A singing bus driver has taken the first steps towards stardom after an appearance on The X Factor this weekend…and we are backing him on the road to fame.
James MacDonald regularly sings to customers on board his trentbarton indigo bus, and his vocal skills impressed X Factor judges Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger.
After passing the first audition at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, the 25-year-old failed to secure enough votes from a live audience at Wembley Arena, but James said he’s not too disappointed about missing out on a place in the next round.
“The whole experience was nerve wracking but fantastic,” he explained. “The judges put me at ease and I was really pleased with my performance which included a song by my favourite artist, Stevie Wonder.”
A former marine engineer with the Royal Navy, he has worked for trentbarton for just over 18 months and caused quite a stir at the first audition when he arrived on an indigo bus driven by National Bus Driver of the Year, Barry Allitt.
“Barry and the rest of the trentbarton team have been really supportive and I’d like to thank them for everything they’ve done to help, particularly laying on a bus to transport me to the audition with my family.”
Looking to the future, James says he intends to audition for the show again next year. In the meantime he plans to start singing on the pub circuit and expects many more song requests from his customers travelling on indigo buses between Nottingham and Derby.
“Passengers who know I can sing already ask me to belt out a tune when they climb on board, but after appearing on TV I think this will happen a little more often!” he added.
Alex Hornby, commercial director, said the firm would be sad to lose such a valued member of the team should James reach the big time, but it would do all it could to help him to realise his dreams of a career in the music industry.
“Since being with us James has excelled. He was shortlisted for our own Driver of the Year Award and is really popular with colleagues and customers,” he explained. “If he made it to the top we would all miss him, but we would encourage him all the way.”
“It’s amazing just how much talent we have here at trentbarton, and this is because we recruit people based on their personality and ability rather than previous experience, and then teach them to drive a bus.”
James, from Forest Fields in Nottingham, first developed a love for singing when he was a youngster and joined classmates from Trinity RC School for a performance at the opening of the city’s Ice Arena in 2005.
