If the number of screaming girls at his audition is any measure, X-Factor contestant Andrew Lambrou is destined for big things.
“What an experience!! Your support means so much to me I can not thank all of you enough! Much love,” Andrew, 17, from Sydney’s inner south wrote on social media after his audition performance went to air this week.
The “all of you” he was referring to was his growing fan base on social media, which on Instagram has more than tripled since the June 5 audition to about 180,000.
The son of Harry and Veronica Lambrou, owners of The Glam Factor salon at Malabar, Andrew had more than 50 family and friends at the studios to cheer him on.
“Social media’s done really well for my singing and my music,” he said on X-Factor’s website.
“I just had a bit of confidence in myself to start uploading a few videos and to get this amazing feedback is so overwhelming and inspires me to post more.”
He recently told US website The Hot Zone he won his first singing competition at the age of six, performing Doe A Deer, and was told by judges he had perfect pitch.
Andrew, who is still at school, said he understood the importance of having “a strong work ethic and drive to succeed”, adding that he also believed it was possible to balance his musical and academic aspirations to lay the foundations for his future.
Surprisingly, he also revealed he was known as the “fat kid” at school and that had motivated him to “make positive changes in life”.
The audience screamed when Andrew took to the X-Factor stage to perform Chains by US pop star Nick Jonas, suggested he’s doing well in the aesthetics department, but what about his musical talent?
Judges Dannii Minogue, Chris Isaak, James Blunt and Guy Sebastian were clearly impressed, giving Andrew their blessing to progress to the next stage of the competition.
“You’ve got the swag and you can’t teach someone that,” Minogue told Andrew, who said getting four ‘yes’ votes from the judges was something he’d been “dreaming about for ages”.