George Sampson
Encyclopedia
George Jennifer Sampson is a street dance
Street dance
Street dance, more formally known as vernacular dance, is an umbrella term used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios in any available open space such as streets, dance parties, block parties, parks, school yards, raves, and nightclubs, etc...

r and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 from Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

, England. He won the second series of Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...

on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14.

2007 series

In 2007, a dance teacher called Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He only discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series
Britain's Got Talent (Series 1)
The first series of Britain's Got Talent began on 9 June 2007 and ended on 17 June 2007. It was won by opera singer Paul Potts. The first five shows concerned the audition stages of the competition and the final four shows aired the live semi-finals and final. The show was hosted by Ant & Dec on...

 of Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...

when he arrived. In his audition, he danced to "Drop
Drop (Timbaland & Magoo song)
"Drop" is a hip-hop song by Timbaland & Magoo, released as the first official single from their second studio album Indecent Proposal. It features rapper/DJ Fatman Scoop. It will also on new up-coming Def Jam fighting game....

" (Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....

 feat. Magoo
Magoo
Magoo may refer to:*Mr. Magoo, a cartoon character** Mr. Magoo , a live-action movie about the cartoon*Magoo , American rapper*Magoo , an indie rock band from Norfolk, England...

 & Fatman Scoop
Fatman Scoop
Isaac Freeman III, better known by his stage name Fatman Scoop is a hip hop promoter and radio personality famed for his on-stage rough, raw, loud voice....

), receiving a yes vote from all three judges. However, despite Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...

's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden
Amanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...

 and Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....

, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.

2008 series

In 2008, Sampson successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2
Britain's Got Talent (Series 2)
The 2008 series of Britain's Got Talent was the second series of the show. Notable differences from the 2007 series the included the fact that the auditions visited Scotland and that there were 40 in the live semi-finals...

 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
"Rock This Party " is a song by Bob Sinclar, co-produced by regular partner Cutee B and featuring Dollarman and Big Ali on vocals...

". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale
Mint Royale
Mint Royale is a big beat electronic music act from Manchester, England. They were originally founded by the duo Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997; the latter left the band in 2004, but Claxton continues to produce music using the Mint Royale name.-Career:...

's big beat
Big beat
Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...

 remix of "Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (song)
"Singin' In the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929. However, it is unclear exactly when the song was written with some claiming that the song was written and performed as early as 1927. The song was listed as Number 3 on AFI's 100 Years.....

", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI. He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature
Signature (dance group)
Signature are an English dance group which consists of British Pakistani Suleman Mirza and British Indian Madhu Singh. Their notable style of dance is British Bhangra and they frequently base their performances around Michael Jackson songs, such as "Billie Jean" and "Thriller"...

 (second place) and Andrew Johnston
Andrew Johnston (singer)
Andrew Johnston is a British singer who rose to fame when he appeared as a boy soprano on the second series of the British television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2008. Although he did not win the series, he received a contract to record on the SyCo Music label owned by the Britain's Got...

 (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced.
Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...

, which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything". An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final.

The Mint Royale
Mint Royale
Mint Royale is a big beat electronic music act from Manchester, England. They were originally founded by the duo Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997; the latter left the band in 2004, but Claxton continues to produce music using the Mint Royale name.-Career:...

 version of "Singin' in the Rain" went to number 1 in the UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance and Simon Cowell's label SyCo was bombarded with requests from fans to make a video for the song. It is the first time SyCo has signed up a non-singing act solely to make a video.

In an interview the day after the final, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event.

NatWest deal

On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Sampson would become the face of a new 11-18 account for NatWest bank, in a deal reportedly worth £1million.

Into the Hoods

On 4 August 2008, Sampson made his stage debut in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 hip-hop musical Into the Hoods
Into the Hoods
Into the Hoods -- "An Urban Fairy Tale" is a hip hop/musical created by London-based hip hop dance troupe ZooNation. The basic premise of the show is a hip hop take on the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. The plot follows two children as they get lost in the hood and try and retrieve an...

. With some exceptions, he appeared in the show until it stopped on 30 August. Of his new role, he said: "This year is getting better and better - Into the Hoods show is funky and young and I love the music in it – I can't wait to get dancing on that stage!". Into the Hoods was shown at the Novello Theatre
Novello Theatre
The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster.-History:The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of the Waldorf Hotel, both being designed by W. G. R. Sprague. The theatre opened as the Waldorf Theatre on 22 May 1905, and was...

 in London and features music from the likes of the Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

, Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...

, Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx are a British electronic dance music duo from London, England consisting of Felix Buxton born 1971 and Simon Ratcliffe born 1 December 1969. They first rose to popularity in the late 1990s...

 and many more. Sampson appeared as one of the lost boys.

Bebo

On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Cowell's record company and Bebo
Bebo
Bebo is a social networking website launched in July 2005. It is currently owned and operated by Criterion Capital Partners after taking over from AOL in June 2010....

 would work together to make an online television show called Follow My Lead which would include some dance move tutorials by Sampson, but also a behind the scenes look of events and rehearsals. They previously worked together to create a similar show on Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer-songwriter. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008...

.

Debut single and DVD

Simon Cowell initially planned to only release dance videos, but he wanted to do more. He asked the agent of Take That if he could get Sampson to sing, but it turned out he already liked to sing from a young age. His debut double a-side single titled Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up was released on 24 November 2008, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...

. After an early fault that meant the single couldn't be downloaded from iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 for two days, the single finally debuted at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 and remained listed for 4 weeks. The single's position in the charts gradually lowered during that time.

On 1 December 2008, his dance DVD Access 2 All Areas was released. The one-hour DVD contains a documentary about his rise to stardom, four music videos in which Sampson sings as well as dances and a behind the scenes look of those videos, dance tutorials and a set of photographs.

2009

On 23 January 2009, Sampson helped to promote the new Nokia 5800
Nokia 5800
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is a smartphone and portable entertainment device by Nokia. It was introduced on January 2, 2008 and released on April 27, 2008. Code-named "Tube", it is the first touchscreen-equipped S60 device by Nokia, the version being s60v5. It's part of the XpressMusic series of...

 phone in London's Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...

. He handed over the first Nokia 5800 sold and performed a live dance routine to "Pump Up the Volume
Pump up the Volume (song)
"Pump Up the Volume" is a song and the only single by British recording act MARRS. It was a number-one hit in many countries and is generally regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British house music and music sampling....

" remixed by VV Brown
VV Brown
Vanessa Brown , also known as VV Brown, is an English singer, songwriter, model, and producer signed to Island Records in the United Kingdom and to Universal Republic Records and Capitol Records in the United States...

 which he choreographed to go with a touch-sensitive dancefloor
Dance pad
A dance pad, also known as a dance mat, dance platform, or jiffer deck is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions...

.

On 29 January, he launched the game Battle Strikers at Toy Fair 09. He also designed a plate for Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...

's Mission Nutrition appeal.

On 7 March and 14 March, he hosted a 'Street Dance Weekend' at the Alton Towers Resort as part of their new family themed weekends along side street crew Flava in which fans could attend workshops to learn one of his routines and dance alongside him.

On 28 May, Sampson was the guest star at the third Britain's Got Talent semi-final and performed before the results were announced. He also was a guest star in Britain's Got Talent the Live Tour 2009 and he said that Nottingham was his favorite on 20 June 2009.

On 26 June 2009, Sampson became a Patron of Dance Aid organised by the UK Registered Charity, Hope and Homes for Children
Hope and Homes for Children
Hope and Homes for Children is a British registered charity working with children, their families and communities across 10 countries in Eastern Europe and Africa. to help children grow up in safe and productive environments...

.

He danced before the Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 match between Crusaders and Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

 at Brewery Field
Brewery Field
Brewery Field is a 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales 1,100 of which is seated capacity...

 on Saturday 11 July from around 5pm. The kick-off for the match was at 6pm. He also danced at half-time. He was also scheduled to make an appearance in Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and...

 on 18 July as part of "Legoland Live."

In September 2009 Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...

 dumped Sampson after his career failed to take off. In the same month, Sampson was also evicted from his London flat following repeated acts of rowdy behaviour, such as playing music at unacceptably high volumes.

Also in September he starred in the first all British 3D feature film StreetDance 3D
StreetDance 3D
StreetDance 3D is a British dance film which was released on 21 May 2010. The film was released in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D, and Dolby 3D with Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini directing it. Britain's Got Talent stars George Sampson, Diversity and Flawless made their debut appearances to the big screen...

(alongside dance groups Diversity and Flawless) in which he plays a character called Eddie, released May 2010.

On 16 November, Sampson featured in the CBBC Newsround special: Whose Side Are You On? as part of the BBC's anti-bullying campaign which saw him speak out about how he was bullied when he was younger. Other stars that appeared in the programme were Joe Calzaghe, Aston Merrygold, Patsy Palmer and Gemma Hunt.

2010

On 5 June 2010, he appeared on "Star King", a South Korean television show which features a variety of talented performers.

2011

On 18 February 2011, it was announced that Sampson would be joining the cast of BBC drama series, Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...

. His character, a 17 year old student named Kyle Stack, is set to appear in the second half of the sixth series, to air later this year.

Singles

Date of release Title Label UK chart peaks
24 November 2008 Get Up On The Dance Floor/Headz Up
Get Up On The Dance Floor/Headz Up
Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up is the debut double A-side single of street dancer George Sampson who won the 2008 edition of Britain's Got Talent...

Syco Music 30 (UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

)

Television

Programme Character Details Year(s)
Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...

Kyle Stack Series 6,Episode 11 - present. Did not appear in 7b. 2010-present

DVDs

Date of release Title Label UK chart peaks
1 December 2008 Access 2 All Areas SonyBMG 1 (BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 Music DVD Chart)

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2010 StreetDance 3D
StreetDance 3D
StreetDance 3D is a British dance film which was released on 21 May 2010. The film was released in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D, and Dolby 3D with Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini directing it. Britain's Got Talent stars George Sampson, Diversity and Flawless made their debut appearances to the big screen...

Eddie
2012 StreetDance 2 Eddie

Health

Sampson suffers from a condition called Scheuermann's disease
Scheuermann's disease
Scheuermann’s disease is a self-limiting skeletal disorder of childhood. It is also known as Sherman's Disease, Scheuermann’s kyphosis , Calvé disease and Juvenile Osteochondrosis of the Spine. It is named after Holger Werfel Scheuermann...

, which affects developing bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

s in children and teenagers and can cause a curvature of the spine
Vertebral column
In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...

. "There's no way I'd ever give up dancing. Nothing would stop me," he told the paper. However, since the revelation Sampson said "It's not that bad." and claims that his doctor has said he's allowed to dance. The papers claim George will be dancing for years to come.

Awards and prizes

Sampson won the under-16 category in the United Dance Organisation's 2007 World Street Dance championships. Following his win of Britain's Got Talent, he returned to the 2008 championships at the Blackpool Winter Gardens to give a performance together with his dance group A2AA (Access 2 All Areas) and to accept an award for his contributions to raising the profile of street dance from UDO chairman Simon Dibley.

In the summer of 2008 he was one of 11 celebrities to receive an honourary scout badge
Scout badge
Scout badges are worn on the uniforms of members of Scouting organisations across the world in order to signify membership and achievements. There is a great variety of badges, not only between the different national Scouting organisations, but within the programme sections, as well.Almost all...

 to celebrate the 101st birthday of the Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 Movement.

He also received an award in the category "Favourite Winner" at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards and he performed his signature dance "Singing in the Rain" during the ceremony.

External links

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