Father Ray Kelly smiled at the Britain’s Got Talent judges and introduced himself. He was 64 years old and a parish priest in Oldcastle, County Meath, in Ireland. David asked if he did exorcisms, and Father Ray joked that he could work on him whenever he wanted 😄.
A few years earlier he had sung at a wedding in his parish, and the video went viral on YouTube. The phone kept ringing as the views climbed, and he said he could not believe it was happening to a man his age.
He watched the show every year and hoped to become the first singing priest to win it. He chose Everybody Hurts by R.E.M., because as a priest he sees a lot of pain, and also a lot of joy, so it was a song he could really relate to.
When he sang, the theater went completely still. His warm, emotional voice made every word count, and by the end many people in the audience had tears in their eyes 🎶.
David said he had never seen a priest sing like that, with so much soul and passion. Alesha said everyone was listening to every word and relating it to their own lives. Simon said it was one of his favorite auditions ever and exactly what they had been waiting for. The yeses followed, and Father Ray went through ❤️.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx8yD3-HWTg
