‘There are so many of us wanting this dream’
◆ The 2024 BGT winner Sydnie Christmas talks to Naomi Clarke about life after the show and the challenges she faced trying to break into the West End
After years of stepping out on stage in character, Sydnie Christmas took on one of her most daring roles yet earlier this year when she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent – being her authentic self.
“I remember before going on looking in the mirror behind the stage and being like ‘Just be yourself. This is scary because you’re not being a character. You haven’t got a script. Just don’t think about it. Just be yourself ’,” the singer, 29, recalls.
“And I just trusted myself to just not think about it and just go on and play it by ear. And I’m so glad I did.”
Christmas first dazzled the judges with her bubbly personality, cracking jokes from the outset, before stunning them with her powerful vocals. However, she had an uphill battle on her hands as judge and music mogul Simon Cowell was not a fan of her song choice – Tomorrow from the musical Annie.
Following a powerful and emotional rendition of the ballad, she received rapturous applause from the audience and all the judges gave her a standing ovation. Not only did notoriously hard-to-please Cowell confirm she had won him over, but fellow judge Amanda Holden branded it the “best version” of the song she had ever heard before awarding her a golden buzzer.
The dream did not end there for Christmas as she sailed through to the semifinal with her powerhouse rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, landing her a spot in the final. Her showstopping performance of the classic Somewhere Over The Rainbow secured her the Britain’s Got Talent crown, the £250,000 prize pot and a spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance.
During her audition, she revealed her dream was to perform in the West End after trying to get her foot through the door for years.
After studying at the D&B
Academy of Performing Arts, the Kent-born singer made her “off West End” London stage debut in the musical Lazarus, featuring the music of David Bowie. She also had stints on cruise ships where she performed in productions such as Grease, as well as featuring in Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany.
Christmas saw the ITV competition as one of her final chances, having experienced a run of unsuccessful auditions.
“I wanted to be in the West End, I wanted to be close to my family, and they just weren’t letting me. It was just ridiculous,” she says.
“And I’m not the only one, there is loads of us… you have to try and work your way in. And you know what? On the grand scheme of things, there are so many of us wanting this one dream, and there’s not enough space for everyone.
“So I went on BGT, I’d not say as a last resort, but I was going to call it a day. I think that’s what made me brave. I was going to go ‘What a nice thing to do, I’ll get my one last rodeo’ sort of thing. I’ll see how it goes.”
She opened up about the struggles she had faced during her BGT audition, but the seven-minute clip had to be cut down for broadcast and so viewers did not hear about her years of graft, just that she dreamed of breaking into the West End. Unfortunately, this riled up some viewers who made quick, unsubstantiated judgments about her.
“It was so upsetting for me to watch that happen because I’m like ‘You just don’t know. You don’t know my character and you don’t know how much this means to me, and you think I’ve cheated my way to it?’ It was an eye-opener.”
Christmas says the show was “very helpful” and provided her with counsellors to help her through it but she feels “nothing prepares you for that”.
She hasn’t given up on the hope of performing in a West End production one day, but for now she is doing things her own way.
Since winning the show, she has been working on her debut album, titled My Way.
Christmas is also set to embark on a UK tour next year with stops in cities including Glasgow, Liverpool and London, where she will get the chance to perform at the Aldwych Theatre – a West End venue.
“I’ll get on the West End stage for one night at the Aldwych Theatre, but I’ll be like ‘There you go, I’ve done it my way’.
“No-one would let me in so you make your own show.”
The excitement doesn’t stop there for Christmas, as she will perform in front of members of the royal family at the Royal Variety Performance this November.
“There’s a fine line between love and hate and there’s a fine line between fear, excitement, and nerves,” she says, considering the upcoming career milestone.
“That gives me butterflies. I don’t know in what kind of way, probably all of the above emotions.”
For now, she is just trying to keep herself grounded amid the chaos of the last year.
“I’m sort of setting myself up for life now within the profession that I’ve always wanted to be in,” she tells me from her family home in Kent where she lives with her parents.
“Nothing is certain, of course. I’m quite a worrier so it’s very overwhelming and I still don’t believe it. I don’t believe it until it all happens. I’m just hoping and working hard so that things will happen.”
I was going to call it a day. I think that’s what made me brave