Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden has already chosen the act she thinks can win Britain’s Got Talent 2014 - and it’s dancers Paddy, 79 and Nico, 39, from Spain.
And if you saw them, you’d know why.
But no one - not the audience and certainly not the judges - expected the dance routine they got when they first saw the unlikely dance partners.
Paddy and Nico were the last act to audition on the first night and Simon looked bored before they’d moved.
“This is weird,” he said, when they walked out on stage. And Paddy and Nico did look like an odd couple.
Simon was quick to judge and buzz them off - but he was the only judge who did.
Then Simon started yawning. But pretty soon he was gaping in awe.
Paddy twirled and lunged and Nico lifted her high and swung her low.
Amanda screamed with excitement. David Walliams held his breath.
“Amazing! Amazing!” shouted Amanda at the end of what really was an incredible performance from Paddy, who will be 80 in July.
All four judges were on their feet at the end.
“Shall I press my golden buzzer?” Amanda asked Alesha.
And then she just did it.
Golden confetti rained down on Paddy and Nico, who hugged each other with joy.
By now, Simon was smiling.
Amanda raced to the stage as Ant and Dec shouted: “They go straight through to the live shows”.
The golden buzzer is a new twist to this series and each judge can hit it once through the audition rounds for an act they want to go straight through to the live semi-finals.
Amanda has now made her choice: Paddy and Nico.
“I just thought that was incredible. Well done,” she told them.
“Wow!” said Simon. ‘Look, I apologise for what I did. I did obviously buzz a little early. But that was before all the crazy things happened. It was all slow and normal and then it went ballistic. It was extraordinary.”
“You’re an amazing example to older people,” added David Walliams. “You’ve shown that however old you are you can still be spectacular and be beautiful and do something amazing.”
“If she can all people can,” said Nico, who runs a dance school in Spain.
“I had been a dancer from the age of two and a half,” Paddy told the judges. “I gave it up to get married and had four children.
“I went to live in Spain with my husband. Unfortunately, after 18 months, he died. For something to do, I went to Nico’s dance academy to learn something totally different and this is the result.”
“My grandmother is 93 years old,” said Amanda. “And I just kept thinking of her when you were being thrown around that man. And I think she would have wanted me to press my buzzer for you as well - and I hope you win Britain’s Got Talent.”
The audience roared their approval.
“The fact that you did it for all those years and then had your lovely children and then lost your husband… You gave up so much,” Amanda added.
“When I started to do this I spoke with the family,” Paddy said. “I asked: ‘What do you think?’. And they said, ‘Well, you gave everything up to have us and look after Dad. He would be proud.’”
“Yes, he would,” Amanda told Paddy.
“Paddy, you are my hero,” Alesha said. “You are unbelievable. I pray to God I am like you when I am your age. I don’t want to sound patronising but I just have to say it like it is. That is something I have never seen before. I am so pleased Amanda pressed her golden buzzer. And bravo Nico!”
And with that, Paddy literally skipped off the stage and danced out of the studios.
The acts that made it through to the next round are: country dancers Countryvive, boy band Collabro, computer-enhanced dance group Light Balance, opera singer Lucy Kay and 12-year-old street dancers Terrell and Lauren from Essex.
Click here for exclusive pictures of the auditions and more details of the acts the judges voted through - and those they didn't.
