Singer impresses judges with his Elvis cover, but it’s his story that has everyone in tears
A few years ago, Barry Darcy, now 38, could have never pictured walking out onto the stage of Ireland’s Got Talent. In fact, he was told he only had a 50-50 chance of ever walking again.
After a long history of back trouble, Darcy suffered a herniated disc in 2013 that crushed the nerves leading into his legs. He was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for 7 months.
The Cork, Ireland resident did recover, however, and strolled onto the stage for his audition in March 2019.
As usual, the judges wanted to know what brought him to the show.
“To be honest, it’s a bit of a sad story. It’s quite difficult for me to talk about it,” he replied while holding back tears.
A video made earlier would answer the question instead. It turns out his back injury was sudden and unexpected and flipped his world upside down.
“I just went to get out of bed one day and fell onto the floor.”
Darcy’s wife Fiona and children Luke and Ryan all took on extra responsibilities while he waited to see if he would regain the use of his legs. After a lot of work and physical therapy, he did.
But after all that drama, it was time to sing – after all, this is a talent competition!
His song choice? Elvis Presley’s The Wonder of You, which sweetly reminded him of his family’s care and understanding in his time of need.
“Be great!” said judge Louis Walsh.
And he was.
It’s hard to tackle an Elvis song because the singer’s iconic voice has been impersonated so many times (and so cheesily) that one needs to avoid sounding like they’re simply doing an impression.
But within the first few seconds, judge Denise van Outen is already thrilled by Darcy’s vocals.
It’s hard to tell what Walsh is thinking at this point, but as we’ll see, he was clearly measuring Darcy’s potential to win the whole competition, not just make it through the auditions.
But pretty soon the whole judge’s table is swaying back and forth to the song.
It’s a great rendition with just enough of The King’s voice to make it fun but unique enough to show off Darcy’s own skills.
After the performance, Walsh exclaims “Where have you been?!” as the audience screams in approval.
But the real drama comes when Walsh does what judges only get to do once during the season – he hits the magical “Golden Buzzer” for Darcy.
The singer immediately bursts into tears.
Not only does this send gold confetti raining down on him and his family running out to the stage, it does so because it means he will move straight on to the live rounds regardless of any other votes.
It’s not a shoo-in to win, but it does give a performer a great advantage.
The man who has stopped performing Elvis songs when he was paralyzed had made a comeback in a big way.
While he wouldn’t win this year’s competition, he did make it to the semi-finals and easily became a fan favorite.
Be sure to scroll down below to see the emotional interview and performance for yourself.
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