Celtic ladies hit the high notes in Japan

AN IRISH musical extravaganza has hit a high note in Japan after soaring to the top of the charts there in just three weeks.

Celtic Woman, starring Irish singers and musicians, has hit Number One in the Japan International Charts after selling 100,000 copies.

Executive producer Dave Kavanagh said the group would tour Japan in the autumn. He said Celtic music has a major following there.

“It was probably really generated by Enya she has a goddess like status there. I managed Clannad for years, and they were hugely popular there.”

Celtic Woman, including pantomime star Twink’s daughter Chloe Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Meav Ní Mhaolchatha, Orla Fallon and Mairéad Nesbitt, first shot to stardom in the US after coming together for a special show broadcast on television in March 2005.

They perform songs including Enya’s May It Be, and traditional Irish songs. They are set to play six arenas in Japan in front of thousands of people.

Mr Kavanagh said: “It is gathering the kind of momentum that suggests it will be a huge show there.”