The Late Late Country Music Special: not quite up there with the Toy Show but in the same ballpark

You have to take your (stetson) hat off to the Late Late Show Country Music Special (RTÉ One, Friday, 9.35pm). In just a few years, it has become a beloved Late Late institution – not quite up there with the Toy Show, but certainly in the same ballpark. The reason it works is straightforward. Country music is popular across much of Ireland and the genre is full of characters – such as Irish secular saint Daniel O’Donnell, who returns this year having missed out on the 2023 special because he was on tour. It’s a fun night with many familiar faces, including Susan McCann, the Newry-born singer who is inducted into the Late Late’s Country Hall of Fame. The show is helped hugely by the presence as host of Patrick Kielty, who has country in his veins coming from rural Co Down – meaning he is plugged into Ireland’s country heartland in a way his Dublin predecessor Ryan Tubridy never could be. The evening begins with O’Donnell leading a rendition of Burning Love by Elvis. He doesn’t swivel his hips, but does shake his shoulders provocatively, which is the Daniel O’Donnell equivalent of sliding across the stage on your knees and setting fire to a guitar. Next is an interview with the Donegal megastar and EastEnders actor Shona McGarty, who is of London-Irish heritage and grew up dreaming of singing with O’Donnell. She discusses her Irish connections and how she met her Co Offaly fiancé on TikTok. “Sliding into each other’s DMs … I can’t imagine what that’s like,” says a shell-shocked O’Donnell, whose imagination appears to be running wild. Next comes a stagey “roulette” segment where singers Margo and Mike Denver, Mayo TikTok star Garron Noone (his singing voice deep and grungy) and X Factor graduate Janet Devlin perform “randomly” selected songs by various artists. Will the wheel alight on AC/DC? Beyoncé? Of course not – it instead lands on pre-selected choices, including Willie Nelson. “We all love a bit of Willie,” blurts out Kielty, briefly unable to contain himself (there is also a self-deprecating rude joke right at the start where he suggestively plays on the word “country”). The evening reaches its high point when O’Donnell and McGarty return to perform the late Kris Kristofferson’s Me and Bobby McGee. Their voices intertwine beautifully, the audience claps along, and Kielty looks relieved. Another year, another Late Late Country Special – and another reminder that, despite ongoing rumblings to the contrary, the Late Late isn’t for the scrap heap quite yet.