Not one – but two – Armagh schoolgirls are preparing for the experience of a lifetime after being selected to appear on this year’s Late Late Toy Show on RTÉ.
Aoibheann Donaghy (13) and Aislinn Whyte (14) will feature on the iconic festive programme on Friday, December 5, in what has been described as a “dream come true”.
The talented young performers both attend St Catherine’s College in Armagh, but incredibly the pair were chosen – separately – from 10,000 applicants and subsequent auditions. Talk about Armagh’s Got Talent!
Aoibheann’s application was a last-minute entry after her mum, Janine, spotted the application process online the day before it closed.
Speaking to Armagh I, Janine said it took a bit of cajoling before her music-mad daughter was convinced to give it a go.
While Aoibheann never misses the opportunity to sing, Janine said she was “a bit reluctant” to send in an audition tape, having missed out the previous year.
“We got her talked into it, and we just got the audition tape in at the very last minute,” said Janine.
“So we got a phone call maybe six weeks ago to say that they had 10,000 audition tapes, and they were going to audition 60 in person, and would she like to come down to the RTÉ studios.
“Obviously Aoibheann jumped at the chance to do that – that doesn’t happen every day.”
Aoibheann ended up auditioning in the Toy Show studio in front of the show’s producers, who told her she would know the outcome in two weeks’ time.
“About two weeks passed and we didn’t hear anything,” Janine explained. “So we had presumed that it was a no – so many people audition for this – but then we got a phone call a few days after that to say that she had got on to the show.
“She was a wee bit unfazed by the news, probably until we went down to the rehearsal and then I think it kind of hit her how big it is.
“I’ve watched the Toy Show as a child. I have two children who have watched it growing up. And when she saw the studio again she realised then just how much of a big deal it is.”
Aoibheann is no stranger to the stage, having recently been chosen to perform in London’s West End and starred in her school’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but a live show in front of 1.5 million-plus viewers might just be another level altogether.
Meanwhile, Aislinn Whyte – who was also a late entrant in the Toy Show application process – comes from an Irish traditional music background and has multiple titles in English traditional singing in the Armagh and Ulster Fleadhs. She also won second place at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Wexford in 2023 in the Under-12 category.
A member of Keady Comhaltas, who also plays the fiddle and banjo, Aislinn performed at the Daoirí Farrell Concert as part of the Tommy Makem Folk Festival in Keady last week.
“We saw it advertised on Facebook and the closing date was very close, so we applied online and uploaded a performance clip,” said Aislinn’s mum, Catriona.
“We then got an email back several weeks later to congratulate Aislinn for being one of the 60 acts getting through to the auditions, out of thousands of applications.”
And just like Aoibheann, Aislinn went down to the RTÉ studios and performed two songs of different genres in the audition.
“Two weeks ago, I got a call to say Aislinn had been selected to perform on part of the show,” said Catriona.
Aislinn was “over the moon” and has been down at the RTÉ studios for rehearsals this week ahead of the “really exciting” live show in a couple of weeks’ time.
The Late Late Toy Show will air live on Friday, December 5, at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
Good luck girls – the whole community is behind you ahead of the big night.
