I received some truly lovely news this week informing me that the documentary charting my Mòd journey, Michelle Aig A’ Mhòd, for BBC ALBA, has been shortlisted for best Factual Entertainment programme at this year’s Celtic Media Festival which will take place next month in Inverness.

Some of you will already know that a few years ago I decided to give learning the Gaelic language a go and have now reached the point of a semi-competent learner.

Although when asked if I speak the language I always say I am learning Gaelic as I think the only way to become truly fluent is to study extremely hard and to be surrounded by native Gaelic speakers.

To be fair though after a few drams up the Park Bar on a Saturday night my Gaelic seems to dramatically improve, or so I tell myself.

Back in 2013 the lovely people at Demus Productions approached me about an idea for a show that would involve me performing in the Royal National Mòd which was taking place in Paisley.

The Royal National Mòd is Scotland's premier Gaelic festival of language, arts and culture and is held annually every October in Scotland.

I thought this would be a great idea as the last time I entered a national televised singing competition I didn't do to badly out of it but boy was I in for a roller coaster ride the second time around.

I knew it would be challenging as my spoken language was still at a very early learning stage.

I had actually volunteered once or twice at the Gaelic School in Glasgow in a bid to immerse myself in the language only to find that the primary one children were leaps and bounds ahead of me and they'd only be learning for five months.

I think if I were to be totally honest I very stupidly had a slightly smug attitude toward the competition as singing is one of the only things I'm utterly sure of myself doing well and I genuinely thought my voice alone would be enough to guarantee success on the night and completely underestimated the importance of the language in the songs.

Well there is nothing like learning a hard lesson and due to my lack of preparation I walked out onto that stage in Paisley to a packed crowd and many more watching at home on TV and for the first time ever in my professional career forgot the words to a song and because it wasn't my native language I found it impossible to pick it up again.

It was a truly humiliating experience for me but it showed how difficult this prestigious competition was.

When I then had to listen to the excruciating feedback from the adjudicators I remember thinking as I tried to block out the sound of their voices that facing Simon Cowell and Pete Waterman every week now seemed like a walk in the park compared to this.

I found it difficult to watch the show when it aired on Christmas night but I was proud that I'd put myself out there and given it a try.

The production team were just fantastic to work with and in light of the recent Jeremy Clarkson news I am happy to report that there was always catering on location and no punches were swung during the making of our show although I did consume quite a lot of whisky after it was all over in Paisley Town Hall.

It doesn't matter if we win the award next month or not, I'm just so utterly thrilled that the programme has been recognised and shortlisted at the festival.

It's easy just to coast through life but even if we fail, it's just so truly exhilarating to leap out of your comfort zone once in a while and challenge yourself to do new things.

Maybe next time I'll go for something a little bit more achievable like singing the colours of the rainbow in Gaelic with the primary one kids and work my way up from there. - Buidhe, uaine, dearg agus pinc....

THE wonderful Goats Don't Shave, are back on the road and they are coming to Glasgow.

They have recorded an album of new material "Songs from Earth" due for release this month and to celebrate they will be playing at the O2 ABC in Glasgow for one date only on Easter Sunday April 5.

It's set to be one massive party in the hill of Donegal and there are only a few tickets left for this fantastic gig.

For more information visit www.ticketsscotland.com or pop into the Admiral Bar on Waterloo Street.

I'm delighted to be performing at the St Patrick's Day Festival event in Merchant Square in Glasgow on Saturday.

It's a great day out for all the family with celebrations starting from noon onwards and free entry for all its one not to be missed.

For more information visit www.glasgowstpatricksfestival.co.uk