Late late toy show to audition young performers

The Late Late Toy Show has, for the first time, taken to the road this week in search of Ireland’s best young performers to appear on the biggest night in Irish television. To celebrate its first ever regional auditions, RTÉ is giving away the first coveted pair of tickets to the show via a social media competition (see below).

Who from County Cavan can ever forget 'The Strypes' first appearance on the Toy Show and how it helped to catapult the Cavan four-piece to fame. Your opportunity to get the same chance could start with the Athlone auditions tomorrow (Thursday).

The regional auditions are taking place in Cork today, Monday, October 12th; Athlone, tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th and Sligo on Wednesday, October 14th.  Dublin auditions will follow on Monday, October 19th.

The Late Late Toy Show team has been working around the clock viewing thousands of audition tapes submitted over the past three weeks, looking for the very best young talent the country has to offer. It’s now up to the performers to make a lasting impression as they face the final hurdle in securing a spot to entertain the nation on the night. By the time the entire process is finished, the team will have auditioned young people from all 32 counties for a spot on the show.

The Athlone auditions take place in The Radisson Blu Hotel but auditions are invite-only and we don’t want to disappoint any kids by having to turn them away. Press and radio are invited to attend in the morning as per photocall sent out earlier this week.

Toy Show producer Katherine Drohan said: “We’ve had the biggest ever response to our callout, with an unprecedented amount of entries arriving into the Toy Show office in the last week. The quality of auditionees is particularly high this year, which makes it even harder to shortlist those we will be seeing at our regional auditions. We can’t wait to see the talent around the country and, hopefully, discover the next Strypes”.

Last year, close to 1.4 million people watched the Toy Show as Ed Sheeran surprised Aimee Keogh, and 269 lucky performers and toy testers took part.

Win tickets

All you have to do to be in with a chance to get your hands on two of the most coveted tickets in Ireland is take a picture of The Late Late Toy Show car as it travels the country. You can’t miss it; it’s bright red and has The Late Late Toy Show emblazoned on front, back, sides, and even the roof! Take a snap – not while driving! – and share it via Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #latelatetoyshow and you could find yourself donning a Christmas jumper and joining the festive fun on the night.

More than 200,000 people applied for tickets to last year’s show, so, this is a rare opportunity to get in ahead of them.

The Late Late Toy Show host Ryan Tubridy said: “Every year I am inundated with requests for tickets to the Toy Show. It’s honestly the most popular gig in Ireland. I hate to disappoint, so, it’s brilliant that this year we’re giving people the chance to get the very first two tickets just by taking a snap of the Toy Show car as it travels the country and sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Not while driving mind you! I wish everyone the best of luck and I’m really looking forward to announcing the winner”.