Four things we learned from Patrick Kielty’s first Late Late Show country music special
Patrick Kielty on The Late Late Country Special. Picture: Andres Poveda
No, you weren't seeing things. The Late Late Show did in fact bring us the annual country music extravaganza on Friday night — just months after former host Ryan Tubridy presented his last country music special.
Perhaps we should not be surprised by the decision to hold the episode much earlier in the season than expected. After all, our new Late Late host, Patrick Kielty is evidently quite the country music fan.
Kicking off the second country music special of 2023, Kielty made his entrance by confidently strutting down the stairs in a cowboy hat.
"Step right up, come on in,” he said in a country accent before telling viewers that he “couldn’t be more excited” for the show.
Throughout the night, Kielty showed us he was up for the craic and seemed keen to get involved. After grooving in the background for a song or two during a game of Wild West Roulette, he got up and danced with the legendary Philomena Begley. Later, Kielty even grabbed a mic and joined Gerry Guthrie on stage for ‘It's Five O'Clock Somewhere.’
The guest list for Kielty’s first season of the show has received some criticism.
This week, we were promised the biggest names in Irish country music. Officially opening the show was Declan Nerney with Stop The World (And Let Me Off). Nerney was joined on stage by what Kielty called “the Late Late Show Country Music All Stars," which was a bit of a giveaway of what was to come, considering it was made up of most of our musical guests.
From the opening, it was clear that the show was all about the music, and the guests were a reflection of that. First up in the usual group of guests were Declan Nerney and Una Healy — who are uncle and niece — alongside Philomena Begley and Father Brian D'Arcy.
Another guest who joined Kielty for a chat was Sandy Kelly. Philomena Begley appeared once again with Michael English, Cliona Hagan, and Gerry Guthrie for Wild West Roulette and there was much more singing than chatting overall.
For Irish country music fans, the show delivered in terms of performances and had most of the names we would expect with the likes of Nathan Carter, Sharon Shannon and The Tumbling Paddies. However, the showcase of an undiscovered or rising Irish star would have been a nice touch too.
The show promised to have plenty of surprises in store but with most of our country music guests already out on stage for the opening song, we weren’t expecting anything that would knock our socks off.
Kielty did give us a small surprise early in the show by announcing the addition of Declan Nerney to the Late Late Show Country Music Hall of Fame.
“I wasn’t expecting that Patrick to tell you the honest truth,” a genuinely shocked Nerney said.
Congratulations Declan! 🏆🙌🏻@RTEplayer #LateLate pic.twitter.com/fR6rW1CVJq
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) October 6, 2023
This week’s pick from the audience was married couple Michelle and Ricky who told us about a failed proposal attempt in Killarney in 2019. Ricky had hoped to get down on one knee at a Nathan Carter concert and patiently waited for their song — Caledonia. Alas, it never came, and poor Ricky opted for “a bit of YouTube” in the hotel room.
Once Nathan Carter was mentioned, we all knew where this was going. Carter emerged from behind the couple to sing — you guessed it — Caledonia. The brief awkwardness was worth it for Michelle and Ricky who were invited along to Carter’s next gig in Killarney. As Kielty pointed out, Carter will also be playing Las Vegas, but we guess Killarney is a close second.
Kielty’s country music special was not live. Instead, it was pre-recorded earlier in the week. Much of the mayhem — and the entertainment — that comes with the Late Late specials is a result of the show being live.
We never know what will happen or how wild the audience will get which is half the fun for those watching at home.
From what we could tell, the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and we got a couple of glimpses into the atmosphere when we spotted cowboy hats or noticed that they carried on a singsong for a little too long. For the grand finale, there was a choreographed dance but we must say we missed the craic of the out-of-time claps and whoops from the audience that come with the buzz of a live show.
