Teacher's karaoke rendition of Nessun Dorma viewed by millions

A video of a teacher singing a karaoke rendition of opera classic Nessun Dorma on a night out has been watched more than two million times online and even captured the attention of TV talent show producers.

Benjamin Gillham said he had been at Coopers Townhouse in Liverpool with his friend Laura when she put his name down "after a couple of drinks" for the song "without me knowing".

The 37-year-old, a performing arts teacher at Foxfield School in Wirral, said he was now "thankful" she did - after his effort stunned listeners.

Benjamin described the response to his performance as "unbelievable" and said he had since received calls from producers of BBC One's The Voice UK and ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

Footage of his rendition has also been viewed and shared millions of times across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

He told BBC North West Tonight: "We had a couple of drinks and Laura put my name down without me knowing.

"She put my name down for Nessun dorma and I said 'oh come on' and now I'm just really thankful that she did."

Benjamin said he loved teaching performing arts at Foxfield School as it "brings so much happiness" to the pupils.

"Who doesn't want to sing and dance around all day? And luckily I get to do that."

Teaching was his dream job, he said, "apart from maybe being a recording artist".

He added: "I have had a few calls from producers of the likes of The Voice and Britain's Got Talent, which is absolutely unbelievable."

Nessun Dorma features in the final act of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot and shot to global fame in 1990 when The Three Tenors - Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras and Plácido Domingo - sang it ahead of the Italia90 World Cup in Italy.

At the same tournament, Pavarotti's 1972 recording was used as the theme song for the BBC's coverage.

It went on to reach number two in the UK's singles charts in June 1990 and was used again by the BBC following England's 4-0 win over Ukraine in the Euro 2020 quarter final.

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