George Sampson | |
|---|---|
 Sampson in July 2009 | |
| Born | 29 June 1993 Warrington, Cheshire, England |
| Occupation | Dancer • presenter • actor |
| Years active | 2007–present |
George William Sampson (born 29 June 1993) is an English street dancer, television presenter, singer, and actor. [1] He won the second series of Britain's Got Talent on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14. [2] He is an official ambassador of the United Dance Organisation. [3]
In 2007, dance teacher Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series of Britain's Got Talent only when he arrived. [4] In his audition, he danced to "Drop" (Timbaland featuring Magoo & Fatman Scoop), receiving a yes vote from all three judges. However, despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.
In 2008, Sampson returned to, and successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI. [5] He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees, [6] which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything". [7] An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final. [6]
The Mint Royale version of "Singin' in the Rain" went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance [8] and Cowell's label Syco had several requests for a video.
In an interview the day after the final, George Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event. [9]
On 20 July 2008, Sampson was a guest on stage at the T4 on the Beach music festival at Weston-super-Mare beach teaching presenters Steve Jones and Rick Edwards how to dance.
On 4 August 2008, Sampson made his stage debut in the West End hip-hop musical Into the Hoods . With some exceptions, he appeared in the show until it closed on 30 August. Of his new role, he said: "This year is getting better and better – Into the Hoods show is funky and young and I love the music in it – I can't wait to get dancing on that stage!" Into the Hoods played at the Novello Theatre in London and features music from popular artists such as Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx and many more. Sampson appeared as one of the lost boys. [10] [11]
On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Cowell's record company and Bebo would work together to make an online television show called Follow My Lead, which would include some dance move tutorials by Sampson, but also a behind-the-scenes view of events and rehearsals. They previously worked together to create a similar show with Leon Jackson. [12]
Simon Cowell initially planned to release only dance videos, but he wanted to do more. He asked the agent of Take That if he could get Sampson to sing, but it turned out he already liked to sing from a young age. [4] His debut double a-side single entitled "Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up" was released on 24 November 2008, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital. [13] After an early fault that meant the single couldn't be downloaded from iTunes for two days, [14] the single finally debuted at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart [15] and remained listed for 4 weeks. The single's position in the charts gradually lowered during that time. [16]
On 1 December 2008, his dance DVD Access 2 All Areas was released. [13] The one-hour[ citation needed ] DVD contains a documentary about his rise to stardom, four music videos in which Sampson sings as well as dances, and a behind-the-scenes look at those videos, dance tutorials and a set of photographs. [17] [18] [19]
On 23 January 2009, Sampson helped to promote the new Nokia 5800 phone in London's Regent Street. He handed over the first Nokia 5800 sold [20] and performed a live dance routine to "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic [21] which he choreographed to go with a touch-sensitive dance floor. [22]
On 29 January, he launched the game Battle Strikers at Toy Fair 09. [23] He also designed a plate for Blue Peter's Mission Nutrition appeal. [24]
On 7 and 14 March, he hosted a 'Street Dance Weekend' at the Alton Towers Resort as part of their new family-themed weekends, alongside street crew Flava. Fans could attend workshops to learn one of his routines and dance alongside him.
On 28 May, Sampson was the guest star at the third Britain's Got Talent semi-final and performed before the results were announced. He also was a guest star in Britain's Got Talent: the Live Tour 2009 and he said that Nottingham was his favourite on 20 June 2009.
On 26 June 2009, Sampson became a Patron of Dance Aid [25] organised by the UK registered charity Hope and Homes for Children. [26] [27]
He danced before the Rugby league match between Crusaders and Salford City Reds at Brewery Field on Saturday 11 July from around 5pm. The kick-off for the match was at 6pm. He also danced at half-time. He was also scheduled to make an appearance in Legoland Windsor on 18 July as part of "Legoland Live." [28]
In September 2009, Sampson and Cowell reached an amicable agreement to cease their professional relationship.
Also in September, he starred in the first all-British 3D feature film StreetDance 3D (alongside dance groups Diversity and Flawless), in which he plays a character called Eddie, released May 2010.
On 16 November, Sampson was featured in the CBBC Newsround special Whose Side Are You On? as part of the BBC's anti-bullying campaign. He spoke about how he was bullied when he was younger. Other stars who appeared in the programme were Joe Calzaghe, Aston Merrygold, Patsy Palmer and Gemma Hunt.
On 5 June 2010, he appeared on Star King , a South Korean television show which features a variety of talented performers. [29]
In January 2019, he appeared on the fourth series of Celebrity Coach Trip alongside Roxanne Pallett. In September 2019, Sampson returned to Britain's Got Talent as a contestant in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions . He participated in the 4th semi final but did not receive enough votes to progress to the final.
On 2 February 2011, Sampson joined the cast of the BBC drama series Waterloo Road . His character, a 17-year-old student named Kyle Stack, first appeared in the second half of the sixth series in February 2011. [30]
In 2012 he joined the cast of Mount Pleasant in its second series. He also starred in the feature film StreetDance 2 as Eddie. He has also appeared in Friday Download (series 3, episode 1). Sampson appeared in the Pantomime Peter Pan , as the lead role of Peter Pan, performed in Derby from 5 December until 6 January. [31]
In 2013 Sampson returned to Waterloo Road as now 19-year-old Kyle Stack in episode 30. He was last seen being escorted off the school roof by teacher Simon Lowsley (Richard Mylan) when, after Kyle contemplated jumping off the school roof, long-running character Tom Clarkson (Jason Done) fell to his death trying to talk him out of it. Kyle's fate after these events was never disclosed in the show. Sampson had a minor role in a 28th-season episode of the TV series Casualty . He danced in the documentary The Nation's Favourite Dance Moment, a television film which aired in June. George also starred in a pantomime, as Jack, in Jack and the Beanstalk at The Playhouse Theatre in Weston-super-Mare.
Sampson continued his television career by acting in Season 2, Episode 5 of The Dumping Ground on CBBC in 2014. He acted again in season four of Mount Pleasant but later left the role.
He joined the cast of Emmerdale in January 2016 and made his on screen debut the following month, when he played a character named Ryan Harred who became involved in Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller)'s child sex abuse storyline. He made seven appearances, the last that July.
Sampson appeared as the character Reecey in the 2018 tour of Our House . He has played the role of Dean in Everybody's Talking About Jamie , in the UK tour, the West End, and LA productions.
He has also as of 2024 recently performed in the Easter Panto Tour of Robin Hood with Anton Benson Productions. He also has performed in 9 other pantomimes previously
| Date of release | Title | Label | UK chart peaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 November 2008 [13] | Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up | Syco Music | 30 (UK Singles Chart) [15] |
| Programme | Role | Details | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Britain's Got Talent | Himself | Series 1 Contestant Series 2 Winner | 2007–2008 |
| Basils Swap Shop | Himself | Played the Dunk Beds game in Series 2 | 2009 |
| Waterloo Road | Kyle Stack | Series Regular | 2011–12, 2013 |
| Mount Pleasant | Gary | Series Regular | 2012–14 |
| Friday Download | Himself | Presenter/Host | 2013 |
| Casualty | Callum Bradey | Series 28 Episode 13 | 2013 |
| The Dumping Ground | Danny | Series 2 Episode 5 | 2014 |
| Emmerdale | Ryan Harred | Recurring Role | 2016 |
| Celebrity Coach Trip | Himself | Contestant | 2019 |
| Britain's Got Talent: The Champions | Himself | Contestant | 2019 |
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan | Peter Pan | Assembly Rooms | Derby |
| 2013 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Jack | The Playhouse Theatre | Weston-super-Mare |
| 2017 | Our House | Reecey | UK National Tour | |
| 2019–20 | Everybody's Talking About Jamie | Dean Paxton | Apollo Theatre | West End |
| 2021–22 | UK National Tour | |||
| 2022 | Ahmanson Theatre | Los Angeles | ||
| 2022-23 | Cinderella | Prince Charming | Prince's Theatre | Clacton-on-Sea |
| 2023 | Snow White | Prince George | The Pavilion Theatre | Weymouth |
And Robin Hood as Robin Hood in an Easter panto tour with Anton Benson productions that started in Northwich Brio
| Date of release | Title | Label | UK chart peaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 December 2008 [13] | Access 2 All Areas | SonyBMG | 1 (BBC Radio 1 Music DVD Chart) [32] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | StreetDance 3D | Eddie | |
| 2012 | StreetDance 2 | Eddie |
Sampson suffers from a condition called Scheuermann's disease, [33] which affects developing bones in children and teenagers and can cause an abnormal curvature of the spine. "There's no way I'd ever give up dancing. Nothing would stop me," he told the paper. [34] However, since the revelation Sampson said "It's not that bad." and claims that his doctor has said he's allowed to dance.[ citation needed ].
A fan of the game RuneScape , Sampson was invited to Jagex to record a dance emote for the game. [35]
Sampson won the under-16 category in the United Dance Organisation's 2007 World Street Dance championships. Following his win of Britain's Got Talent, he returned to the 2008 championships at the Blackpool Winter Gardens to give a performance together with his dance group A2AA (Access 2 All Areas) and to accept an award for his contributions to raising the profile of street dance from UDO chairman Simon Dibley. [36] [37]
In the summer of 2008 he was one of 11 celebrities to receive an honorary scout badge to celebrate the 101st birthday of the Scouting Movement. [38] [39]
He received an award for 'Favourite Winner' at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards [40] where he performed his signature dance Singin' in the Rain . [41]
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor UK, and Britain's Got Talent (2007–present), as well as the American television talent competition shows American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor US (2011–2013), and America's Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell founded the British entertainment company Syco in 2005, as well as its now-defunct predecessor, Syco Music in 2002.
"Singin' in the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. Doris Eaton Travis introduced the song on Broadway in The Hollywood Music Box Revue in 1929. It was then widely popularized by Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Many contemporary artists had hit records with "Singin' in the Rain" since its release, including Cliff Edwards, Earl Burtnett and Gus Arnheim in 1929 alone.
America's Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, and broadcasts on the NBC television network. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended, following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV. Production would later resume in 2007, following the success of the first season. Each season is mainly run during the network's summer schedule, and has featured various hosts over the course of the program's history. The current host is Terry Crews.
Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed, and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.
Kate and Gin are a musical canine freestyle act consisting of Kate Nicholas, from Norbury, Cheshire and her dancing Border Collie, Gin. The two achieved fame following their 2008 appearances on the second series of ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent. Since the show, the duo have appeared publicly and in pantomimes, as well as publishing a book, Kate and Gin, about dog training. In 2011, Nicholas joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, training dogs for the British military.
The second series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 31 May 2008. Following the success of its first series, ITV commissioned the programme for additional episodes, with more venues used for auditions than in the previous series, and the number of semi-finalists, semi-final rounds, and finalists increased by production staff. Both the judges from the first series – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan – and Ant & Dec returned to co-host the second series, along with Stephen Mulhern returning to front the second series of Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.
Andrew Johnston is a Scottish singer who rose to fame when he appeared as a boy soprano on the second series of the UK television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2008. Although he did not win the competition, he received a contract to record with Syco Music, a label owned by the Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell. Johnston's debut album, One Voice, was released in September of the same year, and reached number four on the UK Albums Chart. Although Johnston originally performed as a treble, his voice has since matured to baritone, and he is now a member of the National Youth Choir.
Signature are English dance duo Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh. Their style of dance is British Bhangra and they frequently base their performances around Michael Jackson songs, such as "Billie Jean" and "Thriller". They gained wide recognition during their performances in the second series of Britain's Got Talent, in which they were runners-up to the winner street dancer George Sampson.
Escala is an electronic string quartet from London, England who rose to fame when they performed on and reached the final of the second series of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1 in May 2008.
Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up is the debut double A-side single of street dancer George Sampson who won the 2008 edition of Britain's Got Talent. It was released on 24 November 2008 and all proceeds were donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Kev Orkian is a British-Armenian comedian. He has performed around the world from New York City, Los Angeles and Toronto to Dubai, Oman and Australia. Orkian has been compared to the likes of Victor Borge, Les Dawson and Dudley Moore.
Shaheen Jafargholi is a Welsh actor and singer. In 2009, he finished in seventh place on the ITV competition series Britain's Got Talent. Since then, he has portrayed the roles of Shakil Kazemi in EastEnders (2016–2018) and Marty Kirkby in Casualty (2018–2023). He also appeared as Billy in season two of the BBC Three horror comedy series Wreck (2023), and as Celyn in the BBC One miniseries Lost Boys and Fairies (2024).
Julian Smith is an English saxophonist and music teacher from Birmingham, England. He is also known by his stage name Joolz Gianni. He has made guest appearances alongside artists such as Tony Hadley, Gwen Dickey, Hamish Stuart and Steve Ferrone, and has performed on national television together with Chris Rea, M People, and Dina Carroll. In 2003, he released a solo album, Chilled 2 the Sax, which features Acker Bilk, Dina Carroll, and Ola Onabule. Smith became better known after appearing on the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and finished in third place behind singer Susan Boyle and winning dance troupe Diversity.
Ashley Modurotolu Banjo is an English dancer, choreographer, and television personality. He is the leader of the street dance troupe Diversity who won the third series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009. Banjo has been a judge on television dance competition shows, including Got to Dance (2009–2014), Dance Dance Dance (2017). and Dancing on Ice (2018–present). In 2016, he was a co-presenter for the Saturday night BBC game show Can't Touch This.
Aidan Davis is an English street dancer, rapper, and television host. In 2009, he reached the final of the third series of the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent. He finished fifth place overall and later that year he toured the United Kingdom, making live performances with the series' other finalists.
Diversity are a British street dance troupe formed in 2007 and based in London. They are best known for winning the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009, beating Susan Boyle in the live final.
Flawless are an English street dance troupe based in the UK who competed on the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009. Flawless made the final of the competition, appearing alongside fellow street dance troupe Diversity.
Ashley Glazebrook and Glen Murphy, better known by their stage name Twist and Pulse, are an English street dance duo based in London. They were the runners-up of the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2010, coming second to Spelbound in the live final, but later won the spinoff show Britain's Got Talent: The Champions in 2019, becoming the Champion of Champions.
Ashleigh and Pudsey was a British dog trick act, comprising trainer Ashleigh Jade Butler and Pudsey, a male Border Collie, Bichon Frise, and Chinese Crested powderpuff cross. They achieved prominence as contestants in the sixth series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent, which they won on 12 May 2012, becoming the first dog trick act to win the competition.
Old Men Grooving, sometimes known as OMG, is a British dance group, best known for becoming a television sensation when they took part in the ninth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2015. The group, composed of five middle-aged men, represents a diverse background and is dedicated to sharing a variety of popular dance and “feel good” grooves.
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