Is Hometown the new Boyzone? Louis Walsh’s new boyband launch on Late Late

Did you see Louis Walsh’s latest boyband offering on the Late Late Show last night?

Brendan Murray, Cian Morrin, Dayl Cronin, Dean Gibbons, Josh Grey and Ryan McLoughlin performed Katy Perry's hit song 'Roar' during their first TV appearance.

Their performance went down well with viewers, with many expressing their appreciation for the new band on Twitter.

Aww a new boyband! I remember Boyzone debuting on the #LateLateShow too. These guys are significantly better. #Hometown @RTELateLateShow

— CiaraA (@ciaraagnew) May 30, 2014

Over a thousand enthusiastic wannabe-singers auditioned to be part of the new band but Louis Walsh whittled it down to just six.

"There's nobody else out there," he explained to Ryan Tubridy. "There's a gap in the market for a new band.

"There's a whole new generation of girls out there looking for a new boyband."

Hometown will support Shane Filan in Cork for his Live at the Marquee gig in July and are already being touted as Ireland's answer to One Direction and a new Westlife, who Louis says are "just resting" and not retired.

Louis doesn't want Hometown to replicate all of One Direction's actions. "If one of these guys smoked drugs I'd probably sack them," he said, referring to recent footage which appears to show two of the group smoking cannabis.

Hometown have been performing together for some time now but have yet to officially release any material. So far they have posted videos of their covers of popular songs to YouTube.

They also have a strong presence on social media and are very active on Twitter and Instagram.

Crazy feeling waking up and realizing we were on the @RTELateLateShow thank you to everyone for their amazing support and kind words! Josh x

— HomeTown (@hometownoffic) May 31, 2014

Overall, a less cringeworthy Late Late debut than a certain other Irish boyband...