Generated by IJG JPEG Library.

By Conor de Smith

A gospel choir from Leicester got the backing of all four Britain’s Got Talent judges after a “heavenly” audition on the hit television show.

De Montfort University (DMU) Gospel Choir’s January audition was shown last Saturday evening on ITV.

The 23 on-stage performers gave a rousing rendition of ‘Oh Happy Day’ and impressed the judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon – who all gave their seal of approval.

The singers dressed in striking blue and gold gowns while one wore a black shirt and a DMU football club tie.

Source | Britain’s Got Talent YouTube.

Pop star Alesha Dixon said: “Praise the Lord! That was uplifting, joyful, powerful, heavenly”, while Simon Cowell said: “Maybe this is a time where we need this positivity. It’s made me feel great”.

Ellah Kandi is a social work student at DMU and has been a member of the choir, which was approached by BGT to audition last year, for a number of years.

Miss Kandi said: “We were all very excited but of course we were nervous because we wanted to do well. We were amazed that we were approached by BGT to audition last year.

“Normally we practice once per week but we were doing it every evening in the build-up to the audition. The choir gives us a chance to have a break from our studies and is something we all enjoy as a group.”

Gospel choirs have been a regular feature on the popular prime-time entertainment show in the last few years. ‘100 Voices of Gospel’ reached the final of the competition in 2016 while Revelation Avenue received the ‘Golden Buzzer’ in 2015.

DMU Gospel Choir regularly appears in front of huge crowds including performing at the King Power Stadium with rock band Kasabian, the Alice Hawkins statue unveiling in Leicester and on Sky Sports. Miss Kandi believes people listen to their music to forget about their problems and is glad the group has the backing of the city.

“We are really soulful and I think it’s lovely for people to escape the gloom in the world sometimes, and they can do that with our uplifting music,” she said.

“The support we have been getting from the public and the university has been amazing. We have received really positive comments from so many people since the audition aired.”

The choir is currently waiting to discover if they have made the semi-finals which are expected to take place in late May.