The irony, of naming a Show, Britain’s Got Talent, then crowning a talentless mediocre act, the Winner of a competition that included the greatest musical find, of the century, is simply stupefying.
To be sure, BGT is a fabulously well-produced show, that has been unearthing talent from across the globe, attracting global viewership, along the way. With one of the unexpected features of the production is the many tear-jerking moments, and stars it has spawned.
Now, a few weeks ago, a dear friend forwarded to me a video clip of a 13-year-old young black Briton, of Sierra Leone descent, named Malakai Bayoh, auditioning for BGT. And, How!
Appearing shy, ordinary, and unprepossessing, as he faced the judges, (not surprising for a 13-year-old) all of that disappeared, when the young man, mouthed the very first note of the Andrew Lloyd Webber, classic, Pie Jesu. It only took 10 seconds or so of listening, before I became transfixed, and as I watched, the tears, involuntarily rolled out of my eyes and streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably.
Malakai, Bayoh, was that good, and I must have ended up replaying the clip over two dozen times, and each time, I became more transfixed, and more tears flowed. I literally, stopped watching the clip, to contain myself, as I Had become a blubbery Young emotional mess. Totally, mesmerized and captivated by his innocence, his gift, and the fact that it was because his ‘Mum’ insistence, that he joined his church choir, that led to him unearthing his absolutely, magical and unbelievable voice. The experience of listening to, and watching him sing, was akin to spiritual.
Dubbed the Voice of Angels, Malakai Bayoh, had me riveted to the screen of my laptop, in awe of his voice, struck by its purity, and the absolute fact that he had no idea just how absolutely, talented he was.
That he was given the Golden Buzzer, fast-tracking him to the semi-finals, was no surprise. My worry, however, was that his progress, on his way to the finals, would be stymied because the show was asking the Public, to weigh in on vote their choice for the eventual winner. Now, I never ever, doubted Malakai’s talent, to see him through, I just doubted that the Voting Public was intelligent enough to appreciate the absolute gem, that he represented. After all, we are talking a British public here, that voted in plurality for Brexit, and even Voted to Make Boris Johnson, Prime MInister; so you all know we are talking a seriously intellectually challenged public here. And not necessarily just the Lager-Louts and loud-mouthed Yobs, whom I adjudged had zero appreciation for A Trebel, such as Malakai, represented, and so would wholly incapable of appreciating his talent and ability, for something cheap and cheerful.
Well, they did not disappoint, and Malakai made it through to the Final, and when the Votes came in, he was adjudged Wanting, and as if to add insult to egregious injury, they awarded the First Prize, to some talentless hack, that appeased their sense of “Empire”, Viggo Venn, a would-be Comedian from Norway, was adjudged the Winner; His Runner-up the talented dancer/gymnast Lilliana Clifton,and in 3rd-place young Magician Cillian O’Connor.
The Fabulously talented one-legged Dancer Musa Motha, who showed us what a blessing life is, as he put us to shame with his high-energy pop-classic dancing. Sadly, he too did not make the final cut; and another crowd-please the Ghetto Boys from Uganda, also fell short of the British Crowd.
To be fair to the winner, he was quite entertaining, in a quirky kind of way, but when it came to Talent, compared to Malakai Bayoh, we are talking Pedestrian to Pizzazz here as Malakai Bayoh, should never have even entered a contest that would pitch him against the likes of Viggo Venn – as to do so was a smear to his great talent and an affront to his dignity as a Divine Trebel
After his audition on BGT one commentator wrote: “He Is Singing in the 963Hz frequency also known as “the frequency of Divine Harmony” and the God Not. His Voice His spiritual”. Now that such a prodigious voice could have been lumped with a Viggo Venn, was nothing short of blasphemy!
If there’s any silver lining to be found in this fiasco, it possibly was the fact that one could hear audible boos emanating from the ranks of the studio audience, when Viggo was announced as BGT’s 2023 winner. At least this suggested all was not lost, at least not on some in the audience, And the online commentary has been even more brutal in its dismissal of the announced results, with a number of commentators asking for an audit of the online voting, suggesting the voting site might have been hacked, to produce such skewed results.
Curious tho, that Viggo Venn, who would have normally earned a footnote for his appearance on BGT, ended up being the headliner, with the real Stars of the Show, being relegated to also-ran status. But I take comfort in the fact that whilst I cannot recall the name of the winner of the eventual winner of the X-Factor 2015 Show, I still recall with positive vibes and goodwill, contestant Josh Daniel, who time proved, was the People’s winner.
Already, Malakai Bayoh has already inked a record deal with Universal Music, the late Luciano Pavarotti’s Label, with his first Album titled “Golden” is slated for release in July. So, disappointing as his loss was on BGT. Let us celebrate the platform it gave him, as he will be setting cozily by the river, watching the bodies of his enemies and detractors, float by into inglorious nothingness!
