The acts were chosen by Boyzone’s Shane Lynch, who picked eight acts in all to represent Dublin in the live shows.

"The first live show will take place on New Year’s Eve and viewers will see the gloves come off as each judge will have an act representing their region performing," the organisers said in a statement. "Viewers will have the chance to get behind their county, their region, their colours and put their favourite act through to the finals. The highest polling act will go straight through to the semi finals with the second placed act getting another chance to shine in the Wild Card Show."

After each heat of the main event there will be another show, The All Ireland Talent Show Backstage, hosted by Aidan Power and Dustin the Turkey. "They will take audiences behind the scenes each week capturing all the live action and gossip from backstage at Ardmore Studios, featuring post-show analysis with the five judges, interviews with celebrity fans and special guest," the spokesperson added.
Offering an exclusive look at the contestants' day, expect rehearsals and rivalries, dressing rooms and dramas and some all-important last minute fine tuning. Contestants give their reactions to the performances and judges' comments in the final nerve wracking moments before the Results Show.

The full list of Dublin acts is as follows: Ghetto Fabulous (an 8 person hip hop crew comprising Jessie O’Reilly, Catherine Small, Lisa Craddock, Roisin Traynor, Shannon McCormack, Nicole Bohill-Connor, Robin Byrne, Kellie Grogan); Joanna Ryde and the Lads (Koyln Byrne aka Joanna Ryde with Darren, Eddie, Eric and Giles); comedy duo A Different Unique (Ciara McGuinness and Alison Doran); seven year old singer Romey Farrelly; ballet dancer Sean Taffe; busker Chris Geoghan; and the classical music duo, Fiona and Niall (Fiona Hickey and Niall Kinsella); Tumbleweed (David Thornton, Áine O’Donnell, Grace Dowling & Gary Weldon).

The schedule for the competitive rounds of the show is as follows:

Live heats, Wildcard Show, Semi Finals and Grand Final.
Thursday 31st December Live Show # 1 – 5 acts one from each region, top act goes through, second act goes through to Wild Card.
Sunday 3rd January Live Show # 2
Sunday 10th January – Live Show # 3
Sunday 17th January – Live Show # 4
Sunday 24th January – Live Show # 5
Sunday 31st January – Live Show # 6
Sunday 7th February – Live Show #7
Sunday 14th February – Live Show # 8
Sunday 21st February – Wildcard show 8 contestants 2 wildcard acts go through to semi final
Sunday 28th February – Semi Final – 5 acts
Sunday 7th March – Semi Final – 5 acts
Sunday 14th March – Final