RTE Late Late Country Special won't be live this Friday as fans vent frustration

The RTE Late Late Show Country Music special will not be broadcast live this Friday night after the show was pre-recorded during the week. 

This Friday marks the first Country Music special for new Late Late host Patrick Kielty. The show has been a huge success each year since it was introduced during the tenure of Ryan Tubridy. It will be broadcast at 9.35pm on Friday on RTE One television.

Kielty will be hoping the popularity of country music in Ireland will give ratings a boost after viewing figures fell off after his blockbuster first week. 

Viewing numbers peaked at 934,000 (average 830,000) for Kielty's first show last month but that number dropped to 548,000 in his second week, and to an average audience of 486,000 in his third show last week.

The country special regularly attracts over 500,000 viewers as stars from the scene appear together in a country music extravaganza.

Despite excitement over the show, some viewers and fans are critical of the same performers appearing on the special broadcast year after year.

Midlands music promoter and columnist Anthony Sullivan took to social media this week to vent his frustrations with the show.

He said: "The Late Late Show's Country Special was pre-recorded last night [Wednesday], and tomorrow evening [Friday] we'll see what the first such show of Patrick Kielty 's time in the hot-seat brings our way.

"A couple of weeks back, ahead of his debut as the show's presenter, I wondered if Patrick's arrival in Donnybrook would bring with it a new take on Country Music as far as The Late Late's annual Country Special was concerned.

"Of course, at that stage, we didn't even know if the annual Country Special would continue, let alone suspect that it might come so early in Patrick's reign.

"To be honest, the fact that he announced the Country Special by throwing on a stetson and having a flash-mob of dancers suddenly surround him doesn't fill me with hope for what we'll see on our screens tomorrow night," Anthony added.

He continued: "The fact that each night of The Late Late Show is shorter in general this year anyway is not a good thing either. Less time overall means less chance of any new or younger artists actually being involved.

"Truth is, most of us who have any involvement in country music in Ireland could probably call it right now on 90% of who will be featured on Friday night. And a more depressing truth than that, is the fact that we could have called it that way months ago, not just now.

"In wondering if Patrick's time as host would bring a new take on The Late Late's Country Special, I took a look back at the last 'Special' of the Ryan Tubridy era, mostly to highlight many of the things that were so wrong about those nights.

"Will tomorrow night's show bring all the same faces back together... again? Probably. Will there be some pointless covers of some pop or rock songs when there are thousands of brilliant country songs that would better suit such an occasion? Again - and unfortunately - probably.

"Will there be any serious indication at all that there are original #songwriters within the Irish country genre? Probably not. Will some of the same people be included in several different segments of the show, as usual? Almost definitely.

"Will there be another induction into the Hall Of Fame that nobody I've ever spoken to in the country music business actually knows anything about? Very likely," he siad.

"I like Patrick Kielty, and believe that he's going to breathe new life into The Late Late Show, something that - God knows! - was badly needed. I also think he'll bring a sense of sincerity and empathy back to the show that has been long missing. Time will prove him to rank second only to the great Gaybo himself as far as hosts go.

"However, the fact that his first Country Special is coming so early in his tenure hints at the fact that this will have more of an RTE stamp all over it than anything else. And that, has never been a good thing."

A third vented: "It's the same country music artists that are on it every year. They don't give the new up and coming country music artists a chance."

Other fans of the genre shared similar fears for the show on Friday night.

One wrote on Facebook: "What RTE know about Country Music could be written on the back of a postage stamp," while a second added, "there are so many other people trying to make a living out of music and don't get a look in."

Others were frustrated that the show would not be a live broadcast. One said: "Pre-recorded shows!!! Should be ‘live’."

Defending the pre-record, another fan wrote: "Singers may be gigging on Fridays so easier to pre-record during week."

The RTE Late Late Country Music Special will be broadcast at 9.35pm on Friday, October 6.