Galwayman comes home to head Britain’s Got Talent auditions

Galway has more than enough talent to make its mark on an international scale, according to Britain’s Got Talent producer, Stephen Ridgard.

Born and raised in the east side of the city, Stephen is back home for the sixth time this year, this time scouting the very best of what our county has to offer during an overwhelming audition process for the world renowned talent show.

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“It’s nice to get back and try and find the talent and do you know what, we’ve had some fantastic talent,” said Stephen.

“Over the past few days, we had a really good impressionist, an amazing soprano, we had a great dance troupe, and, needless to say, the singers in Galway are out of this world. There are so many amazing singers and a fantastic magician, so it’s going really well.”

The standard of talent in Galway has certainly been represented in the influx of acts that turned up to each of the secret locations hosted by Britian’s Got Talent.

“We’re really happy with the talent in Galway, and the turnout has been great. It’s nearly been packed and I’m almost overwhelmed with the numbers we’re getting.”

The show has taken a step away from the usual arena tour and has instead decided to travel around Ireland to the people instead of the people coming to them.

Not only does this mean no more long hours of queuing in Dublin, but the acts that audition for Stephen have the potential to go straight onto the stage on live television, without having to audition again.

“We get into the community in local bars, community centres, universities, colleges and things like that and it’s quite nice because a lot of people don’t want to queue up for eight hours and it does take away from the experience if you’re tired and hungry, whereas if you’re in your local pub, it’s different.

“You find some great characters and some really good talent this way, too.”

Apart from working with Britain’s Got Talent, the young producer and researcher has proved to be on a very successful career path with other shows such as Body Shockers, The X Factor and Desi Rascals – an Asian form of The Only Way is Essex – to decorate his CV.

Media and broadcasting seems to run in the Ridgard family, as his brother is also highly successful in the industry over in the US working with American Idol, however Stephen’s introduction to the business wasn’t too straightforward.

“I’m a carpenter by trade, that’s what I did years ago, but I got sick of it. I went to college and did my apprenticeship. I thought, I want to do shows, and unfortunately my brother didn’t actually hook me up with any jobs but he pointed me in the right direction.

“You don’t actually have to go to college to get into TV. You can do a four year media course and all that, but it depends what direction you want to go in. Essentially, you can start yourself at the bottom and work your way up and you’re getting hands-on experience. Don’t get me wrong, the colleges are still fantastic; I just knew for me that it wouldn’t have suited me to go back to university. I just wanted to get hands-on straight away.

“My brother did the same thing, he never went to college. He went straight into it, started from the bottom and worked his way up as well. You learn so much quicker in a practical way like that, but if I were to go back and think about it again and had seen how much fun people had doing television and media in college I probably would have done that.”

Stephen’s profession means he’s around quite a few celebrities but he’s aware that he has to maintain a professional attitude, even if deep down he’s a little gobsmacked.

“I was a little bit awestruck with Queen when they were on X Factor, I wasn’t expecting to see Brian May or any of the lads, obviously I knew they were doing rehearsals, but I was just walking by and standing beside them thinking this is a little surreal.

“We don’t normally ask for photos. I wanted one and you can do it, but you know, you have to stay on the professional side, too,” he laughed.

This is the second TV show that Stephen has worked on that’s affiliated with perhaps one of the most recognisable British TV personalities – Simon Cowell.

“I worked with him on X Factor and, I really mean this, he’s actually one of the nicest people you could ever work with. He’s great and, obviously, he has a great head on his shoulders, but he’s super nice, knows what he wants and is a really decent guy, actually.”

Stephen and his regional team are travelling the rest of the country for the next week, including Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford, and finally to Dublin again before heading back to London, where he’s based.

“Hopefully we’ll get someone from Galway on stage, fingers crossed,” he said.