Meet Simon Cowell’s BGT Golden Buzzer act: singer Calum Scott
In nine years of doing Britain's Got Talent he’s never heard someone with the 26-year-old Olly Murs lookalike's talent...
Britain’s Got Talent isn’t hanging about this series – the very first Golden Buzzer was shown during tonight's episode and it's singer Calum Scott who's headed straight for the live semi-finals.
Simon Cowell wasn’t actually the first to select his Golden Buzzer act during the auditions – hosts Ant and Dec got in there early – but his choice is the first to be revealed to viewers, and it was certainly a strange audition as Calum followed his sister Jade – who’d just had four 'nos' – onto the BGT stage. She’d been interrupted twice by Cowell and was told to change her song. Deemed a “pub singer”, she then had to watch from the sidelines as her brother performed.
In fact, 26-year-old Calum from Hull only got into singing because of his sister, who just three years ago entered him into another competition. He'd been terrified, but admitted he’d loved the buzz of performing.
Clearly Jade was right to encourage him with the four judges up on their feet after his performance of Robyn’s Dancing on My Own, a song he’d put his own subtle twist on.
“Your version was sensational,” Cowell told a gobsmacked Calum. “It shows to me that you’re more than a singer, you’re an artist and that’s why you got that,” he added, pointing to the Golden Buzzer.
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“This is surreal,” Calum admitted as the golden ticker tape poured down on him.
Only a few weeks ago Cowell told RadioTimes.com that there’s more of an element of competition among the judges with their Golden Buzzers now. “I’ve got a good feeling,” he said of Calum, “I think I’ve got a shot.
"That's why it's always good to have an audience, I could feel the reaction, you could tell, we just got lost in the performance. It was just such a great version of the song. With what happened with the sister and the whole interaction, I just thought it was magical. Sometimes when you do the auditions you do get in a bit of a bubble and you watch it back and you think 'Christ, what was I thinking?', but I'm glad I pushed the buzzer, I think he's great and he's a really nice guy."
"... and fit," Miss Dixon added with a laugh. "Always helps".
But should Cowell be backing a singer yet again (last year he championed teenage duo Bars and Melody)? Is that not the territory of X Factor? "It was a bit top heavy last year," Cowell said of the number of singers in the 2014 semi-finals. "That's your fault," teased Holden, but Cowell says he's taken comments from viewers on board, adding it's more "even" this year.
Britain's Got Talent continues next Saturday at 8:00pm on ITV
