Jessie J duet star stuns X Factor judges
He made his debut on the show last night
A modest second year wowed millions last night as he auditioned on The X Factor.
Tom Bleasby –– who first made headlines when he sang a duet with Jessie J –– got through to bootcamp with four yeses following his spell-binding performance.
Tom, who studies International Politics at King’s, said his “dream” is to become a singer and he just wanted to “give it my all”.
It was only a few months ago Tom’s duet with pop sensation Jessie J on the app Sing! stacked up a whopping nine million views, the success of which “spurred” him on to audition for the hit show.
Judges Simon Cowell, Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and newbie Nick Grimshaw were all mesmerised by his cover of Adele’s Make You Feel My Love, which had a standing ovation from the audience, Grimmy and Rita.
Tom, originally from Leeds, said in his pre-interview: “I’m having a lot of fun with studying, but my dream is to be a singer.
“I’ve not really had much experience in terms of singing so far, I’ve just been singing in my bedroom pretty much and uploading covers to the internet.
“I did a viral duet with Jessie J which got a lot of attention. The success of the viral video has spurred me on a little but to go to The X Factor today.”
He added: “I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d perform to a large audience and celebrity judges.
“I’m really nervous. I’m just ready to get on there and give it my all.”
Tom, who had just finished his first year when he auditioned, raised the roof with his performance and had a standing ovation from the 4,000 strong audience.
Nick Grimshaw kicked off the praise, saying it was “awesome”.
He said: “That was awesome, it really, really was. I feel honoured to have been here when you sung that.”
Cheryl added: “You should be really proud of yourself.”
True to form, sceptical Simon put a slight downer on the audition, but Tom still managed to raise a wry smile from the notorious judge.
Simon said: “I’m not going to say everyone is going to love this audition. I think some people are going to find it incredible, and there’s other people who are going to go what the hell was that?
“But you’re different, you’re original and I like that. I’m definitely going to remember this.”
Tom bounced off the stage in delight, running straight to the arms of his mum and family, where he simply said one word to Olly Murs: “exhausted”.