Nov 16

Follow Your Dream, Day #517: Des O'Connor

A fun bit of trivia: it was The Des O'Connor Show, in 1995, that gave the world the first glimpse of Michael Flatley's new show, #LordOfTheDance.

With the recent news of Des O'Connor passing away, we wanted to thank him for the significant role he played in helping showcase what was in 1995 a prototype for what has since become one of the most memorable #IrishDance numbers in history.

Remember, at that time, much of the press speculation surrounding Michael's new show was negative, and there was quite a campaign to paint Michael as an egomaniacal primadonna. Never mind the fact that his old show was continuing on with his work while his new show was *one-hundred percent* #IrishDancing; to some, he was still an outsider -- an "effin' Yank" -- with a glorified vanity project doomed to fail.

One-billion dollars later, those critics have been silenced. But in 1995, the odds of Michael and Team Lord reaching that kind of stratospheric success seemed, shall we say, rather unlikely. Thus, television appearances like this made a huge difference -- and we are forever grateful to Des O'Connor as a result. Since someone uploaded the footage to YouTube, we're sharing the link so that you can see this remarkable bit of history.

#FollowYourDream