Spelbound
| Spelbound | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Spelthorne, Ashford, Surrey |
| Genres | Acrobatic Gymnastics Act |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Website | spelbound.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Adam McAssey Adam Buckingham Alex Uttley Jonathan Stranks Douglas Fordyce Edward Upcott Nicholas Illingworth Leighanne Cowler Lauren Kemp Hollianne Wood Abigail Ralph Amy Mackenzie Alice Upcott Coach Neil Griffiths[1] |
|
| Past members | |
| Katie Axten | |
Spelbound are a gymnastic troupe from the United Kingdom who rose to fame in 2010, winning the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent.[2][3] The prize was £100,000 and the opportunity to appear at the 2010 Royal Variety Performance. They also performed in the Britain's Got Talent Live tour.[4] They have since performed at numerous venues and have been featured in advertisements.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early years and lineup (2009-2010)
Spelbound was formed in late 2009 at Spelthorne Gymnastics Club in Ashford, Surrey, specifically to enter Britain's Got Talent.[5][6] The spelling of the troupe's name is a reference to the club.[7] On 3 May 2010, after their successful live semi-final, the Head Coach Neil Griffiths resigned from Spelthorne Gymnastics Club with immediate effect and joined Heathrow Gymnastics Club. Three senior coaches, the dance teacher and choreographer also joined him. This was immediately followed by the entire group of over sixty elite gymnasts also joining the club. At the time of the final, the troupe were members of the Heathrow Club.
The original group was composed of seven boys and six girls with ages ranging from 12 to 24.[8] They were Adam McAssey, Adam Buckingham, Alex Uttley, Jonathan Stranks, Douglas Fordyce, Edward Upcott, Nicholas Illingworth, Katie Axten, Leighanne Cowler, Lauren Kemp, Hollianne Wood, Abigail Ralph and Amy Mackenzie.[9] Between them, they have won numerous medals in their sport,[citation needed] acrobatic gymnastics, which is an internationally recognized type of gymnastics. Additionally, some of them have taken home European and World medals.[7][10] Six members (Upcott, Fordyce, Uttley, Stranks, McAssey and Buckingham) went on to the 2010 world championships subsequent to BGT with gold medals in their respective disciplines (men's pair and men's four) in the senior category.[citation needed]
They have competed for their club and for Great Britain all over Europe, including the 2008 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, with six of them competing for GB in Taiwan at the 2009 World Games, an Olympic style event for non-Olympic events.[6][11][12]
[edit] Britain's Got Talent (2010)
Spelbound auditioned for BGT, and wowed the judges and the crowd from the start. They performed to the song 'Oh, Fortuna' a poem originally written in the 13th century as part of a collection known as the Carmina Burana, and set to music in 1935/36 by the German composer Carl Orff. They went on to the semi-finals and finals, beating Twist and Pulse in the final round to win the competition in front of over 15 million tv viewers. They received £100,000 to split amongst themselves, and went on to perform at the Royal Variety Show in December. Unfortunately they did not get the meet the Royal Party of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall as their car had been attacked by protesters on the streets of London whilst on the way to the show at the London Palladium. They did attend the show but were whisked away by the Police straight after the show.
At the end of 2010, they released their first DVD featuring 9 live routines performed before a theatre audience.
[edit] Recent events (2011-present)
In May 2011, Spelbound returned to Britain's Got Talent as the star guest to perform a brand new routine based on a musical piece called Nostalgia by Yanni. During the rest of 2011, the group performed many UK shows as well as travelling around the World to places such as Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and the Middle East on a few occasions where their brand of acrobatic dance has been especially well received.
They are hoping to perform for the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. They are managed by MIG Management and their agent is Industry Music Group.
[edit] References
- ^ Stewart-Robertson, Tristan (6 June 2010). "Spellbound win Britain's Got Talent". news.scotsman.com (Edinburgh). http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/-Spellbound-win-Britain39s-Got.6343749.jp. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ Millar, Paul (5 June 2010). "Spelbound win 'Britain's Got Talent'". London: Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s107/britains-got-talent/news/a222487/spelbound-win-britains-got-talent.html. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ^ "Gymnast troupe Spelbound win Britain's Got Talent". BBC News. 5 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10247405.stm. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ^ ITV.com
- ^ "Spelthorne Gymnastics". Spelthorne Gymnastics. http://www.spelthornegymnastics.com/. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ^ a b "Outstanding acrobats impress Great Britain's TV viewers 30 Apr 2010". Acrobatic News. Federation Internationale de Gymnastique. http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,5187-188447-205669-nav-list,00.html. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ a b Fulton, Rick (9 June 2010). "Revealed: Spelbound hunk is first Scot to win Britain's Got Talent". Daily Record. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/television-news/2010/06/09/revealed-spelbound-hunk-is-first-scot-to-win-britain-s-got-talent-86908-22321266/. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists line-up revealed". STV Entertainment. http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/180362-britains-got-talent-semi-finalists-line-up-revealed/.
- ^ Spellbound Makeup, Scotland on Sunday 6 June 2010
- ^ "High price of victory for Katie". The Sun (London). 9 June 2010. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/britain_got_talent/3005506/Katie-Axten-reckons-her-gruelling-training-schedule-has-stunted-her-growth.html. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Acrobatic Gymnastics". The World Games 2009. 2007 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee. http://www.worldgames2009.tw/wg2009/eng/sports.php?sn=1. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ "Acrobatic Gymnastics Start List". www.sportcentric.com. Federation Internationale de Gymnastique. http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,5216-197528-214751-152936-0-file,00.pdf. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
[edit] External links
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Wikinews has related news: Spelbound declared winner of Britain's Got Talent 2010 |
| Preceded by Diversity |
Winner of Britain's Got Talent 2010 |
Succeeded by Jai McDowall |
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