University talent make their voices heard in stellar Britain’s Got Talent performance

Several members of the UON family performed on BGT last weekend as part of the Northants Sings Out Choir, winning support of all four judges and a standing ovation from the crowd.

The University’s Widening Access Manager Natasha Mycawka was in the front row of the choir and said: “Being part of Northants Sings Out is a special feeling. It is a real community – we love singing together and I have made friends for life.

“It was such an electric atmosphere at the audition! I didn’t sleep for days afterwards, it was such a high to experience the audition process, perform in front of the judges, the wonderful reaction from the audience and to get four yeses was such a compliment.

“Watching it on television this weekend brought all those feelings back!  We’ve all had such positive feedback from our friends and family and knowing that people enjoyed it as much as we did to perform at BGT makes it even more special.”

The Northants Sings Out Choir (NSO) comprised 60 singers from Northants and choir director Gareth Fuller conducted them through a rendition of the gospel song ‘It is Well With My Soul’ before switching to the 90’s club classic ‘Show Me Love.’

The other UON members of the choir included Library and Learning Service’s Ernieford Barrett and Natalie Adusei, a Senior Social Worker and UON graduate who sang the solo section of Show Me Love.

Ernie said: “I feel like I’m a part of a very special group of extra-talented people under a super-talented director.  It’s a real pleasure to be a part of this choir and I feel blessed to have this exposure.

“As Natasha said, Northants Sings Out is a wonderful community of ‘everyday people’ with talents that make us good at what we do.

“Our choir director continues to challenge us, and by so doing, has managed to pull the best out of not just me, but all of us. Recording on the day was a real pleasure and quite an experience for me.

“A really special moment for me was being on stage and hearing the response from the audience. I can’t find the words to express how I felt to hear the positive responses from the judges, four yeses meant a lot.”

Natalie said: “I felt so happy and excited to be able to audition on BGT with the choir and show what we are capable of.

“On the day, I felt surprisingly calm and determined to give the best performance I could for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“The performance was full of fun and life, and I am so proud of what we have achieved. I’m excited to see what comes next for the competition and Northants Sings Out!”

After judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli all gave them the thumbs up NSO won a spot in the next round and hope to make it through to the semi-finals.

The winners of this series of BGT will take home a £250,000 cash prize and will be given a spot on the Royal Variety Performance.

If you missed it, you can watch last weekend’s episode of BGT on Youtube.

To find out more about the NSO, follow them on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.