These pictures of childhood singer Connie Talbot show her all grown up as a teenage girl after proving Simon Cowell wrong and becoming a pop megastar – in ASIA.
Connie first melted the hearts of the nation after appearing on the first series of Britain’s Got Talent as a gap-toothed six-year-old in 2007.
Despite Simon Cowell’s promise he would make her £1 million after her rendition of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” his record company pulled out of the deal at the last minute because of her age.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE CONNIE ON BGT… AND NOW AGED 13
But since then Connie had gone from strength to strength performing in front of sell-out crowds to an army of fans across the globe.
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Now a 13-year-old girl she is preparing to tour Asia again in the summer in front of thousands in South Korea, Malaysia and China.
She has attracted over a BILLION views on her Youtube channel and has over 600,000 subscribers – more than X-Factor winners such as Leona Lewis and Joe McElderry.
Connie still lives with her family in Streetly, West Mids., where she attends a local school and only performs during Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.
Incredibly, she has NO management company behind her with mum Sharon, 44, and dad Gavin, 46, still handling all of her bookings.
Sharon, a full-time mum, said: “She’s come a long way – she’s a teenage girl now but she’s remained so grounded.
“She can now play the piano and play the guitar and her dedication has paid off – she is massive in Asia, we just cannot believe it.
“Her school life is still important and she is doing really well and we only perform in holiday times and she’s never been in such demand.
“She’s a megastar in Asia but over half of her Youtube views, which are well over a billion now, come from the US.
“Maybe that’s what is next for her – you just never know she might crack America. I’m so proud of her.
“Hopefully Simon Cowell realises now he perhaps shouldn’t have let her go but we’re not bitter, it was probably the right decision at the time.
“We are very thankful and amazed how far she has made it just by herself and we want her to keep her feet on the ground
“She is turning into a teenager but doesn’t really show an interest in boys yet, well not that she’s telling me anyway.”
Connie has more than 158,000 Twitter followers and most recently played to sell-out crowds in South Korea.
Forthcoming concerts will be in Indonesia and Taiwan this summer and she has met a string of famous faces from George Clooney and Carly Rae Jepson to The Wanted.
Connie, who has a brother Joshua, 20, and a sister Mollie, 19, said: “Hopefully in the future I will be doing my own songs and I’m practising my instruments all the time.
“My friends at school are just normal, they treat me the same as everyone else, I don’t really know if I’m famous or not.
“I think it (Simon Cowell axing her) was the right choice, I was too young to do a lot of stuff at that time.
“I still watch Britain’s Got Talent, I liked Attraction (Hungarian dance group who won last year), I thought they were amazing.
“Their audition made me cry. I think it doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you can enjoy it.
“I am going to Asia again in July and December. They do give us lots of nice hotels and look after us so I love going there.
“I hope one day I can be as big a pop star like Taylor Swift or Demi Lovato.”
Connie’s debut album sold 250,000 copies and went to number one in three different countries.
In 2010 she sang in front 400 MILLION people at China’s New Year celebrations and opened a special concert celebrating South Korea’s hosting of the G20 summit of world leaders the same year.
More recently, she also performed in three sell out concerts during a week-long tour during the Easter Break this year.
It promoted her album Beautiful World but also coincided with around the time of the tragic ferry disaster which rocked the whole country.
The kind-hearted teenager pledge the profits from her concerts to help the families of the victims affected by the tragedy.
Connie is one of the most amazing person.Connie has done soooo much for many people..Connie I will never forget the things you have done and your singing.You amaze me every day..
British people must to be so proud of Connie, she is an inspiration to many young and not too young people around the world, her voice is healing and conforting, i always feel paceful and happy when i hear her songs. She is not only a pop star in Asia, also in Latin America, we love her very much and we want her to make a tour here. She went to Asia many times but never here 🙁 #ConnieIsTheQueen