Ryan spoke to Sharon Corr, who is one of the coaches of The Voice of Ireland, the brand new reality talent competition, which debuted on Irish television last night. Sharon and the other coaches (Westlife's Kian Egan, Brian Kennedy and Bressie) chose their first acts by blind audition - judging on talent alone, not image. The Voice of Ireland is the ultimate talent show that's rewriting the rule book and taking the world by storm. For more info, visit www.rte.ie/thevoice and tune in next Sunday at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
V Reporter Claire chats to the successful acts who made those chairs turn around...
Boyle-boy-turned-Hollywood-superstar Chris O'Dowd is back in his hometown in Co. Roscommon today about to film a Sky One Series. Set in the 1980s, 'Moone Boy' tells the story of 11-year-old Martin Moone, who conjures up a 35-year-old bearded man, Sean Murphy, played by Chris, as his imaginary friend. The story is based loosely on the actor's own experience of growing up in the town and he was adamant that part of it would be filmed on location. Chris' father, Sean, is an extra in the series, which will feature a lot of local faces. 'Moone Boy' is co-written by Chris and Nick Vincent Murphy and is expected to air on Sky next summer. Ryan spoke to Chris about his soaring career in Hollywood, starring in one of the biggest blockbusters of last year, Bridesmaids, and his recent engagement to journalist Dawn Porter.
We got a text into the show from a listener whose sister is getting married next month. Her sister told her that she doesn't want her boyfriend in the wedding photos, even though they've been together for a year and he gets on really well with all the family. But the bride-to-be is worried that they'll break up at some stage and that she won't be able to display the photos! Our listener is raging and looking for advice...
After talking to Sharon Corr about the Voice of Ireland, we were informed by a texter that an Irishman is currently acting as a coach on the Voice of Germany! We tracked him down and Ryan spoke to Rea Garvey, a singer-songwriter from Tralee who, although relatively known here in Ireland, is a bit of a big deal in Germany!
Siobhan contacted the show en route to Cork University Hospital to have her third baby today. She was listening to the talk about Beyonce's baby and the name they chose for her. Siobhan has two boys' names and two girls' names picked - and no, they're not Blue Ivy or Pink Holly!
Mel heard Ryan reading out the text about the girl whose boyfriend is being left out of her sister's wedding photographs. Well, Mel has been with her husband for 9 years now and every member of his family who got married have purposely left spouses out of their wedding photos. She has been to numerous weddings on her husband's side where she's been left standing there with the other spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends while the photos were being taken. It's humiliating! Just put the other halves in the photo and save the embarrassment!
Now some of you may be sick to the teeth of all the 'New You for the New year' talk and the resolutions may already have been broken, but we've had lots of people getting in touch with the show who genuinely would like to improve their lives and lifestyle, in any way possible. Our resident clinical psychologist David Coleman joined Ryan in studio to offer 12 Tips For Positive Living in 2012:
1. Show yourself to be reliable and trustworthy and you will build secure attachments for your children.
2. When in doubt get out into the fresh air: it cures a lot of grumpiness and stress
3. Being warm and kind with your family will go a long way to making family life enjoyable
4. Use humour and distraction with children to avoid unnecessary conflict
5. If you have a plan or an idea act on it rather than putting it off
6. Encourage your children to make decisions and solve problems as they get older; avoid doing everything for them and making every choice on their behalf
7. Have more family mealtimes
8. Play with your children regularly and often and your relationship with them will improve dramatically
9. Remember that children are never bold, they just do bold things sometimes
10. Get everyone involved in household chores; it builds responsibility and shares the workload
11. Remembering that "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all" will help you avoid unnecessary criticism
12. Think about the example you set for your children; there's no point in screaming at them to be quiet!
Tara got in touch to say that the last three years were very tough for her. She had a serious illness, lost her job and nearly lost her house but things turned around finally. She's back working now and getting back on her feet and catching up on her mortgage. She wants to make the most of her life and she has wonderful notions about what she's going to do with her second chance but she says she always runs out of steam. Tara asked David Coleman if he had any suggestions to keep motivated and break the procrastination habit. She almost bought a book with that title once but decided there might be a better book in town so she put it back! She didn't find any other book and when she went back to get the first one - it was gone. Oh the irony!