After wowing Simon Cowell, Fr Ray shows Mass appeal
AMEATH priest looks set for international stardom after an outstanding performance of Everybody Hurts by REM on Britain’s Got Talent. And yesterday morning – less than 24 hours after Simon Cowell acclaimed Fr Ray Kelly’s performance as ‘one of my favourite ever auditions’ – the parish priest received a sustained round of applause from parishioners at St Brigid’s & St Mary’s Church at Oldcastle, Co. Meath.
On Saturday night’s show, entertainment industry veteran Cowell welcomed the cleric on stage with typical biting sarcasm, asking if he was on the show to do exorcisms.
But he and the audience were soon cheering at Fr Kelly’s haunting rendition of the REM classic which has become an anthem for mental health campaigners everywhere.
Remarkably, the usually unfazed Cowell – often dubbed ‘Mr Nasty’ in the past – was left impressed, with the record company boss jumping to his feet. ‘I think your voice is beautiful,’ said Cowell, 58. ‘I loved the version of the song, this is everything we’ve been waiting for. I absolutely loved it.’ Actor David Walliams described the priest’s rendition as a ‘beautiful performance’, and singer Alesha Dixon added: ‘You seem like the loveliest man, this is a beautiful audition.’
She added: ‘Everybody was listening to the words and relating it to their own lives.’
Fr Ray, a native of Co. Westmeath, is already being compared to Susan Boyle, the Scottish woman whose powerful voice catapulted her from a small town in West Lothian to an international career via a showstopping performance on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009.
Fr Ray became a viral hit in 2014 when he performed a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah from the altar of a couple’s wedding ceremony. A wedding guest uploaded a clip of his rendition to YouTube and the priest became an overnight sensation. The clip has been watched more than 60million times to date.
Yesterday morning, Fr Ray received a sustained round of applause at Sunday Mass at St Brigid’s church in Oldcastle.
The parish priest is due to appear this morning on ITV’s This Morning Show with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.