[Red Moon]

Britain's got talent for bullying the gifted

The audience were perched nervously on the edge of their seats even before a liptrembling Andrew Johnston opened his mouth on Britain's Got Talent and knocked the nation out with a spinetingling version of Pie Jesu.

The body language of this 13-year-old schoolboy told us everything. Shoulders hunched and his gaze never quite meeting his tormentors - this time a ferociously tough judging panel - it came as no surprise to learn Andrew was a classic victim.

Not even his street uniform of shaven head, jeans and sweat-shirt could disguise the shrunken demeanour of a boy who's been picked on. The kids on his Carlisle council estate, it transpired, have called him "gay" and a "little girl" for years.

His sin? Being gifted the voice of an angel. A voice better suited to the operatic beauty of Pie Jesu than rapper Ice T's Cop Killer.
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"I've been bullied and worried about this since I was six," he later said with heartbreaking honesty, explaining how his mates told him that to be in their gang he should leave "squeaky" voiced singing behind.

I don't think it's possible to underestimate the pressure placed on young boys, in the absence of a father figure, to conform to the macho demands of their peers. Fearing isolation, Andrew admits he did once, briefly, pack in his role as head chorister at Carlisle Cathedral.

It's not hard to imagine why abandoning his talent to appease the mocking majority would have been, by far, the easier option for a teenager on a council estate where being different, even in these enlightened times, is akin to being a bit of a Jessie.

Qualifying for street cred these days means being awarded an Asbo for bottling a pensioner not wowing a congregation. If it takes courage to be an A-level swot in a community where ambition is for creeps, what strength does it take to perform an aria?

Cynics knock Britain's Got Talent for being formulaic and manipulative. They may have a point. We all knew that being the last act on the very first show meant Andrew was going to be memorable.

But this boy, whose confidence had been shattered by louts without a shred of his talent, was no flimsy sob story. Without his amazing voice, tenacious mother Morag or the dogged determination of his teachers, it's not hard to predict what path his life might have taken.

Instead he proved that bravery isn't carrying a knife and acting the big man.

It's standing on a stage saying you won't let the bastards wear you down.

Andrew's dream of escaping the estate where many of his peers are trapped in a cycle of drink, drugs and violence looks set to come true.

But for the weak who survive by falling in line and who lack the moral courage to tell bullies they don't know their arias from their elbows, the show just goes on.

I know, because I shed a few myself, how easily the tears came for Andrew's performance.

But it's the kids he'll leave behind we should be crying for.

Source:Daily Mirror

[Harry!]

I cant bear that Andrew with his sob story, Hes getting on my nerves.

[Tom]

How spectacularly biased. He was bullied Get over it. He isn't the only bully victim ever like they are trying to portray. He is going to end up winning this

He wasn't even that good! All choir boys sing like him!

[Loukas]

That's why this show is going down the drains in my book!

Yeah, he was bullied but haven't we all been at one point in life! Now he's a huge celeb because he sung on a show. Sorry everyone he wasnt even that good!

Another thing is the dog dancer!! She was described as unique!! Kate is also a dog dancer and she's better! Call me bias if you like but i really think it's true!

[Harry!]

Originally posted by DoubleTrouble
That's why this show is going down the drains in my book!

Yeah, he was bullied but haven't we all been at one point in life! Now he's a huge celeb because he sung on a show. Sorry everyone he wasnt even that good!

Another thing is the dog dancer!! She was described as unique!! Kate is also a dog dancer and she's better! Call me bias if you like but i really think it's true!

I am proboly the most Bias person there is, look at the song title Pie jesu.

[GiRTh]

It looks like he's going to win.

[ozental]

Aye, he was pretty good but I don't think the sympathy vote will enable him to win.