Chelsea Pensioner Colin Thackery won the nation’s hearts tonight with his moving rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ for the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent.
The 89-year-old wore his trademark scarlet tunic as he sang his heart out in memory of his late wife Joan, securing him the people’s vote.
Social media naturally went crazy over the veteran’s heartwarming performance, for which he was joined by other Chelsea Pensioners, with many claiming his dulcet tones gave them “goosebumps”.
One person tweeted: “Oh man everytime Colin sings on #BGT I end up in absolute bits”, followed by lots of crying emojis, while another compared him to the adorable Carl Fredricksen from the Disney Pixar animation “Up”.
Others described the emotional pensioner’s performance as “sensational”, “a legend” and “completely delightful”.
Most social media users claimed they were left in floods of tears, with one woman saying she struggled to get through the rousing performance as it brought back memories of her grandmother.
The public vote pushed the veteran into Sunday’s final, with Twitter hailing it as the “best decision ever”.
One person tweeted: “I have my fingers crossed for him to be champ” while another added that Colin “deserves his moment in the spotlight”.
Colin served in the 45th regiment of the Royal Artillery, and went to war in Korea just two weeks after getting married.
There, he lost some of his hearing in his ear after coming under attack.
Despite this he continued to sing – and is now going for Royal Variety Show glory where he could perform for the Queen.
Colin won the public vote in the third semi-final and is now a step closer to realising his dream with a place in Sunday's live final.
Colin Thackery has lived at the Royal Hospital Chelsea with the Chelsea Pensioners since his wife’s death three years ago.
The happy couple, who both sang in an operatic society, had been married for more than 60 years
Britain's Got Talent airs live all this week at 7.30pm on ITV.
