Why Susan Boyle May Lose to Stavros Flatley
Greek father-son duo win cheers from viewers & judges on 'Britain's Got Talent.'
LONDON, May 28, 2009 — -- Move over Susan Boyle, there's a new act in town.
Just when the world thought they had already seen the most surprising act in the reality program "Britain's Got Talent" along came Stavros Flatley-- a dance act by a Greek-Cypriot father-son duo wearing nothing but red fez hats and white skirts.
The Stavros Flatley comedy dance act was propelled into stardom after winning Tuesday's semi-final on "Britain's Got Talent." The show reportedly garnered an audience of 14 million and an audience share of as much as 50 percent. The duo parodied the syrtaki, the hugely popular Greek dance made famous by Anthony Quinn in the Academy Award winning 1964 film 'Zorba the Greek.' The first performance by the duo was a play on Michael Flatley's dance extravaganza 'Riverdance.'
This time, the large bellied Dimitri appeared on stage with a Cyprus tattoo on his chest, a red fez over a blonde wig and black dancing shoes tipped with red pompons. He then called the younger version of himself on stage, his 12 year old son Lagi. The boy's moves lifted the audience off their chairs to join in on the dancing and the arena filled with howls, laughter and clapping.
Even master of sarcasm Simon Cowell, judging 'Britain's Got Talent' along with Amanda Holden and Pierce Morgan, said of the act: "It is rubbish but brilliant. It is incredibly infectious. The final would be a worse place without you." Amanda agreed: "I just love, love, love, love, love you. It is everything that this show should be about."
But the duo didn't just uplift viewers. The stage chemistry between father and son and endearing comments by the father afterwards moved both judges and viewers. Dimitri interrupted the show's two presenters and millions of viewers witnessed a very private family moment. A breathless Dimitri looked at his son and said: "I just want to thank you so much for dancing with me." In an interview on British television channel, ITV2, later that evening Dimitri said 'If you're gonna dance with your son, nothing is as good as that.'
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