Ireland’s Got GREAT Talent
82yr-old shines on Ireland’s Got Talent
IRELAND’S Got Talent great-granny Evelyn Willams is on track to win the show after judge Michelle Visage last night pushed the golden buzzer to send her straight to the semi-final.
The 82-year-old Dubliner won the hearts of the nation and moved judge Denise van Outen to tears with her touching rendition of Send In The Clowns.
Already a singing star in her home town Tallaght, the great-granny of six has been performing on stage for more than 60 years.
Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, Evelyn told how she thought a bomb had gone off in studio when Visage pressed the golden buzzer and confetti fell on her.
She said: “This bang happened and I thought someone had thrown a bomb in. I got an awful fright I started crying. I was not expecting it in a million years.
“The whole hall stood up and that made me cry. I was so moved by it.”
A Fair City extra for the last 21 years, the chatty mother of two has also appeared as an extra in King Arthur and had a singing line in Ella Enchanted.
She added: “I’ve had a few lines in Fair City in the charity shop with Dolores.” The silver-haired songstress, who suffers from asthma, kicked off her career on the cabaret scene in the 1970s, which she describes as “cut-throat”. An avid charity worker, the sprightly pensioner has a passion for fashion and admits she has been keeping fit by walking on a treadmill in her bedroom “every day for the last 21 years”. Some seven years since the death of her beloved husband Noel, Evelyn admitted she is still grieving for her childhood sweetheart. “He was so good to me, so loving. He would have been so proud of me.” Her 30-year-old granddaughter, who is also called Evelyn, entered her into the competition. The singer said she already feels like she has hit the jackpot. “I’m singing since I was a child. I can’t believe this is happening to me. I’ll give it my all in the semi-final but I already feel like I have won.” Viewers of last night’s show were also introduced to teenage singing sensation Shanian Rollo, 13, from the Philippines. Rollo, who has made it through to the next stage, told judges how she would use the prize money to bring her siblings to Ireland as she really misses them.
This bang happened and I thought someone had thrown a bomb in. I got a huge fright
EVELYN WILLIAMS AFTER GOLDEN BUZZER PUT HER THROUGH