‘Slam-dunk’ Dan claims his place in the house
XFACTOR hopeful Danny Dearden wowed the crowds again on Saturday as he snapped up a place at the judges’ houses.
The Littleborough singer, 23, wearing a shortsleeved red and blue checked shirt and black jeans, beat off the competition to make it through to the all-important next round Competitors backstage described his voice as ‘incredible’, with judge, former Spice Girl Mel B, saying: “That was a killer song, killer vocals and a slam-dunk of a performance!”
Danny, a joiner who lives with his mum, said: “It just hit me in the face all over again when I got through.
“I had a tear in my eye and I just spun round, slapped myself and said what are you doing, you’re really embarrassing yourself.”
He sang a stripped-back version of Brownstone’s If You Love Me, bagging him the third of the coveted six winners’ chairs.
His family and friends then endured a nail-biting few minutes as fellow contestants, US airman, Charles Martinez, 19; Charlie Brown, 23; Hayden Leeman, 17; and Geoff Mull, 22 then lost theirs in a series of contestant swaps.
As the audience shouted out the seat numbers of those they wanted off, Danny managed to hold onto his.
But he admits that he is facing some stiff competition, especially from Italian student, Andrea Faustini, 19.
Danny added: “The competition is really strong, everyone can sing, there are no novelty acts, but if I’m worried about anyone it’s Andrea as we have similar voices and he sings the big ballads like I do.”
As for bootcamp, he says it was an experience he will never forget.
He said: “It was a bit like the Hunger Games, people think you just go on stage and sing but you don’t, it’s really hard. The whole thing is amazing though, I genuinely never thought I’d get this far.”
Viewers can see Danny battle it out at Mel B’s house for a place in the live finals next weekend.