It’s time to face the music once again! Yes, filming for the fifteenth series of The X Factor UK is underway. With both the arena auditions and six chair challenge pre-recorded phases of the competition being attended by members of the public, the names of many contestants quickly find their way online. According to reports on this isbigbrother.com, amongst them this year are Ireland’s Brendan Murray and Malta’s Gaia Cauchi!
Eurovision and UK reality shows cross paths again
It’s become a common theme for Eurovision stars to end up on British television shows! Saara Aalto led the way in late 2016, finishing second on The X Factor. Next up was Junior Eurovision winner Destiny Chukunyere who reached the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent in May 2017. Fellow Junior Eurovision star, Zena Donnelly from Ireland, quickly followed with an appearance on The Voice Kids UK in summer 2017.
Then, back on The X Factor in late 2017, we saw both Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezić and Berget Lewis from The Netherlands reach the judges’ houses phase of the competition. Earlier this year, former UK entrant Lindsay Dracass appeared on BBC One’s All Together Now. Finally, former Maltese Junior Eurovision national finalist Amy Marie Borg took part in the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent 2018. Amazing right?
Now, it’s Brendan and Gaia’s turn to take on a UK singing competition! Both of these Eurovision stars were spotted at the arena I auditions. How did they do? We shall wait and see!
Brendan at Eurovision
Brendan represented Ireland in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with the ballad Dying to Try. On stage with a memorable red hot air balloon, Brendan finished 13th with 86 points in the second semi-final. Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite enough to secure Ireland a place in the grand final. Most recently, Brendan released a brand new single Way Too Fast which is available to stream on your favourite digital platform!
Gaia’s historic Junior Eurovision journey
Gaia, now 15, won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for Malta in 2013 with her powerful ballad The Start. She gave Malta the opportunity to host their first ever Eurovision event: the 2014 contest in Marsa. Further evidence to back up Gaia’s participation can be found on her Instagram page: she was in London on the same day some of the arena auditions were filmed!
@gaiacauchi I was at the Xfactor arena auditions today, and witnessed your performance – it was amazing 😉 You gave me goosebumps that it was that good. Hope you go very far in the competition 🤞x
— Ross Craven (@CravenRoss) July 23, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/Blln89KhC4-/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=19szykehxhn2p
Did you expect to see Brendan and Gaia take on the X Factor UK? We wish both of them the best of luck on this new journey! Let us know what you think @ESCXTRA!
