For anyone who suffers from severe stage fright, the mere thought of getting up in front of an audience to speak, much less perform, is enough to induce a panic attack. So imagine the grit and mental fortitude it takes for someone like that to not only conquer their fears, but do it with a performance so spine-tingling it brings an entire audience to their feet.
That’s what happened when Jamie Pugh, a 37-year-old man from Wales, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent back in 2009 with a moving and completely unexpectedly talented rendition of “Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables.
“You’re terrified, aren’t you?” Simon asks him as he shuffles nervously.
“Yeah,” he admits, evoking twitters of laughter from the audience. But he has everyone – the judges, the audience, the crew – absolutely captivated within seconds of the first note.
And by the end – well, this reaction kind of speaks for itself:
Never would’ve gotten that reaction if he hadn’t taken a chance, would he?
“I’ve gotta say, Jamie, I was not expecting that kind of performance from you,” Piers Morgan says. “You haven’t performed in this kind of arena ever, you deliver pizzas at night, for goodness sake, and you come on this stage, one of the biggest talent shows in the world, and you do a performance like that – I thought that was incredible.”
And that assessment was unanimous, across the board.
Check out this massively crowd-pleasing performance in the video below, and share if you agree that, despite whatever fears and uncertainty you harbor, it’s worth it to go for your dreams!
