Fifteen-year-old Kyle Tomlinson from Sheffield, UK, has always had a passion for singing.
He’s dreamed of being a singer since he was just a young child— a fantasy that wasn’t well accepted amongst his peers.
“I’m a big lad so I’ve always been bullied in school,” he explained.
“People picked on me for singing and said I was rubbish.”
“They took the mick out of me and took advantage.”
Luckily, Kyle never let the bullying get him down. “I once got smashed across the face with a metal scooter,” he revealed. “But, you know, that’s life— sometimes you have to literally take it on the chin.”
Kyle looked up to people like Susan Boyle, who were laughed at and not taken seriously. In fact, Kyle revealed, Boyle was the person who inspired him to follow his singing dreams.
“I saw her [Boyle], and everyone laughed at her when she said, ‘I want to be an international superstar’… and it kind of reminded me of me, a bit.”
Back in 2013, a 12-year-old Kyle decided to test his chops in the big leagues, auditioning for the popular hit show Britain’s Got Talent. Although his first audition wasn’t televised, the young singer remembers it well.
After auditioning back in 2013, judge David Walliams had told Kyle he needed singing lessons.
Hearing the judge’s comments shattered Kyle— but he refused to give up. After the initial sting, he used the judge’s wisdom to his advantage, taking all of David’s advice. Kyle’s grandfather Cyril, the boy’s biggest fan, even paid for his singing lessons.
“I’ve done everything he told me to do,” Kyle told Express UK.
“It upset me but he was right with what he said.”
Three years after David’s scathing criticism, Kyle returned to the Britain’s Got Talent stage.
Although the teen was nervous about the whole performance, he was especially worried about what David would say. “I just didn’t want it to happen again,” he later revealed. “It wasn’t even being let down but being told to go away again.”
This time, for his audition, Kyle would be performing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.
In the 45-second clip, uploaded to YouTube in June 2017, you see Tomlinson begin singing the hymn in a smooth, mature voice. He has a rich sound, full of depth, and it’s interesting to see coming from such a young man.
It’s hard to read the judges’ faces while they’re watching him sing. It’s like they’re trying to make up their mind about the boy they rejected three years ago.
As the song hits its peak and Kyle’s voice grows progressively stronger, the audience begins to roar.
At this point, you can see the judges’ expressions betray their thoughts, as smiles spread across their faces.
When Kyle finishes the song and sees the crowd’s response, he immediately starts to weep.
“Kyle, you stood up there, you put your heart and soul on the line, and we all felt it and we’re all there with you,” Alesha Dixon tells him.
“That was brilliant.”
Simon, referencing the boy’s past rejection, says, “You know, this just shows you Kyle, when someone brings you down and says you’re not good enough, you come back, and you come back and look them in the eye, and you go, ‘I am good enough.'”
When David’s fellow judges ask him what he thought of the performance, it’s Kyle’s moment of truth.
David and Kyle stare at each other, the suspense building for a moment.
Until finally, out of nowhere, David leaps up and smashes the golden buzzer, sending Kyle straight through to the semi-finals.
See his emotional reaction below!
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