George Sampson

Britain's Got Talent
[edit]2007 series
In 2007, a dance teacher called Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He only discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series of Britain's Got Talent when he arrived.[5] In his audition, he danced to "Drop" (Timbaland feat. Magoo & Fatman Scoop), receiving a yes vote from all three judges.However, despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester to improve his technique, and to raisemoney for his family.
[edit]2008 series
In 2008, Sampson successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that hadpreviously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI.[6] He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced.[7] Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees,[8] which he described as involving "alot of movement without me actually doing anything".[9] An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final.[8]
The Mint Royale version of "Singin' in the Rain" went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance[10] and Cowell's label Syco was bombarded withrequests from fans to make a video for the song. It is the first time Syco has signed up a non-singing act solely to make a video.[11]
In an interview the day after the final, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event.[12] .
[edit]After Britain's Got Talent
[edit]NatWest deal
On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Sampson would become the face of a new 11-18 account forNatWest bank, in a deal reportedly worth £1million.[13]
[edit]Into the Hoods
On 4 August 2008, Sampson made his stage debut in the West End hip-hop musical Into the Hoods. With some exceptions, he appeared in the show until it stopped on 30 August. Of his new role, he said: "This year is getting better and better - Into the Hoods show is funky and young and I love the music in it – I can't wait toget dancing on that stage!". Into the Hoods was shown at the Novello Theatre in London and features music from the likes of the Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx and many more. Sampson appeared as one of the lost boys.[14][15]
[edit]Bebo
On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Cowell's record company and Bebo would work together to make an online television show called Follow My Leadwhich would include some dance move tutorials by Sampson, but also a behind the scenes look of events and rehearsals. They previously worked together to create a similar show on Leon Jackson.[16]
[edit]Debut single and DVD
Main article: Get Up On The Dance Floor/Headz Up
Simon Cowell initially planned to only release dance videos, but he wanted to do more. He asked the agent of Take That if hecould get Sampson to sing, but it turned out he already liked to sing from a young age.[5] His debut double a-side single titled Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up was released on 24 November 2008, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.[17] After an early fault that meant the single couldn't be downloaded from iTunes for two days,[18][19] the single finally debuted at number 30...