Seconds after she began to sing the ‘Trolley song’ by Judy Garland, Souparnika Nair was asked to stop by Simon Cowell. She was auditioning for the Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) show and Simon, creator and judge, raised his hand to stop her. For a few moments, 10-year-old Souparnika thought she had messed up. But that wasn’t it at all. Simon had ‘loved her but did not love the song’. He got her to sing The Greatest Showman song ‘Never Enough’ by Loren Allred and Souparnika walked away with a standing ovation and ‘yes’ from four judges that would take her to the next round.
She is now a semi-finalist of the show and couldn’t be happier. It’s been her ‘big goal and dream for a long time’, her father Binu says in an interview to TNM.
Sou, as she is fondly called, was born in India to Kerala parents but she’s been living in England since. Most of her family, including her grandparents, are in Kerala and she loves visiting them. Some years, her grandparents visit Sou and her parents in Bury St Edmunds, a market town in Suffolk. That’s where she began performing at a lot of music festivals and competitions, around East of England.
“Colchester Rotary Music Festival, Framlingham gala fest, Norfolk County Music Festival, Bury St Edmunds Christmas concert, Chelmsford Cathedral Christmas concert,” Binu names a few of them. She won ‘Singer of The Year’ for Colchester Rotary Music Festival 2019.
Sou performs for BGT
The interest in music began very early, and her private singing lessons started when she was about six. She has been watching BGT since she was a small child (not that she’s grown much older now) and a year ago, the family decided to try the audition.
“Sou has learned a lot about music during her BGT journey and she has enjoyed every single moment of it very much. What she considers her best moment is when the whole palladium audience stood on the feet when she hit the high notes and of course when the judges stood up as well. She enjoyed the lovely comments from the world-famous judges. Her favourite moment for the semi-finals is when she stepped into the studio and got amazed to see the purple backdrop ready for the song she was about to perform. She also mentioned many more beautiful moments including the cheer up from the virtual audience and the standing ovation from the judges,” says Binu.
The purple background was for the ‘Finding Neverland’ song by Zendeya, for which Sou too wore a matching outfit and fit into her surroundings like a fairy. At the end of the song, multiple screens showing virtual audience erupted into applause. David Walliams, comedian and judge of the show, said, “I can’t remember this show ever opening with somebody getting a standing ovation.”
Sou wants to be a professional singer when she grows up, says her dad, and she dreams about touring the world to share her music.
Watch: Sou's performance