virginia's ginormous recital in IRELAND! ☘️
“I love singing, I love Ireland, and I love YOU!”
Virginia Giglio became America’s sweetheart after winning episode 7 of our season of The Floor, but secretly she’s the full-time sweetheart of Cork, Ireland. A Georgia native and longtime Oklahoma resident, she’s lived in Ireland for the past 7 years. Fans of The Floor (and anyone who’s said two words to me in the past year) know that the show is filmed outside of Dublin, so if Virginia’s spunky personality and diverse knowledge base hadn’t already shooed her in, her resident status was surely a kicker.
[This is the info nugget people have needed most when I told them I was going back to Ireland this July. There was a lot of “Is it for The Floor again?” and “No, but also yes…” and that’s all understandable. So I’m leading with that this time.]
As promised, Virginia produced her Ginormous Recital with her episode winnings, a “once-in-a-lifetime, one-night event” to raise money for Cork Penny Dinners. The show sold out, expanded, and sold out AGAIN, and in the end raised over $15,000 USD for charity. Some of my favorite songs of the night were:
An “Oklahoma” medley featuring a song in Cheyenne (Virginia worked with the Cheyenne for many years to preserve their music and culture ISNTTHATSOAWESOME)
Grace O’Brien’s performance of “The Boatman” in the original Irish
“Autumn Leaves” as a jazz quartet but one of the instruments was a FIDDLE???
“Grand,” an original song about how great Virginia’s husband Neal is (there was audience participation and it was judged and the Floor group WON hell yeah)
Virginia and Arnold Rawls’s “The Music Of The Night,” because why be friends with operatic icons for 40 years if you can’t sing sweeping duets with them from time to time???
Oh yeah, and I sang a few songs as well! 🤭 I was honored to represent The Floor and be invited to share the stage with the lovely Virginia (who appears to be a bona fide pillar of her community – not many people could sell out a show in Ireland on the night of a very important hurling match).
For my solo pieces, I sang Carole King’s “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” and Lake Street Dive’s version of The Cranberries’ “Linger.” The band for the night was unreal; I only wished my band could be there to fangirl over them with me.
I had so much fun performing these songs with this incredible band, and my friends in attendance did y’all a favor by filming them! 😉 Give ‘em a listen while you fold laundry or chop vegetables; that’s how I watch most videos nowadays!
[I almost forgot to mention: the recital wasn’t just a reunion for me and Grandma V – it was a proper family get-together! NINE Floor friends were there that night, including our makeup artist John Paul and Rob Lowe himself!… just… you know… in cardboard cutout form. 🤪 Plus my newlywed friends of over a decade flew all the way from London to attend, and now all of those sweeties can be friends with each other… because of me! Not to get existential in the aside, but I feel like my life’s calling is acquainting the world’s loveliest people with one another. And if singing is the way I get to do that, then I am a very lucky lady. 🥰
I posted a few more pics from the recital on instagram, and I prooommmmise I’m going to post the rest of my trip soon! (I always take photos and I always forget to post them and I’m SORRY!) Keelan and I made a whole trip out of the occasion and drove around Ireland for a few days after the show, seeing way too many things for the time frame and way too few things for my spirit to be satisfied. So if anyone wants to contribute to my 2026 Proper Irish Vacation Fund, my venmo is always open! 🤑
Thanks as always for reading, dear reader. To steal Virginia’s words for myself, I love singing, I love Ireland, and I love YOU. 💝 If you made it this far, please reply with some photos from your summer vacations or activities. I would actually love that. okthatsitbyeeeeee