Watch: 'Superstar' visits Cork school for fun performance

A lunchtime concert in a Douglas primary school marked the end of term in style and the special guest star left his young fans screaming for one more song.

Nobody in the school hall of Scoil Bhríde Eglantine NS on Friday was old enough to remember Beatlemania – not even The Echo reporter – but Harry Styles, or at least someone looking and sounding like him, got a flavour of what it must have been like to be in Shea Stadium in 1965.

The screaming – fingers in your ears stuff - began as soon as the 400 or so pupils at the Douglas school spotted a car pulling into the playground and the man himself bounded onto the stage.

Resplendent in a pink feather boa, pink flares, white trainers, a colour-blind shirt and aviator shades, Harry’s hair was as immaculate as his English accent as he launched into Watermelon Sugar.

At first the teachers seemed a little more confident in singing along and dancing with hand gestures, but the younger people soon joined in, and by the second song, One Direction’s That’s What Makes You Beautiful – “This is from a band I used to be in” – their screams were back to 747 levels.

The young fans knew all the lyrics to every song, and George Ezra’s Shotgun had them literally jumping up and down to the music. An ice cream van had been seen in the playground earlier, and given the energy levels in the sports hall on Friday afternoon, it may as well have served them pure sugar.

V-Kay, a group of eight sixth class students who performed Shake it Off at February’s Schoolovision, reprised the song with Harry, and that was followed by a request for superfan Miss Maxwell to join the superstar on stage.

Their duet of Shut Up and Dance had the crowd in hysterics, and a kiss on the hand from Harry – “I’ll never wash my hand again” – nearly resulted in a teacher fainting before a live studio audience.

After the gig, as Harry signed autographs on t-shirts, his security detail of Niall Daly and Arlene Pope struggled to maintain order (they didn’t, really, everyone was lovely).

Was it the real Harry Styles? Early on in the performance, The Echo spotted one of the youngest students in the hall grinning from ear to ear and looking like someone who was in on a big joke and didn’t care a whit about it being a joke because she was having a fantastic time.

Backstage before the performance, Aaron Kelly, who is 19 and from Douglas, said he was looking forward, if slightly nervously, to his second appearance at Scoil Bhríde, having first played there in February.

The UCC Arts student said he has been singing since he was 10.

“I sing every day, it’s my favourite thing to do, and it would be my passion,” he said. “I was with the Studio Wolfe stage school, and when I was younger I did panto with my sister, and I played Buttons in The Everyman when I was about 10.

“I did Hairspray, and High School Musical, and I’ve had a few lead roles, and I would love to start doing some gigs.” 

Aaron is available for weddings and birthday parties, and he is on Instagram @aaronkelly131 and on TikTok @aaronkellymusic. He comes highly recommended in Scoil Bhríde Eglantine NS.

When Harry’s security detail had driven him away, back home to London, or New York, or Douglas, principal Ger O’Brien - once she had finished reprimanding Miss Maxwell - asked the students: “Did you have a fun day today?” Their happy screams were answer enough.