A LIONEL Richie impersonator brought a community together when he serenaded residents during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Georgie Lee El-Hakim –known better by his stage name 'Georgio'– took to the street last Friday to cheer up the residents of Newton Aycliffe with his rendition of Dancing on the Ceiling complete with dance moves and backing track.

Langley Road residents clapped and cheered for the musical performance before posting videos of the live show on Facebook.

The professional singer – who is currently part of Duets, featuring 'Georgio' and Bernadette Wilde – said he wanted to do something to help people struggling during the pandemic and feeling lonely because of social distancing.

The Northern Echo:

He said: "A lot of people have been clapping for the NHS and I wanted to do something similar to cheer people up as we have quite a few elderly neighbours and kids on our street. I decided I'd just go out and sing and the reaction was great everyone came out to sing and clap."

The showman started his career playing drums for his parents' band and eventually moved forward into singing and keyboards.

In 1999 he joined Foxx the boyband and that same year performed on The Michael Barrymore Show and family talent show Beat the Crusher.

Later he appeared on the show Job for the Boys where he got down to the final ten to write a hit song for Eurovision Song Contest.

He now sings, play drums and keyboard and creates original songs but also performs covers.

The musician's Covid-19 performance has been watched by more than 450,000 people and touched the hearts of many who left comments of support.

He said: “I’m so overwhelmed by the response. The video has gone viral and I’ve had lots of people contacting me about my performances and asking for CDs.

"I just thought it would be something to bring people together in Newton Aycliffe but I've had messages from Australia, Spain, the Netherlands and across the world."

The singer said he also wanted to take to the mic in support of National Health Service (NHS) and commended their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

He added: "I performed outside my door for about 45 minutes and tried to do songs for everyone. It was perfect timing because as I was singing an NHS ambulance went past and everyone was cheering and dancing so we were all able to show our appreciation for the NHS. It was just perfect to bring everyone together."