The Piano viewers in tears as ‘truly inspirational’ Brad Kella is declared the winner after he writes and performs ‘outstanding’ song for finale in honour of his beloved foster parents
Piano viewers were left in tears after Brad Kella was declared the winner in Sunday’s heartbreaking final at Manchester’s Aviva Studios.
The 22-year-old amateur pianist from Liverpool reached the final alongside other hopefuls including fellow favorite Duncan, 80, who suffers from dementia.
The Channel 4 show sees a series of musicians playing piano at train stations across the UK in an attempt to impress passers-by with their music.
Brad took the stage to perform a song he wrote in honor of his beloved foster parents Ev and Frank, wiping away tears as they watched from the audience.
After impressing judges Mika and Lang Lang, as well as presenter Claudia Winkleman, and being declared the winner, he delivered an impassioned speech.
Piano viewers were left in tears after Brad Kella, 22, was declared the winner during Sunday’s heartbreaking final
Brad took the stage to perform a song he wrote in honor of his beloved foster parents, wiping away tears as they watched from the audience
He said: ‘I just want to show that us children in care can still do things, we just need to be around the right people. Thank you so much for appreciating my music’.
Viewers were left in bits and went to X to write: ‘I saw the piano in the finale and I probably cried the whole programme’
“Good job brad! So completely deserved, I cried ugly tears from beginning to end.”
“Good job, Brad on the piano may have cried a few tears.”
While others said: ‘Wow #ThePiano!! They were all brilliant – tears streamed down my cheeks as I listened to the music and stories of these talented musicians! Brad was inspiring, what a wonderful man, to write such a beautiful piece for his foster parents (tears again!)’.
Brad previously spoke about his childhood and credited his foster parents with turning his life around.
Saying, “I was placed in foster care at the age of seven with my twin brother. I was so confused. I remember hanging from the railing outside my foster parents’ house. [house] and I didn’t want to go in.”
“What they did for me and my brother was absolutely everything. They made sure we started school, routine, got up early and went to bed early. They really gave me everything and more.’
The amateur pianist from Liverpool reached the final alongside other hopefuls including fellow favorite Duncan, 80, who suffers from dementia
The Channel 4 show sees a series of musicians playing piano at train stations across the UK in an attempt to impress passers-by with their music (Duncan pictured with his wife)
After impressing judges Mika and Lang Lang, as well as host Claudia Winkleman, and being declared the winner, he delivered an impassioned speech
He said: ‘I just want to show that us children in care can still do things, we just need to be around the right people. Thank you so much for appreciating my music’
Brad previously spoke about his childhood and credited his foster parents with turning his life around
Explaining how his parents helped him develop his love for music, he said, “I didn’t start playing the piano until I was fourteen. I can’t read music, I’ve never had lessons in my life. But when I hear music, there’s something about it. I experience it differently than normal people’
Emotional fans took to social media
Explaining how his parents helped him develop his love for music, he said, “I didn’t start playing the piano until I was fourteen.
‘I can’t read music, I’ve never had lessons in my life. But when I hear music, there’s something about it. I experience it differently than normal people.
Before adding, “Ev invested some money to buy a piano. From that moment on my life changed.’
Last year they were captivated by the triumphant performance at the show’s debut of then 13-year-old blind and autistic girl Lucy Illingworth, who won the show.
The teenager from Halifax, West Yorkshire, brought viewers to tears with an awe-inspiring recital of Debussy’s Arabesque, prompting judges Lang Land and Mika to call her a ‘genius’.
A year later, the moment was nominated for a BAFTA, in a category that included scenes from Doctor Who, Succession and Happy Valley.
Since her stunning performance on the Channel 4 talent show, Lucy has performed to a packed Royal Albert Hall and left the King and Queen speechless at King Charles III’s coronation concert.
So where is Lucy now, as The Piano returns to find another hidden musical star?
Viewers of Channel 4’s The Piano were left captivated by the triumphant performance on the show’s debut of 13-year-old blind and autistic girl Lucy in the show’s 2023 debut
She then delivered the ‘best performance’ at the show’s concert finale at the Royal Festival Hall
In the months after the program aired, Lucy left the new King and Queen speechless during a performance at their coronation concert (pictured)
On her way to the final of The Piano, Lucy wowed passers-by at Leeds train station with her rendition of Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor, with the video receiving more than five million views online.
The pianist, born with cancerous tumors in her eyes and largely non-verbal, was put forward for the competition by her mother Candice because she wanted to show others how ‘amazing’ she was and raise awareness of her condition.
Her performance landed her and the program in the Best Moment category at the BAFTA Television Awards, which take place on May 12.
Other nominees in the category include: David Beckham teasing Victoria about her working-class upbringing in their Netflix documentary, Ncuti Gatwa revealed as the 15th Doctor in Doctor Who, Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final showdown on BBC One’s Happy Valley, Bill and Frank’s Story in Sky Atlantic series The Last Of Us and Logan Roy’s Death in Succession on the same channel.
Since recording the show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, Lucy has learned more and more pieces by artists such as Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder.
Less than two months after her victory was broadcast, Lucy stunned the newly crowned King and Queen, as well as tens of thousands of other spectators, at Charles’ Coronation concert in Windsor.
She was on the bill alongside world-famous artists such as Lionel Richie and Nicole Scherzinger.