Talent shows are a staple of TV schedules these days in 2024 and millions of people across the world have applied and auditioned hoping to gain recognition for their talent and become the next big thing. Of course not all of them, make it up to the highest ranks but yes they get popular all around the world. We’ve rounded up 9 of the best talent show auditions – some of the contestants went on to achieve great things, whereas others eventually faded into obscurity.
-
Susan Boyle, Britain’s Got Talent series 3, 2009
Susan Boyle’s audition went viral very soon after it aired and got everyone talking. She went on to come second in the show and her debut album I Dreamed a Dream was the world’s biggest selling album in 2009, even though it went on sale in mid-November. Susan has since released a further six albums, but still enjoys a quiet life in Blackburn and famously lives in the same council house she did before she auditioned, despite being a multi-millionaire many times over.
2. Melanie Amaro, The X Factor USA season 1, 2010
Melanie wowed the judges and audience with her rendition of ‘Listen’ and even though she went on to win the show, she failed to have any chart success and has yet to release an album. She has since released music independently and it seems she’s no longer got Simon Cowell’s backing.
3. Olate Dogs, America’s Got Talent season 7, Winner in November 2017
Father and son trainers Richard and Nicholas Olate went on to win the seventh season of America’s Got Talent with their act that consisted of getting their dogs to do all sorts of tricks, such as riding scooters, performing backflips, going down slides and doing a conga line. The act’s audition wowed everyone and people were seriously impressed with the dogs’ talent.
4. Zhang Junhao, Awesome Chinese, 2014
Can you believe this child is only three years old? He stuns the judges not only with his dancing, but also with his very positive attitude and charming personality. This clip has been viewed well over 100 million times on Youtube and it’s safe to say Zhang has done what he wanted to do and has brought happiness to the world through dancing.
5. Leona Lewis, X Factor series 3, 2006
Leona’s rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ caught the judges’ attention and she would go on to win the show and would go on to have huge success with her debut album Spirit and its lead single Bleeding Love. The album broke many records on its release and was the sixth biggest selling of 2007. It was a worldwide success and is regarded by many as the most successful album released by a talent show contestant in history.
6. Alexa Curtis, The Voice Kids Australia season 1, 2014
Alexa stunned everyone with her audition performance of Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire’ and went on to win the show. She also represented Australia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and came an impressive fifth.
7. Sung-Bong Choi, Korea’s Got Talent season 1, 2011
Sung-bong was homeless when he auditioned for Korea’s Got Talent and even though he didn’t think he was very good at singing, he stunned everyone with his singing ability. What made the audition even more remarkable was Choi’s backstory, which combined with his singing, reduced people to tears. The clip of his audition has been viewed over 163 million times on YouTube. Choi went on to come second and has been busy recording and performing ever since.
8. Darcy Oake, Britain’s Got Talent series 8, 2014
Canadian magician Darcy Oake flew in especially for the audition and not only did he wow everyone with his amazing trick involving a lot of doves, he also left a lot of people wondering exactly how he did his trick. After watching the audition, Simon Cowell said Oake was the best magician that had ever been on the show. He eventually came fifth and went on to achieve much success after the show, doing countless shows across Europe and North America.
9. Cher Lloyd, X Factor series 7, 2010
What makes Cher’s audition stand out so much is that she performed a type of song that had rarely been performed on the show. Her rendition of ‘Turn My Swag On’ impressed the judges, the audience and the viewers, with the clip of her audition gaining over 56 million views and becoming X Factor‘s fifth most watched YouTube video. Cher had a reasonable amount of success after the show, though her second album had much less of an impact than her first.
