Simon Cowell had seen enough. Without hesitation, he pressed the Golden Buzzer — sending Matty Juniosa, a 27-year-old Filipino working part-time as a waiter in Glasgow, straight to the live shows of “Britain’s Got Talent.”
Juniosa’s audition, a performance of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” drew a standing ovation from the audience and left the judging panel visibly moved. Cowell later described it as the strongest crowd reaction the panel had witnessed from any contestant.
“This, I think, is the biggest reaction we had from anyone,” Cowell said before triggering the buzzer, which eliminates the need for a contestant to go through further audition rounds.
The Golden Buzzer is a direct pass to the live shows, bypassing all remaining qualifying stages of the competition.
Juniosa, who has been based in Scotland for three years, framed his decision to audition in deeply personal terms. He previously competed in “Idol Philippines” in 2019 and said the experience left a mark on how he viewed himself as a performer.
“I have been waiting for this chance to finally put an end to this long thing that I’ve been thinking about myself, that I will always be a singing competition loser,” he said.
Cowell extended his praise beyond the audition room, sharing Juniosa’s performance on Facebook. “I could have given him two Golden Buzzers,” he wrote. “Hope you all love the audition as well.”
Juniosa, for his part, said on Instagram that he has yet to fully process what happened. “This is genuinely such an exciting [time] for me as I grew up watching the show,” he said, adding that he remains in “disbelief” over his place in the new season.
