Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Meet the Singer Who Wowed Simon Cowell

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Susan Boyle, move over. Four months after the Scottish singing sensation caused TV judge Simon Cowell to drop his jaw, a 27-year-old schoolteacher from Reading, England, made viewers think they were seeing a replay.

Amateur singer Danyl Johnson stopped the show – in this case, The X Factor, the British version of American Idol – with his Joe Cocker-ish rendition of the Beatles' "A Little Help From My Friends." Johnson's performance prompted Cowell to say: "I have been doing this for eight or nine years. Danyl, that was single-handedly the best first audition I have ever heard."

"It's been pretty mental," Johnson, speaking on the Today show, said of the reaction to his powerful stage presence and voice. So far, his YouTube clip has attracted a million viewers, noted an impressed Today host Matt Lauer.

Since his breakthrough last weekend, Johnson, who was encouraged to try out for the TV talent contest by his school kids (otherwise, he says, "I probably wouldn't have done it"), has "just done the normal things with my friends … and family."

And next? "I guess my dream is to get an album out there and write songs and really enjoy it."

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