You’re A Star singer Joseph McCaul has come one step closer to fulfilling his X Factor dream, four years after his first audition.
The bootcamp stage of the X Factor aired last night, and viewers saw the 27-year-old wow the judges and make it through to the next stage of the talent show.
The Athlone native, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, performed Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror with a group of fellow hopefuls for the judges and survived the eliminations.
Wow: The Irish singer impressed judges at bootcamp | YOUTUBE
Before he took to the stage, the former Eurovision contestant expressed how important this performance was to him.
“I’m just going to go out and put my heart into everything and perform like it’s my last time I’m ever going to get to sing,” he said.
On Saturday night, the Irish singer was given a second chance by Simon Cowell after his first audition didn’t go down well with the judging panel.
Corny: Joseph was told he was a great singer with some corny habits | YOUTUBE
“You are a great singer but you’re a horrible performer,” Simon told the ex-Eurovision star.
Joseph returned later that day with a much stronger rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and successfully secured a place in bootcamp.
Although he was successful in the end – Simon warned Joseph about his ‘corny’ style and to change his habits.
Joseph represented Ireland in the Eurovision with his sister at just 16 years old back in 2005, however their song was not picked from the 10 semi-finalists.
Speaking about his return to the show, Joseph said he wanted the success he had when he was younger again.
“I had some success when I was younger. We toured with Westlife, we were signed to Universal, and it all fell apart,” he told RadioTimes.com.
“I just want it back. We had three top 10 hits in Ireland. We were on prime time TV every Sunday night going out to 1.2 million people.
“I couldn’t walk down the street – getting pictures with people, signing autographs – and then it all went.”
