Cavan woman auditions for Britain’s Got Talent

Cavan woman Anne Taylor was among members of the Sea of Change Choir who auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent.

The group auditioned on January 12, receiving a heartfelt ‘Yes’ from each of the judges and a standing ovation from the crowd.

The episode aired last weekend, when Anne was finally able to share the exciting news with her friends and family.

“Our group are an amazing bunch of women, we just take everything in our stride,” Anne said.

Speaking to the Celt over three months since they auditioned, the Bailieborough native still found the experience of performing on the Blackpool stage in front of Simon Cowell “surreal”.

“Even to meet Ant and Dec. Who in their right minds would ever think that we’d be singing for Simon Cowell?” she exclaimed.

“This is a programme you watch on telly. You don’t ever envisage yourself on that stage.”

The group submitted a video, after which the show organisers “got in contact and said you’re great, would you consider auditioning?”

Several rehearsals later, the group headed for Blackpool at the start of the year. Each of the women filed past Ant and Dec onto the stage and under the spotlights and cameras’ gaze, stood before the four judges - Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli.

“We went out, we were very nervous as you can imagine,” Anne recalled.

“We we’re thinking of all our loved ones on the day who we had lost and we tried to put that into our performance.”

Choir founder Dee Featherstone, who got the all-clear for the second time just two days before making the trip over, introduced the group.

“We are the Sea of Change, we’ve come all the way from Dublin to be with you,” she said, explaining that they are a group of cancer survivors and supporters.

“Out of a possible 98 boobs, we’ve got 81 and a half. So, if we dance a little lobsided, bear with us,” she exclaimed.

The group sang Sam Ryder’s ‘Mountain’ during which solo artist Lisa Doorly’s powerful voice was accompanied by choir members.

“Remember how you made it through the fire, remember how you’ve come so far. An unstoppable force of nature, that’s what you are,” Lisa sang.

Simon Cowell said their performance delivered a “beautiful” and “very powerful” message and said the group “sounded really good”.

“This is one of those auditions I think that matters, so good for you,” he praised.

“I could see all of your personalities, the unity and the love that you share. It was a wonderful performance,” Alesha Dixon commented.

Meanwhile Amanda Holden said it was a “great, great audition”.

“You are the embodiment of the power of positive thinking,” Bruno Tonioli, who appeared on The Late Late Show recently, told the group.

The Sea of Change Choir left the stage with a massive yes from each judge, and a whole new level of excitement for the women.

“Simon Cowell said some beautiful words to us, he was very personal about his mum, she passed away from cancer. She would have found that whole thing very inspiring,” he told them.

“Everything was just so positive, we were blown away,” Anne recalled.

“All our love and energy went into that performance and that’s all we wanted to come across. It’s something that we really, really care about.”

The mum of two’s journey with the choir started after she had surgery to remove a tumour on her throat. The procedure took half of her thyroid along with it; Anne was told there was a “strong possibility” that she wouldn’t have a voice afterwards. However, a day after her surgery, her voice started to return. Now fully recovered, she has been performing with the Sea of Change Choir, who raise funds for children’s cancer charity Aoibheann’s Pink Tie.

For now, Anne and the rest of the group “don’t know yet” what will come next, but she said it “doesn’t really matter”.

“We just wait and see now did we make the live shows,” she said.

“To be able to get to that platform alone, if we go further it’s amazing; if we don’t it doesn’t matter. Just to be able to get this far is incredible, it’s beyond our wildest dreams.

“This is just a journey now for us,” she said, adding that they are “enjoying every minute of it”.

“We are just thankful for all the love and support that we get from everybody as well because we couldn’t do without that.”

The first semi final aired last weekend, with four more shows set to be broadcast between now and May 23 before finalists are revealed.

Previously, the Sea of Change Choir were finalists on Ireland’s Got Talent in 2019, with Denise Van Outen slamming on her golden buzzer for their version of ‘This is Me’ by Keala Settle. Most recently they performed at the National Concert Hall and have also performed internationally in the past.

Anne is the second Cavan person to appear on Britain’s Got Talent, with Clifferna’s hip hop sensation Dylan Byrd making it to the live semi-finals in 2015 when he was aged just 16 years.

In neighbouring County Meath, Oldcastle’s singing priest, Fr Ray Kelly, also reached the finals of BGT in 2018.