I OWE IT ALL TO JACKO BOY singer Shaheen Jafargholi wowed Simon Cowell with a Michael Jackson hit – then set his sights on meeting the King of Pop himself.
The 12-year-old starred as the young Jacko in a theatrical tour of Thriller.
And he dreams of seeing the wacko star at London’s O2 Arena this summer.
He said: “To see him live would be amazing. I hope he sees me on Britain’s Got Talent. It would be a dream come true to actually go and watch him, so here’s hoping that the show or Simon Cowell can make it happen.”
He added, cheekily: “I’d love to meet Michael. We could even compare notes on performing!”
But it nearly all ended in disaster for Shaheen when Simon halted him seconds into his rendition of The Zutons’ hit Valerie and told him he’d made a mistake.
He confessed: “At that moment I thought I’d blown my only chance.
“I had this huge ‘uh oh’ moment and expected to be walking straight off the stage.”
But then he blew the crowd away with his version of the Jackson Five’s Who’s Loving You.
Shaheen continued: “I couldn’t believe my luck when Simon gave me a second chance and asked for another song.
“Luckily, I managed to hold it together and control my nerves. I just told myself that I had to do it, that it was now or never and that there was no room for mistakes.
“Simon had given me a second chance but I knew there wouldn’t be a third.”
And he wowed not just the crowd but the judges as well.
Shaheen, of Swansea, revealed: “Simon told me I was one of the best singers he’d ever heard.
“It was such a shock. To be honest it felt like I was living in a dream and that it was happening to someone else rather than me.
“We never expected this kind of reaction. On the tour I played Michael as a young boy when he was in the Jackson Five.
“So I spent most nights singing that song and all his other Motown stuff. It’s lucky, because that was the one that Simon really liked.
“You could say Michael helped make it happen.”
But his chances of seeing the star in person may be slim.
His mum Karen Thomas didn’t manage to get Shaheen any tickets to see Jacko when they sold out in record time earlier this year.
She said: “I was lucky enough to see him on the BAD tour in the 80s.
“But this time it was impossible. Even with the extra dates, I think loads of fans struggled to get tickets.”
She said Shaheen began singing at the age of two and admitted: “There’s been no stopping him.
“It’s his passion and he doesn’t stop from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep at night. His idols are Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and Whitney Houston – all the big ones.
dailystar
