A Farmer is celebrating after a choir he sings with won Britain’s Got Talent.
Ted Howard-Jones, 63, who is secretary of the Nettlebed Farming Club and runs Cholsey Farm in Ibstone, described Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir’s success at the finals on Saturday as “unbelievable”.
Receiving 28.72 per cent of the votes, far ahead of the second-placed act which had 13.36 per cent, the choir’s singers erupted with joy after their performance of This is Home, a song which was specially written for the choir.
Mr Howard-Jones said: “It just meant so much to us. I first heard it back in February. It really talks to the rural community and our sense that our farms are our home.
“I suppose that rings true for everyone — but for farmers in particular. It’s often generational, they are guardians of the land. We are custodians of that piece of ground.
“I think it just brought us joy and that came through to the audience both in the theatre and on television.”
He added: “We obviously took a risk in singing a song no one had ever heard before. But it was a very catchy tune and we found that after a couple of rehearsals, the cameramen were humming along.”
The choir, consisting of 34 singers, was founded by Jeremy Clarkson as part of an advertising campaign for his brewing firm in May last year. It is made up of those who work in farming, with singers selected last year out of 500 farmers who auditioned.
The choir stayed together and was invited to compete in Britain’s Got Talent, travelling to Birmingham Hippodrome in October for the auditions.
Clarkson visited the choir at the Apollo Theatre before their performance on Saturday and was in the audience alongside the farmers’ friends and family members.
The group are, as Mr Howard-Jones describes, “a true bunch of amateurs”.
He explained: “We weren’t manicured or groomed to the nth degree… I think that sort of struck a chord as a genuine act. We probably weren’t as ‘professional’ as some of the others but I think that worked in our favour.”
The group will be awarded a cash prize of £250,000 for their win, much of which they plan to donate to mental health charities supporting those in the farming sector.
They have also won a spot to perform at the Royal Variety Show in November.
Mr Howard-Jones said: “We knew that within the rural community, we were going to get quite good support but we didn’t know whether that would matter against popular acts.”
He added: “Strangely, I didn’t have the same butterflies as last time. The crowd reaction was so positive and we knew the song so well. We were so pleased just to be there. We didn’t really mind whether we won, we were having fun.
“What was much more tense was waiting for the results, 10 times more tense than actually going on stage.” They celebrated with a trip to the pub. Mr Howard-Jones said: “I had to leave rather earlier than some as I had a flight the next morning.
“As I was leaving the hotel at four in the morning with my cases and having had an hour or two of sleep, they were all coming in.”
Amanda Holden, one of the four judges, had given the choir her “golden buzzer” which fast-forwarded them from their auditions in October through to the semi-finals, bypassing other selection rounds.
After the performance on Saturday, she said: “What an incredible song. An amazing performance.
“I am incredibly proud of all of you. The harmonising was out of this world.”
Fellow judge Simon Cowell said: “I thought that was absolutely stunning, heartfelt, joyous… Britain’s Got Talent is about celebrating talent and tonight that was absolutely on the money.”
The group hopes to reunite for a celebratory lunch or dinner but most are focused on working on their farms, which many left for more than a week to rehearse and perform.
In the days following their win, Mr Howard-Jones joked that his phone had “practically melted” from all of the messages of congratulations he had received.
He is certain the group will stay together and continue performing in the future, describing it as “like family”.