A CELEBRATORY dinner lasting more than four hours saw Leanne Tunney take the Channel Islands Rose of Tralee title.

Nine women from Guernsey and Jersey competed in the CI round of the international competition.

The girls were interviewed on stage and gave performances that included the tin whistle, an Irish jig and a rendition of Chicago’s All That Jazz.

But Miss Tunney, 24 (pictured), the last girl to go on stage, blew away the three judges with a rendition of Chris de Burgh’s Borderline.

‘I’m just completely overwhelmed,’ she said. She had chosen the song because it reminded her of her mother, Mary Tunney, who had entered the competition in 1979.

‘My mother went in for it 30 years ago and I’ve always wanted to be in it. In rehearsals the song didn’t go too well but tonight I wanted to sing my best for my parents,’ she said.

Her mother is Irish and she has a large family on her mother’s side who live in County Mayo.

After being congratulated by the judges, she received a bouquet, a Catherine Best necklace, a gold-plated rose and a 10-day trip to the competition, all expenses paid.