ON Sunday November 29 Turre resident Kayleigh Taylor, originally from Liverpool, was named as the winner of the inaugural Benidorm Has Talent which took place at the renowned Benidorm Palace. Kayleigh’s prize was not only the distinction of winning the biggest variety show ever staged at the Benidorm Palace but the 2,000 euros prize came in handy as well.
The weekend prior, Kayleigh was selected along with another 24 fabulous acts out of a total of 110 which auditioned to compete at Sunday’s final at the Benidorm Palace.
This reported spoke to Kayleigh before the show and stressed just how nervous she was.
On the night, competition was fierce with many fantastic acts for the judges (which included X Factor star Rowetta and EWN publishers Michel and Steven Euesden, among others) to see, but in the end, the more than 700 members of the audience used their voting slips to pick Kayleigh. This was not surprising given the panel of judges gave her a standing ovation after her absolutely amazing performance of the song ‘Halleluiah’.
When the decision was announced on stage, Kaleigh says she could not believe she had won, and vowed to keep her promise to use the winnings to treat her baby daughter, Grace, this her first Christmas.
Her family travelled to Benidorm with Kayleigh to give her moral support.
Benidorm Has Talent, whose principal backers were the EWN Media Group, was in aid of Spanish cancer charity AECC, and a staggering 6,330 euros were raised on the night, including a 2,000 euro donation from an anonymous local businessman and a Rolex donated by Roadshow EU fetching an amazing 3,100 euros for the charity. In addition to main sponsors Telitec (and other sponsors like Avalon and Roadshow EU) there were numerous prizes kindly donated by various businesses (for details see www.benidormhastalent.com).
On the night, in addition to the 25 acts that competed, there was a fabulous performance by Rowetta, backed by a 50-piece choir as well as a show by the Benidorm Palace’s fantastic Crescendo dance company.
“They’re not going to believe it back in Turre,” Kayleigh laughed, still in shock from her award.