And there was one. The lights went down, the name was called out and in the early hours of last Friday morning, after 3,000 people had sung their way through the heats; after thousands of people had made their way through the doors of Coyotes on Forster Street, after so many hopes and aspirations were raised and dashed, one dream was realised and it belonged to Ailbhe Hession, who ended the night clutching a big fun-sized €10,000 cheque.
For the young Claregalway woman, winning the Coyote Factor was another significant step on a musical journey that she now hopes will see her pursue her love of singing and performing and make a great name for herself.
The competition which had been running since the autumn was extremely successful for the new venue and this was reflected in the crowds that attended each Thursday night.
The winner has been impressing music impresarios for many years, singing and writing songs and most recently in Galway, playing alongside Tom Pyne as a member of The Wave.
"I've been singing as long as I can remember. School and in the choir and then on the piano at home. And then the GAF, which was the youth cafe on Francis Street, gave me a few gigs as well which was great as it got me into the gigging."
So successful were the GAF concerts that the WHB funded the recording of a teen CD in Tuam's Sun Street Studios and so her voice was consigned to disc for the first time.
And now gigging has become a part of her life. Just recently graduated with a degree in Music and English from UCD, Ailbhe entered the Coyote Factor for the exposure it would give her and for the fact that it represented a new departure for her as it meant leaving her beloved piano aside.
"I enjoyed this competition too because there was nowhere to hide. I'm so used to having the piano as a sort of crutch, it was great for me to get up there and belt out a song without it.
"It gives you great confidence 'cos I was able to get up there and move about, and for that it was great," she said, adding that the cheque for €10,000 was also a "significant motivator."
But where would she leave it? The daughter of Mike and Liz Hession, who are well known in drama and theatrical circles; her maternal grandmother Betty Whelan from Shanaglish was a classical singer who had her voice trained in Italy back in the 1930s.
The same Betty even went on to sing for seven cardinals in The Vatican, but she gave it all up and came back to Ireland and settled down. And it doesn't end there - Ailbhe's aunt is Noreen Whelan O'Toole, the Galway-based voice coach who possesses an unbelievable voice.
"Noreen has worked with many well-known singers on training their voices, so I'm availing of that now. It's only in the recent past that I've decided to take care of my voice and have it trained," she said, noting that Noreen had warned her about the dangers of coffee and chocolate on the vocal chords. (This she said, as she sipped her coffee and choccy biccy, but I swore not to tell. )
"I deserve it and it's not the weekend, so I'm not gigging," she said as she eyed up the grand piano in the bar of the Radisson and wondered how much of it ten grand would buy.
Together with Tom Pyne, Ailbhe and the other members of The Wave have become staple figures on the Galway music scene, regularly playing in the Spanish Arch, The Quays, The Clayton and other venues, and now after her success in Coyote Factor, her inbox is sure to be full with offers. Her repertoire also extends to music for weddings and other occasions, so many brides and grooms walk down the aisle to the sound of the young songstress.
Her unique version of Summertime which she sang in the final at Coyotes last week wowed all the audience, but Ailbhe has a vast catalogue of her own songs that she was writing from her mid-teens onwards, and she hopes to use some of the prize fund to breathe new life into them, to dust them down and see if the airs and lyrics can be revitalised with her new mature sound
She is also forming a four-piece to play chillout relaxing music. On top of that she is studying Irish so that she can complete a post-grad ("to fall back on." ). However, the future is bright for the wily Coyote who snatched the top prize in Galway’s hottest music talent competition. Ailbhe can be contacted on 085-7286453 or on [email protected]
