Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Andrew Johnston sings Pie Jesu at Britain's Got Talent



This video is already being posted in hundreds of blogs around the world. But I still feel like posting it here. This boy was bullied for his love of choir music (among other things) but now he's a popular guy as he wins the Britain's Got Talent Show (hopefully winning the grand final).

This boy reminds me of the movie ABOUT A BOY. If you've watched the movie About A Boy - don't you think this boy's story has a little bit of similarity?

Funny, the other day I was just thinking of posting something about "how to protect our kids from bullies" and today I saw this at My Daily Ramblings Rendezvous Blog. I like this kind of story - from being bullied to becoming popular and successful.

Here's an excerpt from the news:

A BULLIED schoolboy who lives on a council estate has stunned Britain with his sensational voice. Andrew Johnson, 13, was clearly nervous as he took to the stage on Britain’s Got Talent. But just like Paul Potts the year before, he left the judges in tears and won a standing ovation from the audience after performing the classical requiem Pie Jesu. Visibly shaking, Andrew told the judges he’d been bulled from the age of six for singing, but he wouldn’t stop.

“I get bullied a lot at the local school,” he said. “My mates have been telling us to leave it because they don’t like that kind of music.”

He said he dealt with the bullies by “just keeping on singing”. “I live in a council estate and I don’t want to be hanging around the streets, I want to make something of my life”.

Judge Amanda Holden was moved to tears by the teenager’s performance. “I was mesmerized by you, I could not take my eyes off you. You could take all those bullies out with that voice,” she said.

Even normally grumpy judge Simon Cowell was shocked, sitting for much of the performance with his mouth open. “He was shaking like a leaf, he had no confidence, but I have to tell you, his voice was fantastic,” he said.

Piers Morgan said Andrew had beaten the bullies with his talent. “The thing about school bullies, they don’t like you for one reason – you’ve got more talent than they could dream of having – ever.”

Clearly impressed three judges unanimously agreed to put the teenager through to the next round.

GO TO News.Com.au here for the rest of the article.

3 comments:

raqgold said...

he knows what he could do and he's got faith -- i salute him.

Kristen said...

Yes, he is awesome!

Real Life Sarah said...

WOW!!! I had a student who sang that somg last year, and I could listen to it for hours at a time. What a talent!