School teacher Tom Ball went to the top of the class as he showcased his incredible vocal talent on Britain's Got Talent. After saying he had been compared to West End legend Michael Ball he went on to shock the judges as he performed Writing’s on the Wall by Sam Smith for the Bond film Spectre.
Judge Simon Cowell told Tom "you've got about 4,000 yeses" after his powerhouse performance. And his audition was immediately compared to the iconic moment on the ITV talent show in 2009 when Susan Boyle sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables and was instantly catapulted to fame after idolising musicals star Elaine Paige.
Viewers took to Twitter on Sunday (April 17) to heap praise on the young singer. They included @NiickBoii who said: "Wow I didn’t expect this. Tom has a beautiful falsetto." And judge Amanda Holden said he was "one of the best singers we've had in the last 16 years."
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@Prestonphonebox tweeted: "Another Susan Boyle moment." @lydylyd said: "Well this was unexpected he’s a male subo." @PipH3006 said: "He definitely has a West End sound to his voice." And @AmyWhit066 wrote: "Tom Ball is like the male version of Susan Boyle!"
But other viewers thought that Tom should have received one of the coveted Golden Buzzers that can be awarded by the judges and hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to send an act straight through to the live semi-finals. On Saturday night's show Amanda awarded the buzzer to The Greatest Showman singer Loren Allred and in Sunday's episode Simon Cowell pressed his for comedian Axel Blake.
@RyanGTweetsTV said: "Now Tom Ball should have been tonight's #GoldenBuzzer just saying #BGT." And @billysackboy fumed: "WTF my boy Tom Ball was absolutely robbed of the golden buzzer."
@philm2244 said: "Tom Ball should have got a golden buzzer. Fantastice voice. Great song choice. Potential winner." And @FOXY3282 gasped: "Tom Ball!!! Wow.......he deserved a gold buzzer! Was hoping @antanddec would have used their's.....but Tom will go far!"
@smileyvania complained: "Tom Ball deserved that golden buzzer sm it acc makes me angry he didn’t get it. I was praying David was gonna press or Alisha. Best singer I seen on BGT since @SusanBoyle absolutely wowed us all."
@sarahLouise457 asked: "Tom Ball brilliant. Why didn’t he get the golden buzzer?" And @DaleBowes said: "Now that was a golden buzzer performance."
The show looks for best talent act in Britain to perform at the Royal Variety Performance before members of the Royal Family and win £250,000. After she was runner-up to dance troupe Diversity, Su-Bo's album I Dreamed a Dream became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time, beating the previous record held by Spirit by Leona Lewis. It set a record for first-week sales by a debut album.
