Imagine wanting to be a singer and practicing your craft in the privacy of your room, where the only audience is your reflection in the mirror. Now, let’s kick it up a notch and bring you down to the living room where you’re putting on a mini show for your family members to admire your voice. Intimidated yet?
If something like performing in front of people you know, at a place you are super comfortable with, is scary, then imagine getting in front of thousands of unknown people and strict judges, and belt out your favorite song.
Auditioning for a television talent show must be incredibly intimidating. Imagine standing all by yourself on a big stage. In front of you is an audience that is waiting to either cheer you on if you’re great and boo you if you’re bad.
But, during the audition process, it is the judges that hold your fate in their hands. The judges in question here do not exactly forgive — especially if one of them is Simon Cowell. He has a reputation for “telling it like it is” and he is not always very kind about it.
On her audition for the “X Factor UK,” Mary Byrne found herself standing in front of the ever-so-critical Simon. Mary had overcome some obstacles to stand there. At 28-years-old she gave up performing in public as she fought depression and the heartbreak of a failed relationship. Now, her only audience consisted of customers passing through her checkout line in the UK store, Tesco.
At the encouragement of her friends and family, she took up performing again and won an Irish television singing contest. New step — “The X Factor.” As she stood on the stage, Mary revealed her song choice to the judges after taking a moment to introduce herself. When she said that she would be singing “I Who Have Nothing” by Tom Jones, the judges were skeptical. They doubted her ability to pull off the difficult song and had practically written her off before she even began to sing.
But, she proved them all wrong when she gave a stellar performance. The judges changed their tune and rewarded her with tons of praise. Then, it was Simon’s turn to speak, and it was his words that meant the most.
Watch Mary’s audition in the video below and see just what Simon had to say about it!
