A tall, blonde singing farmer caught Simon Cowell’s eye when she walked out on stage in Sunday night’s round of X Factor auditions - but it was her voice that really stunned him.
Hannah Kilminster, 30, from Cirencester, sang Queen’s Somebody to Love and had all the judges on their feet at the end of her performance.
“Bl***y hell! Where did that come from?” said Simon. “I wasn’t expecting that. You have an incredible voice. My God, you have just shaken this competition up.”
“I don’t even think you needed a microphone,” added Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. “You are an incredible singer.”
“We need a Hannah Farm to grow singers like you,” said Nick Grimshaw.
But with the very good comes the very bad…
What’s a series of The X Factor without at least one memorably awful act - such as Jedward or Stevi Ritchie - getting through to Boot Camp and beyond?
On Sunday, Joselito Peralta, a 51-year-old hairdresser who “sings randomly” - was that act.
Joselito sang Copacabana in what Simon described as “one of the longest auditions we’ve ever had”, before putting his head in hands.
Nick saw it more favourably, describing it as “the sexiest performance I’ve ever seen”.
And Cheryl and Rita Ora enjoyed it, too.
Joselito was the only one of 11 acts to make it to Boot Camp on Sunday that didn’t get Simon’s vote.
The judges all really loved 21-year-old call centre worker Jasmin Leigh Morris who, said Simon, sang Emeli Sande’s Clown “as if you’d written it yourself”.
Che Chestermen, 18, from Essex, had Simon up on his feet after his performance of Jessie J’s Who You Are.
“You’re one of those rare finds,” Simon told Che. I think your voice is beautiful.”
“You have an amazing range,” added Rita.
Anton Stephans, 45, is a seasoned backing singer who has worked with Tina Turner and who’s now hoping to make it as a singer on his own.
After he sang Jennifer Hudson’s I Am Changing, Simon told him: “The reason we never put an age limit on this show was so that we could find people like you.”
Go to our picture special to see all 20 acts who made it Boot Camp from this weekend’s auditions.
The X Factor continues on ITV, Saturday, September 12, 8.00pm.
