It was another note-perfect night to remember as Patrick Kielty hosted this year's Late Late Show Country Special on Friday night.
"We’re celebrating the 33rd county in Ireland," Patrick Kielty announced to wild cheers from the audience. "Nashville, Tennessee."
Here are five of the top moments from a rollercoaster night.
Tribute to Kris Kristofferson
Daniel O’Donnell and Eastenders star/country singer Shona McGarty did the honours of singing a Kris Kristofferson song to mark the great singer and songwriter’s recent passing.
Together they performed a rendition of arguably Kristofferson’s most famous song, Me And Bobby McGee.
They sang it in front of a classic black and white backdrop image of Kris Kristofferson on stage, smiling, playing his guitar.
Patrick Kielty beamed afterwards: "What a performance!"
Susan McCann inducted into Hall of Fame
The Late Late Show Country Music Hall of Fame award has been on the go since 2019 and on Friday night Susan McCann became the latest recipient.
She's following in the footsteps of previous winners Daniel O’Donnell, Philomena Begley, Margo and Declan Nerney.
Two of them Philomena Begley and Margo, joined Susan and Patrick for a chat. Patrick explained to Susan - who was unaware she was about to receive the sward: "You thought you were coming on here tonight to talk about 50 years in the business.
"But I have to say that we’re here to talk about something else. Because we have Margo here, we have Philomena as well - and you three ladies have something in common.
"Because," he aded, "Margo is a recipient of of our Hall of Fame award. Philomena s a recipient of of our Hall of Fame award. And tonight, Susan, you are going to be joining them."
Acknowledging her award, Susan said with a smile: "Growing old has its advantages too, hasn’t it?"
After listing off her family, she aded: "That’s all I can do, I’m so emotional."
Margo celebrates 60
Celebrating 60 year in showbusiness, country music royalty Margo recalled her early days in conversation with Patrick Kielty.
"I used to sing in the choir at mass. At Lent, that time there was no dances, but a drama crowd from around home used to put on drama plays in the parochial halls. And I was the sort of warm-up.
"I sang songs like The Road By the River when I was five. So I was noticed back as early as that!
"Anyway, it took me a while to get into the music business. It was 1964 I started with The Key Notes. So that’s 60 years ago next week.
"Country music has changed a lot," she added. "It’s different. We have an awful lot of good, young talent, great songwriters and all that.
"And I watch them and I’m proud of them. We need to nurture country music because it’s huge here in this country. And we’ve some wonderful talent."
Shona and Daniel
Daniel O’Donnell and Eastenders star now country singer Shona McGarty were the show’s opening guests and they cut quite the couple.
She’s London-Irish. "My grandparents on both sides were Irish," she explained, before Patrick Kielty really put it up to her, asking: "You’re used to dealing with divas on EastEnders - what’s Daniel like to work with?
"Honestly, Daniel is the most hard-working person - especially in this industry because it’s so difficult," she said. "Daniel is an icon and legend. It’s just an honour to be sitting beside me.
"Daniel is amazing and such a wonderful person."
She also spoke about her upcoming marriage and meeting her other half. "Tik-Tok is kind of the new Tinder. Well, it was for us anyway. David is from Offaly. We met on Tik-Tok and he’s a brilliant guitarist and that’s how we got chatting.
"We did a little duet on Tik-Tok and ended up - what do they call it? - sliding into each others’ DMs."
Meanwhile, Daniel paid tribute to Kris Kristofferson. "I doubt that there’s many people alive who have not heard a Kris Kristofferson song.
"He had such a crossover with his music, and so many great songs. People won’t even know that he wrote many of them.
"He was a great performer too and there’s something about the writer, when they perform their own songs. It’s their baby. It’s a sad loss to music but the legacy that he left behind is incredible.
"We picked this song two months ago. It’s ironic that it should be a Kris Kristofferson song. But it’s a nice way to pay tribute to him."
Wild West Roulette
Patrick invited Janet Devlin, Garron Noone, Margo and Mike Denver to play the musical game Wild West Roulette.
This is where a wheel is spun and when it stops, a needle points on a singer’s name, and the contestant sings a song associated with them.
Margo was first up, singing Johnny Cash’s 40 Shades of Green.
Social media star Garron Noone was next up and the wheel spun before pointing to Keith Whitley. "He’s the original singer of When You Say Nothing At All," Garron noted, before launching into that very song.
Former X Factor contestant Janet Devlin was third to give it a go, and the roulette wheel stopped for her at Dasha. She sang the recent hit, Austin.
Mike Denver was last to give it a go and he landed on country legend Willie Nelson. Mike’s choice was On the Road Again. "One of the all-time classics," as Mike described it.
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