Wiggle, wine and smile: Donchez Dacres ready for Britain's Got Talent final
He's captured the hearts of the nation, but can Donchez Dacres bring the BGT title home to Wolverhampton?
Wiggle, wine and smile - that's the message from Donchez Dacres ahead of tonight's Britain's Got Talent final.
The 61-year-old AA mechanic from Wolverhampton knows he's facing tough competition but promised to keep making people smile in the grand finale of the ITV show.
If victorious, Donchez will bag £250,000 in cash and a performance slot at this year's Royal Variety Performance in November.
But to win he'll need as many votes as possible to beat 10 other acts, including a father-and-son singing duo, a dance troupe and two Vietnamese gymnasts.
WATCH Donchez's semi-final performance:
“The competition is very strong, there are some really strong acts," Donchez said.
"But I’m bringing the happiness, I’m making people smile.”
Donchez made it to the grand final after winning the public vote in a live semi-final on Tuesday. Before that he qualified for the live rounds when David Walliams got the judges grooving to his Wiggle Wine song and slammed the golden buzzer.
Support
Supporting Donchez all the way are his colleagues at the AA where he's worked for nearly 30 years, and the father of four recently gave a special performance at the Oldbury office - the nearest to his home in Penn.
Vince Crane, AA Patrol of the Year, was among the crowd watching Donchez in the office block next to Birchley Island.
He said: “I saw Donchez perform on the Britain’s Got Talent semi-final and thought he was brilliant. Very, very good and very humble. You could see the shock on his face when his name was announced."
Indeed whether he's shaking his hips on the BGT stage or under the bonnet on a wet roadside, it's keeping people happy that matters to Donchez.
“I just love making people smile. If someone breaks down and they’re having a really bad day, I sing to them. By the end of their experience, they’ve forgotten they ever broke down."
Edmund King, AA president, added: “Everyone at the AA is backing Donchez. Even our executive team’s WhatsApp group was buzzing with joy when he got through.
"I have sent him a personal message of support and have already had my first request for his autograph from an eight-year old.
"We’re backing Wiggle and Wine all the way but perhaps not when driving.”
Who else is in the BGT final?
The acts competing against Donchez at the Hammersmith Apollo include DVJ, a dance troupe set up by former winners Diversity, comedian The Lost Voice Guy, choir The D-Day Darlings and father-and-son combo Tim and Jack Goodacre.
Young singer Calum Courtney and musical comedians Robert White and Micky P Kerr are also finalists as is opera singer and Amanda Holden's golden buzzer act, Gruffydd Wyn.
The final act through from the semi-finals were Vietnamese pair The Giang Brothers, and the wildcard act is the B Positive Choir.
Dec rides solo
Tonight's show will be the first Britain's Got Talent final presented solely by Declan Donnelly after his TV partner McPartlin stepped down from his commitments after pleading guilty to drink-driving.
McPartlin wiggled on stage with Donchez in his audition episode, which was filmed before he was charged.
He was banned from the road for 20 months and fined £86,000 after pleading guilty to driving while more than twice the legal limit.
Donnelly has had to fight through a number of technical issues throughout semi-finals week, including stormy weather interrupting the broadcast on Monday night.
The Britain's Got Talent final airs on ITV at 7.30pm.
