Ariana Grande surprises TNT Boys on Late Late Show

FILE: “Still can’t believe that we were able to sing with ate Ariana Grande! ‘Ate’ means ‘older sister’ in Filipino! For sure, Filipinos are so happy for this!” (Photo: @thetntboys/Instagram)

Filipino group TNT Boys visited The Late Late Show with James Corden last Tuesday, February 19, receiving an unexpected surprise – a visit from one of their favorite singers, Grammy award-winning pop star Ariana Grande.

Thirteen year-old Francis Concepcion, 14-year-old Mackie Empuerto, and 15-year-old Keifer Sanchez, the three boys whose performances in several worldwide stages stunned international audience and netizens, were performing Dreamgirls’ “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” for British host James’s show when Ariana appeared next to them and sang along. The boys, who previously performed Ariana’s hit “Bang Bang” on Philippine show Your Face Sounds Familiar were visibly ecstatic, continuing to sing the track with a smile on their faces.

As a response to their performance, Ariana told the trio, “I’m obsessed with you guys. You guys are so incredible. That was so beautiful,” while the boys also posted a photo on their social media with the 25-year-old singer, captioned, “Is this even real? We sang with Ariana Grande,” adding, “Thank you James Corden for making this possible!”

During the sit-down portion of the talk show, Corden initially joked with the teenagers, telling them, “My favorite thing about meeting you guys was when you had just performed on stage and there was a commercial break,” elaborating, “and I came over, and I came to meet you, Francis, and you went like this, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ I was like, I thought ‘I’m huge in the Philippines, I’ve got all these fans.’ And I went ‘hi’ and your first words were, ‘You’ve met Ariana Grande.”

Laughing, Francis explained, “Ariana Grande is my favorite singer. I love Ariana Grande’s voice and I love her attitude,” not knowing that the artist was backstage and set to also guest on the show the same day.