The tough Britain's Got Talent judges were brought to their feet by a group of medics from the north west this weekend. Ambulance crews from North West Ambulance Service received a standing ovation during the ITV competition, wowing the judges as the Frontline Singers - a choir made up of key workers and professional performers who worked on the frontline during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group gave a rousing performance of the song Strange Old World, originally written and recorded during lockdown. Not only did the song get a crucial four yes votes from the judges to get them through to the next round, David, Alesha, Amanda and even stern Simon Cowell stood and cheered for the choir - along with the rest of the crowd.
Paramedic Rebecca and Emergency Medical Technician Justin are part of the NWAS choir, who took part in the song’s original recording. After that, Justin and Rebecca were asked to participate in a face to face rehearsal with the group at the end of last year, just before they auditioned for the show.
But amazingly, the first time the whole group sang together was actually in their soundcheck on stage at the London Palladium just before their performance in front of the judges.
Rebecca admits just before they went on stage for the TV performance, her nerves kicked in. She said: “In the wings, at the palladium, there are pictures of all the famous people who’ve performed on the stage: comedians, singers, actors.
“I wasn’t nervous until I saw that, and then I did clam up a bit. I had to speak to the judges before we sang, and I couldn’t get my words out.”
All four judges stood up with the audience to applaud the singers’ performance. However, Justin says because of the emotions he was going through, captured on camera, he missed it. “There were definitely a few tears at the end," he said.
"I was hugging and consoling the person next to me. We’d become friends even after just meeting on the day. We’d all helped each other through it and for the judges to feel that way about our performance is really special.”
Judges Alesha Dixon told the group 'we are debt to your services, it was very touching', while David Walliams said 'it was the perfect marriage between the incredible things you've done for us all and this wonderful song'.
'What we've gone through for the last two years, it's surreal. But what comes out of it is moments like this, it gives us a chance to say thank you to all of you because it's people like yourselves who protected all of us,' added Simon Cowell.
The group could now appear in the live semi-finals if selected by the judges. On the prospect of singing again, Justin added: “We’d obviously like to go through to the next stage of the competition. However, doing what we’ve done already has been amazing, and for me, if we don’t go any further, I’ve got lifelong friends now, so that’s fine!”
Rebecca continued: “I couldn’t be prouder representing the ambulance service in Britain’s Got Talent after everything we’ve been through these last two years, especially my friends that I work with in South Lancashire. It’s such an amazing thing to do. It’s such a treat and an honour. I’m excited for the first time in years; it’s ace!”
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