August will be 31 Days of Wonder on this blog. To start things off, I’d like to share with you the friendship and music of Jonathan Antoine and Charlotte Jaconelli, two contestants on Britain’s Got Talent.
You’ll learn their back-story at the beginning of the first video. At the beginning of their performance, he makes a false start, but her calm support saves the moment and then — BAM — they take the world by storm.
Charlotte didn’t sing her best at the audition, and of course Simon didn’t let that go unremarked. It became Jonathan’s turn to support Charlotte.
In their next performance, she opens with a sensitive and powerful solo. In the midst of this serious number (1:12), Jonathan smiles at her. Where would they be without each other? (Sorry you’ll have to click through to YouTube to see the video. Believe me, it’s worth an extra click.)
Here’s their final performance. Smiles again at 1:38.
Isn’t it marvelous and beautiful how friendship and support can help people flourish in the midst of a survival-of-the-fittest competition?
Believe it or not, Charlotte and Jonathan were not even the winners of the 2012 edition of Britain’s Got Talent. They came in second. Top prize went to a teen girl and her dog – another pair with an amazing bond.
The voting audience loves to see people (and/or dogs) work together. It makes everyone feel good. In this way, society strengthens its own memes of cooperation and support and we all become better off. What an elegant mechanism Nature has for producing progress and harmony!
Path of the Beagle 