TECHNICAL difficulties didn’t stop a Wath man from wowing the judges on Britain’s Got Talent.
Russell T Bird has been performing for the best part of 50 years, so the 71-year-old has seen his fair share of live catastrophes.
But his audition for the show was almost derailed by technical problems, as the input from his keytar to the PA in the venue malfunctioned.
Ever the professional, Russell powered on, entertaining the audience with Mack Rice’s ‘Mustang Sally’ while sound technicians scrambled.
“I’ve been in bands, and things go wrong on stage,” said Russell, who lives off High Street, Wath. “But the plan B kicks in and you know you’ve got to keep wowing the audience.
“It’s surreal watching it back on telly, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon got up on stage and I was dancing with them while Simon Cowell and David Walliams tried to sort the PA out.
“So it was plan B to the power of 100 really. The negative really turned into a positive.”
Once his instrument was back in action, Russell burst into Philip Oakley and Giorgio Moroder’s ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ to rapturous applause and a standing ovation from the four judges.
Russell is no stranger to television, featuring on talent show Opportunity Knocks in the 1970s with his band Heads Together.
The band saw some success at the time, charting in the UK disco charts with their song ‘Disco Truckin’ Mama’ in 1976.
But his appearance on Britain’s Got Talent came somewhat out of the blue for the soul and disco singer, who regularly appears in venues around his hometown.
“It came about very strangely,” said Russell.
“I did a private garden party last September and a couple approached me asking if I would sing at their house while they were being filmed by Channel Four for Come Dine With Me.”
From there, Russell got a call from the people behind ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent to attend an audition in February, which was aired on Saturday.
He added following his appearance he would look to re-release ‘Disco Truckin’ Mama’ this Summer.
He is now waiting for a call to head to London for the next round of the competition.
