X Factor’s Josh Daniel Opens Up About Feeling ‘Blessed And Grateful’
| 6th October 2015
The UK were left stunned by the emotive and raw audition given by Josh Daniel, 21, when he moved Simon Cowell to tears. He has since revealed the inspiration behind the performance and opened up about the tragic loss of his best friend, Thomas Woolley, who Josh refers to as a ‘brother’.
Labrinth took to Twitter to thank Josh after ‘Jealous’ soared back into the top 10 and, warmly welcomed by the public, Josh has already caused a stir in the music scene. We caught up with him ahead of the drama which is set to unfold in this weekend’s dreaded ‘Six Chair Challenge’…
The public seem to have already got behind you, but were you prepared for such an amazing post-audition response from a few famous faces?
I definitely wasn’t prepared for the reaction, especially from famous people! I mean, leading up to the audition a couple of my friends had joked about… “Imagine if it goes viral, imagine if Labrinth sees it”, but so far, everything we imagined has happened and more! I’m feeling so blessed and grateful.
But does this massive reception feel like added pressure?
The reaction has definitely added more pressure. A lot of people don’t seem to see it that way, but now I feel like I have to maintain a good high standard of audition, plus I think I’ll always run the risk of being compared to my first one!
Why did you choose ‘Jealous’ as your first audition song, and could you ever have expected such an emotive reaction from the judges, notably Simon?
‘Jealous’ was actually a last minute choice. I’d always been unsure because I’d never sang it in public before and I felt like I didn’t know if I could hold myself together. And also if the audience of the judges didn’t connect with where I was coming from, I knew I was exposing myself to a failure. I’m just so glad it came across like it did and everyone could relate.
How did it feel watching the audition back?
Watching the audition back was definitely emotional, but such a proud moment too. I had goosebumps but I didn’t get long to be dazed before my social media blew up and the time since has been amazing!
What genre of music do you most like to sing, and is this the same as your favourite type of music?
I like to sing pop, R&B and soul, which fits with the kind of artist I want to be anyway! But my iTunes library is fairly varied; there’s a lot of heavier music in there, like 30 Seconds to Mars and Breaking Benjamin that people probably wouldn’t expect to see!
What is the guiltiest song you have on your favourite playlist?
Guiltiest song on my playlist at the moment… I don’t think anything I have is guilty! I only buy the music I love! Unless there’s some cheeky girls songs on there somewhere which I forgot about haha!
Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshDanielUK
Find Josh on Facebook: JoshDanielMusic