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He's got more than talent
IT happens every now and again; sometimes at
a football match, other times at a play or a concert.
Occasionally - very occasionally - it's in
the political arena.
It's the moment you see or hear something special.
You stop looking at your watch. You sit and
focus solely on the performance. Then you ask
yourself: can they really be this good? It's like
opening a can of pop. So often, it's flat, disappointing;
but every now and then, there's one
that's full of fizz.
It happened to me last November in Hartlepool
Town Hall. The performer I saw captivated his audience.
Since then I have often asked myself that
question: was he really that good?
Well, I'm glad to say the answer is yes, if a much
larger audience and some astute showbusiness
judges are right. Because the young man on stage
that night was Dean Wilson, from Middlesbrough,
who put on such a memorable show on Britain's
Got Talent.
I normally don't go overboard on TV talent
shows. The hopeless usually outnumber the hopefuls.
Maybe that's why someone like Dean, with
terrific natural gifts, charm and the priceless ability
to project a strong and attractive personality
across to his audience, rings so many bells when
he comes on stage. TV can never recreate the atmosphere
of a live performance, but anyone
watching the box on Saturday must have seen this
was a young performer with boundless potential.
Natural gifts are one thing, but to get to the top
you need the right support. Dean trains at the
Watson Academy in Hartlepool run by Mandy
Watson and her sister, Kelly Theasby. They put on
the show I watched all those months ago. They
teach song and dance to children and young people
who are looking for a career in performing
arts, or who just do it for fun. It is a terrific set-up
that has produced scores of national champions,
including one youngster, Candice Theasby, who
has won three national titles. Most importantly,
it nurtures talent, builds kids' skills and self-confidence
and gets them into healthy and enjoyable
activities.
Speaking to his teachers about what sets Dean
apart is interesting as they'll tell you it's personality
as well as talent. He's a team player who
helps fellow performers, someone who is caring
and modest. Those qualities give him what so few
performers, even the most technically adept, have
nowadays - presence, or as Simon Cowell put it on
Saturday, genuine star potential.
Dean clearly has good teachers, the right attitude
and, from my reading of the local media, a
supportive family who will help him keep his feet
on the ground in the exciting days ahead of him.
Not many people get what they fully deserve in
life, least of all in showbusiness. But if ever anyone
deserved the breaks then it's this young man
from Marton Grove, so let's all get behind him in
the weeks to come.
One fascinating postscript to Dean's story was
the fact that he kept his activities a secret from
schoolmates because he feared they would think
he was a "wuss" and should be doing sport instead
Now, it is fairly clear that anyone performing
to Dean's standards has to be every bit as fit as a
professional sports person. But the story says a
lot about some people's silly, lingering, negative
attitudes to the arts.
Surely we can accept that a young man can express
himself creatively - as well as keep fit,
healthy and hopefully earn a very good living -
without putting on football boots or a pair of boxing
gloves. You get the best out of people by playing
to their strengths, not by stifling or straightjacketing
natural talents.
Anyway, after Saturday, I imagine most of his
mates wish they concentrated less on penalty
shoot-outs and more on their dance steps. There's
still time, lads.
12:18pm Friday 9th May 2008
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