AF Member Ben Brooke is a fourth-generation farmer in March, Cambridgeshire. Arable farmers with innovative diversifications including wind turbine and a renowned Western riding school, this family is no stranger to stepping outside their comfort zone. Now, that willingness to try something different has landed Ben centre stage with the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir – and just one step away from the Britain’s Got Talent semi-final.
“Just over a year ago, my business partner’s wife sent me a message telling me I should apply to be in the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir. Initially, they were recruiting for singers just to appear in the Hawkstone beer advert.
“I’d never sung before, so I wasn’t sure if I should go for it. You could apply to either be one of the 10 main singers or to be an extra, so I opted for an extra! I got my wife to film me talking about my ties to agriculture - something I was already used to from the Instagram reels I’d been making - and then sent her out of the room to record myself singing!
“And I got picked!”
“We started off with the advert where we swore a lot – which became Jeremy Clarkson’s famous ‘banned’ advert. They actually used the live audio from the day, which sounded great.
“Everybody kept encouraging us to go on Britain’s Got Talent. They kept telling us we were really good, but I don’t think you see that when you’re actually in the choir. The only time I really realised it myself was just before we went on stage. I got a rush of goosebumps and thought: ‘actually we are good!’.”
“It was a massively surreal experience - really amazing, and very cool. I didn’t really know how it was going to go, because you can’t properly hear what the whole choir sounds like when you’re singing together. Honestly, I would have been happy if we’d come away with a couple of ‘red X’s’.
“We were told to project our voices to the back of the auditorium, so while we were singing I was focused on the back of the room. I could see the audience all jumping around and thought ‘heck they’re really loving this’.
“When I looked around at the rest of the choir, everyone was celebrating and it took me a moment to realise why. We’d got the Golden Buzzer from Amanda Holden!”
“That Golden Buzzer sent the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir straight through to the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals, which means we’re one step closer to winning. If we do win, we’re planning to donate a large proportion of the £250,000 prize to mental health charities that support farmers.”
“Please tune in to Britain’s Got Talent on ITV this Saturday 23rd May at 7 pm - and vote to help put us through to the final!”
Visit the Britain's Got Talent website to vote online.
