George Sampson
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| George Sampson | ||
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| Personal information | ||
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| Full name | George Sampson | |
| Date of birth | (aged 14) | |
| Place of birth | Warrington, Cheshire[1],  England |
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George Sampson (aged 14)[2] is a street dancer from Warrington, England, and was the winner of the second series of Britain's Got Talent on 31 May 2008.[3][4] As the prize for the competition, he will receive £100,000 and the opportunity to perform at the 2008 Royal Variety Performance in front of Prince Charles.
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Background
Coming from a poor background, George had to dance on the streets in his home town in order to raise money to travel to London for the auditions. He would often be seen in Manchester City Centre, attracting large crowds, performing on Market Street.[5] After succeeding through the audition round, George then made it through to the semi-finals, which he very nearly missed by missing his train to London. He eventually reached London the morning of his semi-final.[6]
Britain's Got Talent
2007 series
In 2007, Sampson auditioned during the first round of Britain's Got Talent. However, despite Simon Cowell's willingness for him to be moved onto the semi-finals the other judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan did not think he was ready for the live stage. Despite this, the experience made him more determined to enter the 2008 auditions by dancing on the streets of Warrington to improve his techniques, and to raise money for his family.
2008 series
Sampson got through the Britain's Got Talent auditions in 2008 by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine onstage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI.[7] He subsequently won the audience's vote, coming first overall. He broke into tears when the winner was announced[8]
Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees,[9] which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything".[5] An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to perform his winning act from the semi-final again.[9]
After the event
In an interview the day after, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event.[10] He also told of his friendship with younger finalists, Andrew Johnston and Faryl Smith, saying that they weren't jealous of him winning. George has stated several times that he will use his money to pay off his mother's mortgage despite her refusal and possibly take his friends who also busk with him to LA as "it's always been their dream". It has been rumoured that George may be the subject of a new Billy Elliot style movie, and has also been offered to be back-up dancer for Justin Timberlake. He will next appear at the Royal Variety Performance. Although George hoped to do his 'Singin' in the Rain' routine again, apparently Simon Cowell has bigger and better ideas.[11]
The Mint Royale version of Singin' In The Rain went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone as a result of George's performance.
Health
Sampson suffers from a rare condition called Scheuermann's disease, which affects developing bones in children and teenagers and can cause a curvature of the spine. The condition even caused him to go temporarily blind in one eye for two months around Christmas time, Sampson said to The Sun Newspaper. "The eye was all inflamed. I'd been using Deep Heat for my sore back, so at first I just thought I'd got it in my eye. But I ended up blind," he said. "The spinal nerves were trapped and it affected my optic nerves, I lost all my coordination and it was really hard to dance, as I didn't have my balance. I kept bumping into everything." Although his eyesight was restored, doctors have said he must immediately go to hospital at the first sign of any soreness in his right eye. Despite the scare, Sampson went ahead to compete and win the talent show, and has said nothing will prevent him from performing. "There's no way I'd ever give up dancing. Nothing would stop me," he told the paper. However, since the revelation George said "It's not that bad." and claims that his doctor has said he's allowed to dance.[12]
| Preceded by Paul Potts |
Winner of Britain's Got Talent 2008 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
References
- ^ Talking Shop: George Sampson at news.bbc.co.uk (accessed June 4, 2008
- ^ Britains got Talent - George Sampson wins!. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Breakdancer wins TV talent contest. The Press Association. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Britains got Talent - George Sampson wins!. What's on TV. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b George is winnin' in the rain. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ 'Talent' star George worries about money. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Brook, Stephen. "Blingin' in the Rain", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ King George Rains. News of the World. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b Song change helped George win show. Daily Star. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
- ^ Back to school. itv.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ George Sampson Q&A pt.1. itv.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ "Dancing could cripple 'Talent' winner: report". Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
External links
Britain's Got Talent@ itv.com
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