Darcy Oake on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’: ‘It’s never been pitched as a show for amateurs’
Last weekend on "Britain's Got Talent," Darcy Oake wowed the judges with his dove magic act (it now has more than 10 million views on YouTube). But he was soon called out by U.K. viewers for being too Canadian and too professional for the British talent show. However, the 26-year-old illusionist from Winnipeg is not letting a little controversy get in the way of his "crazy amazing" experience.
"The fact that I'm not from the U.K., that doesn't bother me. The people that won last year were from Hungary. People come from all over the world to do that show because of its influence," Oake told Yahoo Canada Celebrity on Thursday. "The professional thing, I understand, I get it. But it's never been pitched as a show for amateurs. If only people who have never performed went and auditioned for the show, what kind of show would it be? I feel like if it went horrendously wrong, no one would be saying that."
While Oake waits with the rest of us to find out if he will make the next round of "Britain's Got Talent" (we're pretty sure he'll make it), here are seven other things we learned about him:
He doesn't think he's a shoo-in
Oake admitted he felt it was "hard to say" whether he would make it to the next round of the competition, let alone whether he would win it. "It's weird, it's a weird situation," he said. "I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be awesome."
Performing on stage is not like auditioning for "Britain's Got Talent"
The tattooed Canadian has performed magic across Canada and the U.S., but "Britain's Got Talent" was an entirely different experience for him. "It definitely wasn't in my comfort zone. It's a very vulnerable position to be in," Oake said. "You can't really let it distract you. It's hard to ignore that there are four judges illuminated in the front row, but you have to try to."
He wasn't sure about the whole dove act
Though his performance left most of us in shock and awe, it was just a regular routine for Oake, so he didn't have much confidence in it. "I was hesitating to do the birds," he admitted. "I was thinking that I would make the first one or two appear and then I would get X'd because it's birds -- it's a traditional type of routine."
Watch Oake's magic act:
The moment he took off his jacket was unplanned
Oake sometimes takes off his jacket during his performances, but he wasn't planning on showing off his muscles and tattoos this time around. That was, until he noticed how well his show was going over. "That was a choice as a performer. If they weren't eating it up, I wouldn't, like, take off my jacket," he said. "I remember thinking in my head, 'It would be wise for me to do that.' It sounds like such a vain thing to say but it's the nature of the business, I guess."
He is a fan of competition James Smith
Oake has been watching his competition closely and one of them stuck out: James Smith, the 15-year-old singer who performed an incredible version of Nina Simon's "Feeling Good" last week. "It was brilliant," Oake said. "It was really good."
He got into magic by accident
It's a good thing Oake's dad ("Hockey Night in Canada" host Scott Oake) has a successful day job, because he doesn't appear to have much talent with magic. Scott got his son into the act when he accidentally pulled off a card trick when Darcy was a kid. "He wouldn't tell me how it was done for, like, three weeks. It was just that feeling of not knowing how it was done that really intrigued me," Darcy said. "I found out later it was a total fluke, a total accident."
"Britain's Got Talent" has already changed his life
Oake said he isn't sure yet what he plans to do next, but the world appears to be his oyster. "Everybody says and hopes that the show can change your life, but that's actually legitimate," he explained. "It's crazy. It's overwhelming, but amazing."
While "Britain's Got Talent" doesn't air in Canada, we can be pretty certain that Canadians will be paying close attention to Oake's performances over coming weeks.
