The name Scott James isn’t well known yet, but the chances are he is going on to big things. Already hailed as "the next Susan Boyle", the 21-year-old left the judges open-mouthed with his incredible performance when he auditioned to take part in this year's X Factor.
Incredibly, Scott is so frightened of socialising that he rarely leaves his house in Stockton-on-Tees. He has Asperger syndrome, a type of autism that makes it difficult to read facial expressions, eye contact, and other forms of body language. But he had no trouble impressing the panel – Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole, and Louis Walsh – with his attempt at Westlife's hit song, You Raise Me Up.
"He came on stage and he was very particular about his condition," Dannii has told the Independent Magazine. "He told us that because of his Asperger syndrome and the fact that he'd been picked on, he hadn’t left the house in seven years. But he just stood there calmly and told us his singing teacher had been helping him to build his confidence. Then he started singing. You will not believe his performance when you see it," she promised.
It must have been very impressive. Notoriously critical judge Simon went so far as to halt the show to go backstage to congratulate Scott and his vocal coach, Linzi Hunter. "The audience went mental after his performance and Simon called me up on stage to speak to me about Scott and his singing," Linzi has revealed. "After that, he personally came backstage and shook our hands and said how brilliant Scott was. He did seem quite concerned about Scott and asked me how I thought he would cope if he got further into the competition. But Scott has just taken it all in his stride." Fans of the reality show will have to wait until August 22 to hear what all the hype is about, when the sixth series of the X Factor returns to small screens.
