Nine moments from the Late Late Toy Show that we're still talking about
Patrick Kielty with Dory Hudson (8) from Tallaght on set of this years Late Late Toy Show. Picture Andres Poveda / RTÉ
You could practically hear the boxes of Christmas sweets being opened across the country on Friday night in preparation for the most anticipated night in the Irish calendar - the Late Late Toy Show.
The special Christmas pyjamas that have been waiting to be worn were finally taken out of the closet and those fresh pairs of fluffy socks were opened as people settled into their sofas and tuned into RTÉ One for what would be a night of nostalgia and pure Christmas cheer.
This year’s theme of Christmas movie favourite Home Alone went down a treat when announced ahead of the show on Friday and viewers were not disappointed as Patrick Kielty and a whole host of little Kevin McCallisters came together to protect the McCallister home from the Wet Bandits.
The Late Late Toy Show set was transformed into the infamous home of the McCallister family, with set designers really going all out to impress this year with iconic features such as the famous staircase, Christmas tree full of baubles, fireplace decorated with Christmas stockings, treehouse, and Buzz’s bedroom.
Right from the get-go, it felt like we were transported into the Home Alone movie, with the Late Late Toy Show opening number taking us to Dublin Airport where a group of talented kids portraying the McCallister family boarded their Aer Lingus flight in anticipation of their festive getaway.
Mrs McCallister tells her husband she feels as though she is forgetting something, asking if she forgot to bring tea bags, put out the washing, or turn the immersion off. She suddenly realises that they had forgotten… Patrick!
Cut to host Patrick Kielty sliding down the staircase to meet a group of performers dancing and singing to popular numbers including Run Rudolph Run and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
The talented bunch were just some of the 250 rockers, drummers, Irish dancers, hip hop dancers, trad music players, toy testers and book reviewers selected who took part in the show this year out of a huge 100,000 applications.
Dory stole the audience as the first toy tester with her witty one-liners while showing Kielty some of her favourite toys that she had tried and tested.
Showing Kielty her Build-A-Bear, she shared that she had added a personalised sound chip to the bear with a special message to herself: ‘Remember when times are rough, just remember you’re amazing’.
Kielty went on to show Dory his Build-A-Bear which played the popular tune Make Up by Irish singer-songwriter Jazzy before asking superfan Dory if she had ever met the singer.
Jazzy, who is the most popular Irish artist on Spotify this year, then appeared from backstage to surprise Dory who was visibly shocked to see her idol on set with her, telling Jazzy she looked “beautiful”.
Singer Olly and the Toy Show supergroup made up of kids with an array of musical talent performed a unique performance of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck.
Thunderstruck with a twist of Irish trad featured guitarists, drummers, trad music players, Irish dancers and hip hop dancers had audience members and those watching at home clapping along, setting the tempo for the rest of the show.
Kielty introduced us to Star, a puppy in training with Autism Assistance Ireland, as the star of the show.
One of the many beneficiaries of the Toy Show Appeal, Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland dogs open up a whole new world of opportunity and possibility for autistic children and their families.
Speaking to Star, Kielty said: “Star, one day you will become a vital part of a family supporting a child with autism.
“Dogs like Star empower children, giving them a sense of independence and transforming their lives.”
Star assisted Kielty in revealing the first Toy Show Appeal total of the night which was €1,225,000, with Kielty calling all those who donated so generously stars.
Brian Óg from Tyrone had us in stitches with his laid-back humour as he showed us some of his favourite PlayStation games including Astrobot and Minecraft.
Showing us his “favourite toy of them all” - a karaoke machine - Brian Óg had us looking ahead to Christmas morning.
“Just picture this, you wake up on Christmas morning - just close your eyes everybody in the audience - you’re opening up all your presents and then next thing you go to mass and you get your Christmas dinner, you get your turkey and your ham and your mash and your gravy, and then next thing everybody’s out for the count and then next thing you pop on this bad boy - now this is a loud bad boy.”
He and Kielty then used the karaoke machine and gave us a rendition of Nathan Carter’s Wagon Wheel.
Kielty came out in a space suit to meet Zara from Tyrone who spoke all about ‘how the moon was created’ and told some brilliant space-related jokes: ‘What did Mars say to Saturn? Give me a ring some time’ and ‘How do you get an astronaut's baby to sleep? You rock-it’.
Cillian from Galway also joined in on the space mission showing off the Mars Rover Perseverance that he made himself.
In a first for the Toy Show, they attempted to launch the in-studio rocket into space when astronaut Norah Patten surprised them with her appearance.
Norah, who is set to be the first Irish person in space, gave Zara seeds that spent some time on the International Space Station back in 2016 and gave Cillian a patch that spent five weeks orbiting Earth.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the studio, or in any home tuning into the Toy Show, during the special tribute to Saoirse Ruane, who shot to fame on the Toy Show a number of years ago and sadly passed away earlier this year.
Saoirse’s Star sat proudly atop the Christmas tree in the studio during the most beautiful performance of For Good from the musical Wicked.
Clips of sick kids from around the country were played during the performance which had hairs standing on our arms.
The much-loved book section of the show returned with this year’s readers Whelani, Anna and Liam, sharing mythologies and histories and reviewing by Oliver Jeffers, by Gerard Siggins and by Sarah Bowie.
Anna shared her joy at being part of this year’s show, calling it every kid's dream and saying she had always wished that she would one day make it onto the show and so decided to apply this year.
Liam spoke about his love for the book and his interest in the game of rugby, with a surprise appearance from Liam’s favourite Irish rugby player Johnny Sexton.
The show also marked the fifth year of the Toy Show Appeal which sees people give generously to help charities and families across the country each year.
The Appeal this year kicked off with a donation of €100,000 from Tesco Ireland, with Penneys and Smyths also donating generously to the appeal.
At the end of the night, the Toy Show Appeal had raised €4,154,168 which will go toward supporting children, young people and their families right across the country.
The Appeal has now raised more than €25.4 million in the last five years, including last night’s donations, and has so far supported 1.1 million children and young people.
The Late Late Toy Show officially marks the start of Christmas for so many of us Irish across the globe and this year’s show oozed festive fun and nostalgia.
Perhaps I am biased - as a 90s baby, Home Alone was a firm favourite of mine growing up - but this year’s Toy Show was truly one of the most special.
The Late Late Toy Show will be repeated on Sunday, December 8 at 3.05pm and Monday, December 9 at 11.05pm on RTÉ One. Audio Description (AD) will also be available for the repeat shows.
The Late Late Toy Show ISL is available to stream on the RTÉ Player following the live broadcast and will be repeated on the ISL block on Wednesday, December 11.
