Awesome / Britain's Got Talent

• In April 2009, a dumpy, overweight, single, unemployed, 47 year old woman named Susan Boyle appeared on Britain's Got Talent, stated her ambition to become a professional singer, was laughed at by the audience... and then she started to sing. Within seconds Piers looks like the sun's just risen for the first time in years, Amanda's jaw is on the floor, and Simon is melting all over the judges' table. One of the most moving renditions of "I Dreamed A Dream" that has ever been performed.
  • The music starts at 2:08 into that clip. That clip, however, contains both the pre-singing snarky anticipation, and all the reaction shots of the judges and the audience being totally mindblown afterwards.
  • There has got to be a trope for someone like her. Someone who looks all sweet, clueless, and dorky and not very interesting, and then bam they do something that totally WTFPWNs everyone in sight. Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass, perhaps? Certainly no one will ever underestimate her again. Talk about not judging a book by its cover! And she knew precisely what was going to happen. That little smirk on her face right before she opens her mouth to sing is just screaming, "I am going to blow these suckers' minds, and it is going to feel damn good." You go, girl!
  • She got a standing ovation twenty seconds after she started singing. Twenty seconds, and she's already proven herself to the world. Damn.
  • Just... watch the whole thing.
  • She ultimately came second, as Diversity (a dance group from East London) did even better in the final and won. She was very gracious in defeat (and went on to produce several chart-topping albums).
  • Let's not understate this: Susan's appearance on the show made her a megastar! Among other accomplishments, she's sold over 19 million albums, with her debut album I Dreamed A Dream setting a new record for the best-selling debut album in UK history, she has received 2 Grammy Award nominations, she's performed at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in front of Elizabeth II, and in 2010 TIME Magazine named her the 7th most influential person in the world. So yeah, she did alright for herself out of her appearance on the show.
• After Simon recovered from the sickness that briefly necessitated his replacement by Louis Walsh in the 2010 series, he walked out on stage, unannounced, and told everyone that "My name is Simon Cowell, I'm from London, and today I am going to remove Louis Walsh from the judging panel."
• Paddy and Nico, a sweet, grandmotherly 79-year-old woman and her 39-year-old dance instructor. It begins as a Moment of Heartwarming: when asked if she wants to win, Paddy says that it'd be nice, "but as long as people enjoy what we do..." After that, the Moment of Awesome happens when she reveals that she has the athleticism of a 20-year-old and dances as such. Their performance is so good that Amanda uses her Golden Buzzer. They later end up taking third in the competition.
• Old Men Grooving from 2015. Like Paddy and Nico, it doesn't look like much at first, and then...
• Calum Scott getting the Golden Buzzer from Simon of all people [1]. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
• Why hello boys. It starts off good, but the microphone stops working. A group of technicians comes to help. It was all an act. They were a part of the show that quickly escalates into a epic strip show. David was especially pleased.
• Tracy Lee Collins. Simon didn't like his first audition and said he would fit better in a dress. What did Tracy do in his next audition? Show up in drag, horrifying Simon while having the audience laugh and cheer at him.
• Jamie Raven's magnificent card trick. Has to be seen to be believed, or maybe you won't.
  Simon: I now believe in magic.
• Richard Jones combines mind reading, origami and tea-brewing in his mind-blowing magic performance. And the trick he performed for the ITV interview that follows, is equally impressive.
• Alexandr Magala's sword swallowing act, which was so dangerous it left the St John's Ambulance medic on standby looking visibly relieved that Alex survived.
• Donchez's original song "Wigglewine", was an outrageously catchy calypso song that brought the entire audience to dance along. Ant and Dec immediately went on the stage to dance with Danchez, followed by the two female judges. Meanwhile, David was giving Simon a sexy dance. As soon as it was finished, David immediately smashed the Golden Buzzer.
  • It also outright won in its semi-final, despite being seen as a joke act.
• The choir B Positive were spreading the message of supporting the NHS and encouraging people to become blood donors — it clearly worked, as after their semi-final performance the NHS Blood and Transplant website went down due to being too busy until well into the next day.
• The Anonymous magician X in Series 13 revealed his identity in his Final performance, and he turned out to be Series 12 semi-finalist, and Ant and Dec's golden buzzer, Marc Spellmann. Also during his final performance, he revealed he's hidden the word "Hope" in all of his BGT performances, both as X and as himself. Additionally, he went farther in the series where he DIDN'T have a golden buzzer than he did in the series where he got one.
• Nicholas Bryant came onto the stage and introduced himself as a pianist in Season 10. He sat down at the piano and began playing the opening bars of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"... before being joined by a woman playing violin; another man then appeared and suddenly began conducting as brass, wind and string sections hidden in the audience stood up and started to play while moving toward the stage; the entire front row of the balcony then stood up and started to sing as a choir, before an electric guitarist on the sidelines performed a guitar solo. This flash-mob performance by "The Collaborative Orchestra and Singers" was described by judge Alesha Dixon as "one of the most brilliant performances I have ever seen put together".

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