5 Star Boys brought Britain’s Got Talent judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon to tears with their dance routine inspired by a touching message.
The dance troupe – consisting of Beau, Toby, Adam, Joey and Ollie, all aged between 10 and 12 – performed a heartfelt routine to You Will Be Found from the musical Dear Evan Hansen.
Before the performance, the group explained the routine was designed to “spread the word for boys who dance”.
Twelve-year-old Beau said: “We’re trying to spread the word for boys who dance, because it’s not always easy for us, we get bullied.”
Toby, 11, added: “We kind of just say to ourselves, ‘we know we’re better than them’.
“But boys can dance if they want to, it’s not going to affect anyone else and they’re just people that are jealous of you.”
Four of the five boys were dressed in matching blue varsity jackets, with the fifth member, Ollie, made the odd one out in a striped T-shirt.
During the moving performance, Ollie was gradually brought into the group and as the dance drew to a close he was given a jacket to match his fellow dancers.
Dixon, 43, could be seen welling up as the routine ended, with Holden 51, also brought to tears.
One of the young performers became overwhelmed by the standing ovation the group received and covered his face before beginning to cry.
Holden said: “Oh my god you’ve reduced me to tears, I thought it was an extraordinary piece and I just think you should feel enormously proud of yourselves because it was beautiful.”
“It was perfect,” said David Walliams. Adding: “You guys are sensational.”
Dixon was also bowled over by the performance, saying: “Collectively, you were just stunning and I loved everything about it.”
Simon Cowell shared in the judging panel’s delight, describing the performance as “the best audition we’ve seen all day”.
“Wow, you know there was something about you when you walked out and I know this is tough, what you told us, but I promise you, you stand there now as five strong boys, who can say to all of those idiots, ‘you can’t do what we just did’,” he said.
After receiving a unanimous yes from the judging panel, the boys shared a group hug on stage.
Another young group also impressed the judges with their amusing sketch, acting as the Britain’s Got Talent judges and the show’s presenting duo Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.
Manchester Communication Primary Academy acted out the process of Cowell, 62, selecting the Britain’s Got Talent judging panel, which Donnelly, 46, described as “perfect chaos”.
During the performance, which saw one of the children don a black wig and fake black chest hair to emulate Cowell, a pupil dressed up as former Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan walked onto the stage to Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble and was quickly dismissed by the young Cowell.
“It was so true to life. Very original, very funny, just wonderful,” said Walliams.
With Holden saying: “I absolutely loved it, it was hysterical.”
Pointing to the young actor dressed as Cowell, she said: “I mean look at Simon’s hairy chest.”
To which the pupil responded: “Well, what can I say, girls like the hairy chest.”
Saturday night’s show also saw the judges blown away by Austrian acrobatic troupe The Freaks, whose performance included a young girl used as a human skipping rope.
The performance received a standing ovation from both the audience and the judges, with Dixon saying: “Well now we know why you’re called the freaks because that was just out of this world.
“I mean she was a human skipping rope. I’ve never seen that before ever.”
Cowell described the troupe’s choreographer as a “genius”.
The ITV talent show returned to screens this year or the first time after it was cancelled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Britain’s Got Talent continues on ITV.