. I was expecting to be shaking like a leaf. There were nine or ten of us chosen and a few had gone ahead of me," she said.
She chose her favourite Karaoke song, Valerie, and belted it out, with the crowd singing along.
Ellie O'Sullivan on stage in the 3Arena as part of the Karaoke support act for Picture This.
"I actually felt like a proper celebrity. All the flashlights were going and people were recording me on their phones, I don't know why! It was such a good experience," she said.
Picture This held the fundraising Karaoke instead of a support act for both their 3Arena gigs in aid of Childline @childlinebyispcc, while in Belfast at the SSE it was in aid of @aclai_palestine, a community gym in the West Bank founded by an Irish woman. They paid the normal fee for a support act to the charities while fans also donated.
"It is actually a great idea. People around me said more artists should do it. People you know are singing pop songs you know and it really includes the fans," she said.
2FM DJ Carl Mullan introducing Ellie on stage.
Ellie is studying teaching at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, and was an entrant in the 2025 Laois Rose where she also sang on stage. She has plenty of stage experience.
"I've done Rathdowney panto for years, and I attended Spotlight Stage School in Carlow. I would love to open my own stage school some day," she revealed.
She is a big fan of Picture This, and had the company of her brother and his girlfriend on the night, Dara and Sarah.
Read next: Laois Local Link announce New Year timetables
"I met Picture This last August when I won another competition and I've seen them in concert a good few times.
"We had a great night after, they are so good. I was on such a high after," Ellie said.
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