Simon Cowell could easily be forgiven for dismissing Collabro out of hand, writing off the five fresh-faced men clad in jeans, tightly fitting shirts and sneakers as just another pop quintuplet.
But that was before the opening notes of the song “Stars”from Les Misérables rang through the auditorium, and Richard Hadfield’s commanding voice raised eyebrows around the world. In those first few moments, it was clear Cowell — and anyone else who laughed off the band based on the previous 40 seconds — was way off mark.
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Admittedly, the band had formed just one month prior to the stunning appearance on the eighth season of Britain’s Got Talent; when juror Alesha Dixon pointedly asked Matt Pagan, “What makes you think after a month that you’re good enough to win Britain’s Got Talent?”he simply replied, “Natural chemistry, I think.â€
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That chemistry was in full evidence during the nearly three-minute performance. The audience initially sat silently stunned, then broke into thunderous claps and cheers mid-way through the song. Meanwhile, the judges’ stoicism gave way to bulging eyes and dropped jaws. They ended up on their feet applauding before the song concluded.
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“When the five of you came out I thought, ‘Here we go again, another boy band, this is going to be awful.’ But it was an absolutely brilliant audition, brilliant,”Cowell told them afterward.
“It was a faultless performance, guys,”another judge, David Walliams, agreed. “It was absolutely fantastic.â€
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When Cowell remarked on “what a great song”the band chose to perform, Walliams again agreed, adding, “Yeah, I know. It’s not an obvious choice of song, as well, which is great — we hear the same songs over and over again.â€
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The band — now down one member — has since signed with Cowell’s label, Syco, and released two hit albums, with no signs of slowing down!
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