Michael Auger from Britain's Got Talent winners Collabro was training to become an accountant but deep down knew he wanted something else.
He spotted an advertisement on Facebook from Jamie Lambert and Matt Pagan. "I sent them my passport photo and auditioned because I studied as an accountant but I wanted to do something a bit different,'' said Michael. They sang together for the first time at the Miller pub on London Bridge.
The singer believes that their unique sound comes from the fact they all have a penchant for different genres, "I am pop, Jamie is classical, Tom is metal but we are all agreed on musical theatre,'' said Michael.
Collabro have just released their fourth album Lighthouse and are heading out on The Road To The Royal Albert Hall tour this spring including a date in Swindon.
Michael said: "We are going to further afield venues because we love the fact we have got fans from all corners of the UK, and we want to get out there to meet them. We had a special launch of our new album, Lighthouse, for our fans and they were ecstatic and couldn't wait to get a copy. Of course Star from Les Miserables is one of the tracks. We still love it.''
There is a mix of new songs, an original written for them by Ben Adams, favourites from Les Mis and iconic musical theatre such as Evita and West Side Story. "On this tour we will be singing songs from every decade,'' said Michael.
Star was the song that Collabro performed at the first audition in front of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams from the TV's Britain's Got Talent. The boys went on to win the 2014 series by a wide margin and have since been voted the UK's favourite of the winners in a national poll. They signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment.
Michael said: "Simon is honest and doesn't want to give false hope.''
The band have scooped the chance to support Barry Manilow on his arena tour, and also attracted the attention of Cliff Richard for his summer tour.
Michael said: "Cliff was in the audience at our gig and asked to come back stage with his management team.''
All the singers began their careers by treading the boards in amateur dramatic productions or local music groups so they want to lend young, aspiring singers a helping hand through #CollabroChoirs.
Michael's first break at acting and singing was with the Petersfield Youth Theatre. He landed the lead role playing Ren in Footloose.
"It was Kevin Bacon's part in the film and our first show sold out,'' said Michael.
"Growing up I was good with numbers but it was the amateur dramatic society that brought out the performer in me.''
Joining Michael in the group are Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J Redgrave. The guys have built up a strong following of fans they call Collaborators and these include Jade Thirlwall from Little Mix, who are stable mates with Collabro on Syco Entertainment Simon Cowell's joint venture with Sony Music.
One of the highlights to date for Collabro was singing at the Royal Variety Performance.
"We were the first to sing for Prince William and Kate alongside One Direction, McBusted and Shirley Bassey. At that point life for us was a whirlwind, with television, radio etc, but meeting Prince William was an amazing experience,'' said Michael. "And performing alongside such incredible acts and to get recognition.''
Collabro will sing on the Wyvern Theatre stage on Tuesday, March 26, for a sell out show. - Flicky Harrison
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