Olly Murs – Where It All Began
Olly Murs is a 25 year old office worker from Essex who, before the X Factor, spent his working time giving people energy advice. After wowing the audience and judges at auditions in London with his performance of ‘Superstition’, expectations were high for his bootcamp performances. Cheryl had loved everything about him and Simon had said it was “the easiest Yes I have ever given”, but his performance in Hammersmith didn’t get such an enthusiastic response.
At bootcamp, Olly Murs chose to sing ‘Your Song’ by Elton John and the crowd loved him again but the judges were a bit less enthusiastic, especially Simon who was frustrated by the fact that the Essex Geezer hadn’t taken more of a risk with his song. Olly said he was “chuffed” with his performance, and it was enough to get him through to Simon’s house in Los Angeles.
The over 25s were looking like the strongest category, so he had his work cut out, but Olly gave great performances which seemed to impress Sinitta. He still wasn’t showing the dynamic side he did in the first audition though, which worried Simon given the competition. “This is like going round a track at Silverstone… you never know what’s around the next corner,” Olly said about his experience in the competition.
The moment of truth came, and usual, Simon dragged the verdict out for dramatic effect. “You’re a risk. But sometimes I need to take risks.” Simon smiled. Olly broke down “I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got,” he told Dermot. Good job, Olly!
