Biography: Danyl Johnson

Danyl Johnson is a contestant on the X Factor 2009. The 27-year old teacher from Arborfield, just outside Reading, wowed the audience with a show-stopping performance of The Beatles' With A Little Help From My Friends.

His performance came right at the end of the audition when Simon Cowell and the gang were climbing the walls with frustration at the poor quality of talent they had seen so far. Indeed Simon was so jaded, he was pulling faces before Danyl even walked on stage, which meant that Danyl had to give a superlative performance just to get a fair hearing. Luckily, he did, pretty much owning the massive O2 arena where the auditions were held. Simon duly declared it was the best audition he had ever seen. 

As a child Danyl used to go to Starmaker, a summer school specialising in song, dance and acting. He is now a dance and drama teacher, teaching at Starmaker summer schools, and teaching 4 to 16 year olds at a stage school in Windsor called SOTA and a stage school called MO's in Reading.

He also sings and writes for a band called Empty Spaces, a rock band. Indeed he has sung on TV before with Empty Spaces, on Channel Four's Orange Unsigned Acts.

You can listen to Danyl's music on his website. Empty Spaces is still unsigned - but who knows what might happen if Danyl wins the X-Factor. The standard this year seems higher than in previous years, so it will be competitive, but there is a good chance Danyl will win.