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Eurovision hopeful and BGT child star looks unrecognisable 12 years after talent show fame

Eurovision hopeful and BGT child star looks unrecognisable 12 years after talent show fame

The Sun16-05-2025

A FORMER Eurovision hopeful and Britain's Got Talent child star looks practically unrecognisable.
The singer first found fame 12 years ago on the ITV variety talent competition.
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Asanda Jezile, 23, first found fame on the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent back in 2013.
She impressed Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams when she belted out Diamonds by Rihanna at her first audition.
After performing Beyonce 's hit Halo in the live semi-finals, she was sent through to the final by the judges.
When she sang, If I Were A Boy in the final, the judges all praised her skill at the time, as Alesha remarked: "You have one of the nicest tones to your voice and I can't wait to hear your album."
12 years later, she's very much still singing as she regularly posts to her Instagram account.
The bangs are very much in the past for the former child star as she now sports a more sophisticated and commercial look.
She very much proves that she is now all grown up as she often wears skin-tight dresses or skimpy two-piece bikinis.
Back in 2018, Asanda competed in the BBC talent competition, Eurovision: You Decide.
The winner of the contest would go on to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon that year.
On the show, she performed her R&B track Legends and her performance received acclaim from fans.
Britain's Got Talent's rarely seen child star Asanda Jezilie is unrecognisable eight years after wowing judges aged 11
Viewers flooded the comments section from the video of her performance on YouTube to praise Asanda for her skill.
One fan gushed: "The career that this girl hasn't had yet is heartbreaking. She deserves so much more success than she has gotten.
A second stated: Omg god, this song is so amazing. Why have not they made Asanda happen yet? This girl is very talented.
"With a bit of a coaching / mentoring and help with her breath control, she could have absolutely slayed with this," noted a third.
While a fourth exclaimed: "What an incredible performance! Captivating from the beginning and literally the only song on that night that didn't sound like a complete cliché."
And a fifth added: "Gorgeous and so very talented. You deserve the greatest success beautiful young lady."
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Coronation Street's Jack P Shepherd reveals 'shock' over soap awards snub as he reflects on his reaction during ceremony
Coronation Street's Jack P Shepherd reveals 'shock' over soap awards snub as he reflects on his reaction during ceremony

Daily Mail​

time28 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Coronation Street's Jack P Shepherd reveals 'shock' over soap awards snub as he reflects on his reaction during ceremony

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The 37-year-old, who has played David Platt since he was 12, had high hopes of adding a third gong to his shelf during Saturday night's star-studded event but lost out to Patsy Palmer and her Eastender's character Bianca Jackson Colson said: 'You worked so hard to receive this Best Comedy nomination...' to which Jack replied: 'I have. 'I've been trying for years to get a nod for comedy cos I've never been nominated for it before.' Colson then probed: 'And how are you feeling about the result? Your frenemy...' Jack admitted: 'It was a shock. It was a shock. If you watched it, you will notice that my reaction is genuine. 'I'm completely blown away. I didn't win. I couldn't hide it.' Bursting into fits of laughter, Ben, 53, who plays Jack's onscreen brother Nick Tilsey joked: 'I was sat behind you and I'd gone. 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Meanwhile Patsy left both the crowd and viewers at home in stitches during the British Soap Awards, as she went off in a tangent about vaginas during her award acceptance speech. The actress, 53, won the prize for Best Comedic Performance at the annual ceremony, held on Saturday night at London 's Hackney Empire. As she took to the stage to accept the gong, Patsy got rather sidetracked, as she deliver an ode to vaginas, that had the audience breaking down into laughter. She made the X-rated remarks in reference to EastEnders' live 40th anniversary special, which saw Bianca having to help sister Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) give birth after they became trapped in the Queen Vic with cousin Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) following the explosion. The scene had viewers cracking up as Bianca and Lauren argued over who had to help, with both reluctant to get up close and personal with the birth. 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Only in UK could we be forced to pay for BBC then have to cough up for best TV on streaming services – it's got to stop
Only in UK could we be forced to pay for BBC then have to cough up for best TV on streaming services – it's got to stop

The Sun

time34 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Only in UK could we be forced to pay for BBC then have to cough up for best TV on streaming services – it's got to stop

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I tested budget slushie makers against £350 Ninja gadget – a £10 high street dupe is just as good & the kids'll love it
I tested budget slushie makers against £350 Ninja gadget – a £10 high street dupe is just as good & the kids'll love it

The Sun

time34 minutes ago

  • The Sun

I tested budget slushie makers against £350 Ninja gadget – a £10 high street dupe is just as good & the kids'll love it

WHEN the sun comes out, so do the pleas from kids for ice creams, slushies and sugary summer treats. With school holidays around the corner and temperatures finally set to climb, frozen drinks become a household essential. 9 But after concerns over shop-bought slushies, especially those containing glycerol, a sugar substitute linked to making young children unwell, more parents are looking for alternatives. Enter Ninja's Slushi. The sleek, high-end gadget went viral, with foodie influencers around the world showing off their bar-quality frozen cocktails and perfectly textured slushies. The hashtag #ninjaslushie has already racked up more than 15,000 TikTok videos. It has launched in the UK just in time for the sunshine. But at nearly £350, this machine is anything but cheap. So, is it worth the hype, or can budget-friendly versions deliver the chill for less? Lynsey Hope puts them to the test while Fabulous Food Editor Kirsty Spence has two great recipes. THE first thing that hits you is the price – and then the size. This is a huge appliance and even getting it out of the box was a mission. But it is very easy to use. Just add your ingredients to the plastic vessel and choose what type of drink you would like on the control panel. Mum shares genius hack to make slushies for your kids in seconds Unlike other slushie makers, this one doesn't need ice. The compressor in the machine cools the ingredients as it churns away. Once your drink is ready, it will keep it cold for up to 12 hours. You do have to keep it running, though, and it is not silent. I was very impressed with the drinks that came out. The texture of the frozen cocktail was restaurant or bar quality, although you do have to select the right temperature. Even simple tropical fruit juice and cola came out as a perfect slushy for kids. The recipe booklet was really helpful to get you started. Any drinks you add to the machine do need at least 5g of sugar per 100ml. If you want to make diet drinks you must add erythritol – a sweetener – which you can buy online or at supermarkets. It is £3.35 for 250g at Tesco. You also need lemon juice and salt but the instructions in the manual are easy to follow. I loved it. The only downside is the size. You need a decent bit of counter space if you want it out all the time and as it is so big, it is hard to store. The main drinks vessel was also quite hard to clean by hand but it can go in the dishwasher. Rating: 4/5 CHILLFACTOR SLUSHY MAKER, £9.99, IF you only need a single serving, this is a great option and especially fun for kids. But it does require a bit of prep. You have to put the cup in the freezer for eight to ten hours before you want to make your slushie. Then simply add a chilled drink of your choice until the cup becomes two-thirds full, screw the lid on and squeeze the cup. It was pretty easy to do, although my younger daughter did need a bit of help with this step as some of the liquid spilled over the top. But this simple process freezes your drink into a thick, slushie texture in about a minute. The children were amazed by how easy it was and loved that they could do it themselves. 9 They thought they were getting a cafe-quality slushy at home and yet I could make it healthier, with fruit options and less sugar. You cannot put the cup in the dishwasher, although it is easy to wash by hand. You really need to keep it in the freezer so it is always ready to go when you need it. I found it took up quite a lot of freezer space. The serving size is also limited. But if you don't want a bulky appliance and want something cheap, this is a fun and wallet-friendly alternative. Rating: 4/5 LIVIVO ELECTRIC ICE CRUSHER, £39.99, MARGARITAS came out watery and the cola slushies were flat after adding a can of it and some ice. The steel blades did a great job of chopping up the ice. But the ice and liquid didn't really blend properly when I poured it out of the machine. It only took a minute, but I'd rather wait a bit longer and get something drinkable. None of it can go in the dishwasher, either, and it was a right faff to wash by hand. While quick and relatively compact to store, it is also very noisy to use. It probably made around four small cups in one go. For nearly £40, I did not think much of it. Rating: 3/5 SLUSH PUPPIE SLUSHY MACHINE, £34.99, I ALWAYS wanted this as a child and now in my forties, I was still pretty excited to try it out. Sadly, my childhood dreams were crushed and I was left disappointed. All the slushies that came out of this were very watery and didn't have the blended, icy texture I had been hoping for. It was nothing like you would get from a machine in a cafe, or what I remember as a kid. And it was pretty noisy to use, although it only took a minute or two to prepare as the plastic mixer quickly ground through the ice. There are two settings so you can have the ice fine or coarse. Both were too runny, leaving large uneven chunks in the drinks. It was easy to clean and relatively compact to store, especially compared to the Ninja. Rating: 2/5 ANDREW JAMES ICE CRUSHER SLUSH MACHINE, £32.99, HERE is a super-quick and convenient way to make an icy drink. All you have to do is add ice to the compartment at the top and this is then crushed into the liquid in the main blending container at the simple press of a button. Quick and easy to do but the quality of the drink wasn't a patch on those from the Ninja. They were on the watery side and lacked the thick, slushie-like texture. I tried adding shaved ice afterwards but it didn't blend in very well and spoilt my enjoyment. The kids still liked it. Having a slushie at home was a real winner, even though it wasn't perfectly blended. Simple, wallet-friendly but very average. Rating: 3/5 LYNSEY'S VERDICT: IT'S A DRAW MOST of us don't have £350 to spend on a whopping great machine, or a place to store it. So while the Ninja was brilliant, the ChillFactor cup is fun for the kids and costs less than a tenner. It would make a great gift if you have lots of parties over the summer and it comes in a lovely range of colours. If the Ninja was cheaper it would definitely be a winner. But I had to knock a point off because it is so bulky and takes up so much room in my already jam-packed kitchen. The bonus is that it can also make cocktails and frappes for the grown-ups, which would be difficult with the ChillFactor cup. If you spend a lot on these overall, it might be a worthy investment. Two iced coffees a week at £4 a go would cost you £416, so it might save money if you spend a lot on iced drinks out and about. But if all you are after is a bit of fun on a hot day, the ChillFactor is a brilliant and affordable option. FROSE Serves 1 YOU NEED: 60ml Martini Sparkling Rosé 15ml Martini Fiero 30ml water 30ml sugar syrup 30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice METHOD: Add the ingredients to the slushie machine until blended. Garnish the drink with a dried grapefruit slice. Pina colada Serves 1 YOU NEED: 50ml Bacardi coconut rum 37.5ml Coco Real 37.5ml pineapple juice METHOD: Combine all ingredients in the machine and blend. Serve in a highball glass, garnished with a pineapple wedge plus a 'cherry flag' – a cherry and orange slice on a cocktail stick.

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