| Irish stars are rising on prime-time
British TV  By
Niamh Hennessy
THE Irish have taken over Saturday night television.
Well not exactly but many Irish stars have landed top spots in some
of the biggest prime-time Saturday evening shows on British screens.
Cork-native Graham Norton was the man chosen to host When Will I Be
Famous a new wacky BBC1 talent show in which contestants battle against
each other for a £10,000 prize. They are judged by a celebrity panel
and viewers at home.
Among the weird talents are a man playing a kitchen sink, contortionist
Rubber Boy and a unique bunch of bagpipe players called The Red Hot Chilli
Pipers.
Norton’s show comes up against competition from the popular celebrity
talent contest Dancing On Ice which features ex-Boyzone star Stephen Gately.
The ex-boyband member is impressing millions of viewers with his performance
on the ITV show on Saturday nights by taking to the ice-rink and battling
with other stars such as newsreader Kay Burley and Emmerdale star Emily
Symons who plays Louise.
According to reports Stephen has however admitted he still misses the days
when he was in Boyzone and admits he’d love a reunion.
He said: “I’d love it to happen and if it was up to me it would.”
After Boyzone Stephen briefly pursued a solo career before starring in West
End musicals and he insists that starring in Dancing On Ice is not an attempt
to revive his solo career.
He said: “I’m not hungry for exposure. I’m not doing this
to kick-start my solo career or anything. I’m moving more into acting
now.”
These stars are following in the footsteps of Irish celebrities like Louis
Walsh of X-Factor fame and Aoife Mulholland who was inches away from clinching
the title role in the West End hit The Sound Of Music when she appeared
on the BBC’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
According to TV critic Noel Connors it’s great to see the Irish getting
a slice of the action on these shows.
He said: “The Irish add a certain bit of charisma to shows like these.
It’s great to see that so many Irish people are so successful over
here and I can only imagine it getting even better for them.”
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