Faryl Smith

Faryl Smith (born 23 July 1995) is a British soprano who performs opera, classical and classical crossover music.

Smith rose to fame after appearing on the second series of the ITV television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2008 as a child.

After the programme, in December 2008, Smith signed a contract with Universal Classics and Jazz for a £2.3 million advance, the largest ever granted to a schoolgirl.

Her debut album, Faryl, was recorded from December 2008 to January 2009 and released in March 2009.

Faryl became the fastest-selling solo classical album in British chart history, selling 29,200 copies in the first week.

It debuted at number six and rose to number four the following week, making Smith the third Britain's Got Talent contestant to have a top ten album.

In December 2008, Smith had signed a £2.3 million, multi-album deal with Universal Music Group.

Universal claimed it intended to market Smith as a pop star.

Neil Fisher, writing for The Times, described Smith as "heir apparent" to Jenkins; the pair had first met when Smith won a competition at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Smith's second album, Wonderland, was released in November 2009, after which Smith left Universal.

By 2009, Jenkins was acting as a mentor to Smith.

In January 2009 plans were released for Smith to perform with Plácido Domingo, an idea originally suggested by him.

In an interview with the Metro, Smith talked about her future plans, insisting that she did not wish to be dubbed as the next Charlotte Church.

She has also spoken of her desire to appear in films on top of her musical career.

She said "Films and movies are something I'd really like to do. I've always wanted to act, so doing a film would be amazing."

Smith's first album, Faryl, was recorded at Air Studios, London, in December 2008, during Smith's Christmas holiday; it was completed on 3 January 2009 and features a 60-piece orchestra.

In 2010, on account of Faryl, Smith was nominated for two Classical BRIT Awards and became the youngest artist ever to receive a double nomination.

In addition to releasing her two albums, she featured on a charity cover of "The Prayer", released in March 2010, provided vocals for the 2012 album The Magic of a Thousand Strings by the International Harp Ensemble, and performed at numerous public events, including the 2009 Royal Variety Performance.

In 2015, Smith began studying music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

She continued to perform regularly, including at major sporting events, such as a Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium in February 2019.

Before her appearance on television, Smith had performed competitively severa times, including in the Kettering & District Eisteddfod and the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

She auditioned for the second series of the ITV reality television programme Britain's Got Talent, giving what Jon O'Brien, of Allmusic, called a "mature" performance of "Ave Maria", and was put through to the live shows.

Simon Cowell described her audition as "the best audition [he had] heard in years".

Before performing live, she and Andrew Johnston were favourites to win.

She won her semi-final by the public vote, performing a cover of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel".

This placed her in the final, and left her as the favourite to win.

During her first live show, Cowell described her as "literally one in a million".

She then performed in the live final.

She again performed "Ave Maria", but finished outside the top three.

Sampson eventually won the show as a result of the phone-in, with Signature second, and Johnston third.

As a result of her final performance of "Ave Maria", Smith was invited to be a guest singer at a songwriting awards ceremony in London.

She then went on to perform in the Britain's Got Talent Live Tour with other contestants, where she first performed a duet of "Walking in the Air" with Johnston.

While Smith was competing in Britain's Got Talent, Cowell arranged for her to receive singing lessons from the leading vocal coach Yvie Burnett, who had previously coached Paul Potts, an earlier winner of Britain's Got Talent, as well as Leona Lewis, a winner of The X Factor.

The story was broken by The Sunday Mirror; writing for the paper, Lara Gould characterised the lessons as "secret".

During her participation in the competition, Smith was offered record deals, but she and her family turned them down.

Her father, Tony Smith, said "We have had offers from people interested in Faryl. But when Simon Cowell ... says your daughter is special, you listen."

Cowell described Smith's potential career during the show, saying "I know she says Katherine [Jenkins] is her idol but she is far better than her. She is by far the most talented youngster I've ever heard. When she opens her mouth her voice is just incredible."

The day after the Britain's Got Talent finals, Max Clifford, speaking for Simon Cowell, said that it was "quite possible" that Cowell would be signing some of the finalists, including Smith.

Though she did not sign with Syco, Cowell's record label, she did record a duet of "Walking in the Air" with Johnston, which appeared on his debut album, One Voice.

Before the release of One Voice, it was revealed that Smith and her father were finalising the details of her record deal.