An Irish priest who won admirers around the world when a video of him singing to a couple at their wedding went viral ha appeared on Britain’s Got Talent and wowed the judges.
In fact, Simon Cowell even went so far as to tell Father Ray Kelly that he was one of his favourite acts that he had ever seen.
The priest, from Co Meath, appeared in the opening week of the auditions stage. He performed a fantastically moving version of the REM classic ‘Everybody Hurts’.
Before he started to sing he enjoyed a spot of banter with the judges.
Cowell asked him whether he performs exorcisms, to which the 64-year-old looked at comedian David Walliams and replied: “Yeah, we can work on David whenever you want. Do you want me to zap him now or later?”
Father Kelly’s performance was stunning and at the end of the song the audience were frozen in silence.
It was up to Cowell to break the silence by standing up and leading the audience in a huge round of applause.
Judges David Walliams, Alisha Dixon and Amanda Holden all had kind words for Father Kelly before Cowell said: “I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I’m going to tell you something: this is one of my favourite ever auditions.”
After Cowell said that Fr Kelly was everything they had been waiting for, the judges took it to a vote which saw the priest sail through to the next round.
Take a look at the video below.
It isn’t Fr Kelly’s first taste of fame. A video of the priest went viral in 2014 when he sang at the wedding of Chris and Leah O’Kane.
This led to him appearing on the Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy show in Ireland and even releasing an album.
Thake a look at the video of Fr Kelly singing at Chris and Leah O’Kane’s wedding
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
