Sydnie Christmas certainly has cause for celebration. Clinching Amanda Holden’s first Golden Buzzer of Britain’s Got Talent 2024 for her powerhouse rendition of Tomorrow from the musical Annie, singer Sydnie sailed through to the talent show’s live semi-finals.
"I feel so overwhelmed," she tells What To Watch, as she joins us for an exclusive chat. "It doesn't seem real because it all happened so quickly. I’m still expecting someone to wake me up! I feel very lucky."
Following the last auditions show this weekend, on Monday, May 27, the stage will be set for five nights of live shows, where the top 40 acts - including Sydnie, one of a record NINE golden buzzers - will perform for a place in the grand final next weekend.
Already unforgettable thanks to her festive-sounding name (‘At school, I used to joke my dad was Father Christmas’), bubbly personality - and ’ave it’ catchphrase - aspiring West End star Sydnie’s first audition has had five million hits on YouTube and she’s hot favorite to follow last year’s Norwegian comedian Vigo Venn and join the Britain’s Got Talent winners list.
Here’s why Sydnie, 28, from Kent, hopes that BGT will be the gift that keeps on giving…
What made you audition for Britain’s Got Talent?
"I've been trying to get into the entertainment industry for a very long time. I’m at an age now where I’m looking around and seeing lots of people I know, that are a lot younger than me, getting leads in the West End, and I think: ‘Am I good enough? So, I went on BGT just trying my luck really. I couldn’t believe I got a yes. I never get a yes!"
You got a bit more than a yes! You got Amanda’s Golden Buzzer…
"I did NOT expect that. I just wanted to do a good job, so that I could walk off stage and feel like I’d done alright. So to get that result I thought: ‘This stuff doesn’t happen to Sydnie!'"
It was your bubbly personality that first caught the judges attention - is that your way of channelling any nerves ahead of a big performance?
"100%. In the performing arts industry, you have to hold yourself in a professional manner, so I was going into these auditions being more reserved, quiet, basically being someone else, which was making me even more nervous. BGT was the most nervous I've ever been for an audition because I wasn’t preparing for a role, I was just being me, Sydnie Christmas. I've never felt nerves like it, so I decided to channel that by saying: ‘Come on, let’s ’ave it!’"
Can you describe the moment you received Amanda’s Golden Buzzer?
"I didn't even see it happen. One minute, the judges were critiquing my performance and I was trying to focus on what they were saying. The next minute, there’s this loud noise and I realised what had happened. It was very validating; that they really liked what I’d done. So it was a shock… but a happy shock."
Did you keep any of the gold confetti?
"Most of my friends didn't know I was going on BGT; I kept it secret because, to me, it was just another audition. Afterwards, I sent them all a photo of this pile of gold confetti and they were like, 'What on earth is that?' They only realised once they’d watched my audition."
Tell us more about your performance background…
"I’ve been doing theatre shows abroad for a long time; I was in Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany. But I’ve always been just in the background, never a leading lady. What’s the saying: ‘Always the bridesmaid, never the bride’? I’ve never been let in the West End!"
Now, you're finally getting your own ‘big day’, appearing at the BGT live semi-finals. Can you tease anything about your performance?
"When I got home after my Golden Buzzer audition, a song came into my mind straight away and I’ve dreamed about it since. I can see exactly what I'm wearing in my performance and I'm constantly practising ways to put my little ‘Syd’s kiss’ on it. All I’ll say is that my influences are very old fashioned - growing up, I loved Doris Day, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and Elvis. I’m an old soul and that's where my love for performing began."
You’ve already impressed the judges but are you nervous about the public vote?
"Yeah, that's terrifying. I’ve had so many ‘nos’ in my life, that it doesn't seem real that people might now say ‘yes’. I really hope I can do a good job and make ‘Little Syd’ - me as a youngster - proud. With what’s happened on BGT, I’d tell her to ‘Hang in there, girl!’"
What would it mean to you to win Britain's Got Talent - and £250,000?
"It seems impossible but it would be the biggest ‘yes’ and the biggest validation of: ‘Syd, you’re supposed to be doing this.’ I'm usually very present, I don't tend to think beyond the day after tomorrow. As the song says: 'It IS only a day away'... if you'll excuse the pun! Money aside, all I want is for a door to open. My dream doesn’t ‘cost’ anything. All it costs is for people to like what they hear when I sing. That would be me winning."
What’s the ultimate dream?
"All I've ever wanted to do is sing live. I love lyrics and telling a story. I'm very in touch with my feelings, so singing and performing is the best way for me to explore that. The dream is to be seen in the West End and become a household name doing what I love to do. A Christmas album, maybe? Ha, ha… wouldn’t that be ironic!"
Britain's Got Talent: The Live Semi-Finals start on Monday, May 27 at 8pm on ITV1.
