Londonderry singers impress judges on BBC's Let It Shine

Singers Dylan Reid and Damien Kivlehan from Londonderry took to the stage on last night's episode of Gary Barlow's Let It Shine.
Dylan Reid and Damien Kivlehan (PHOTOS: BBC)Dylan Reid and Damien Kivlehan (PHOTOS: BBC)
Dylan Reid and Damien Kivlehan (PHOTOS: BBC)

The BBC show is brainchild of Take That’s Gary Barlow. Over eight weeks, the judges hope to find five boys for a band to star in a theatre production.

On last night’s show, the song of choice for 20-year-old Dylan Reid was Roar by Katy Perry.

Dylan, who starred in the musical Once, admitted the audience reaction took him by surprise.

However, Dylan did enough to impress the judges.

“It was so good, it reallly was,” Judge Amber Riley told Dylan. “It was an amazing performance.”

Judge Dannii Minogue told Dylan there was something missing, perhaps it was his nerves, but said she felt “if I saw you again you would have shaken off a few of those nerves.”

Judge Martin Kemp said Dylan rocked the audition.

“You said earlier the audience took you by surprise, but you played with it and you went with it,” Martin Kemp told Dylan.

Gary Barlow said it was interesting someone with so much experience on stage had really let the nerves get to him.

Gary Barlow told Dylan: “I want you to get rid of all of that the next time we see you.”

When asked by presenter Graham Norton why he’d let the nerves creep in, Dylan said: “Going out and doing the same thing every night you kind of get used to it. It never gets boring, but you do get used to the feeling and I’ve lost that feeling for a while, and coming here and hearing that just blew me away.”

Before singing Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name, 26-year-old Damien Kivlehan told the judges he was a special effects trainee on Game Of Thrones. “Every day is different, that’s why I love it so much,” said Damien

“One day I could be using smoke machines, another day fire, snow. It’s great.”

Damien rocked his way through the power ballad, bringing the audience to its feet, urging them to “sing it with me”.

Graeme Norton told pony-tailed Damien: “They loved you.”

Judge Amber Riley said: “Loved it. It was so much energy.”

Dylan and Damien won enough stars from the judges to make it through.