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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Rachel McGrath

Britain’s Got Talent: 12-year-old Fayth Ifil wins Simon Cowell’s golden buzzer with Proud Mary performance

A 12-year-old singer became the latest person to go straight through to the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals on Saturday.

Fayth Ifil wowed the judges with her performance of Tina Turner’s iconic track Proud Mary.

Arriving on stage, she had told the panel about troubles she was having at school, revealing she had suffered from "negativity" from other pupils.

The youngster's spirited audition then had the audience and panel on their feet, as Ifan's mum welled up at the side of the stage.

Walliams then told her that she seems "born to be a superstar" before Cowell said he "loved" her personality.

Before Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden had even shared their feedback, Cowell, 60, reached over and pressed the golden buzzer.

He told her after: "When you're as good as you are, you win.

"If anyone ever says anything negative, you remember this moment."

The episode also saw choir Class Dynamix, a choir with members aged between 9 and 11, wow the judges with their own original track.

Afterwards, Cowell remarked that auditions featuring talented kids have been particularly strong this year.

Billy and Chantelle, two teenage dancers from Birmingham, also received four yeses after their impressive contemporary routine.

It wasn’t all about the kids though. Allan Finnegan, a 52-year-old Baptist Minister from Liverpool, had the judges in stitches with his stand-up comedy.

The audition stages of BGT were filmed earlier this year, before the coronavirus crisis took hold in Europe and the UK.

The live shows will be postponed until lockdown restrictions are lifted or relaxed.

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