Cillian O’Connor is an Irish Magician who placed third in Series 16 of Britain's Got Talent. He was aged 13 and was a schoolboy at the time of his audition.
Before his audition, O'Connor stated that when he grew up he wanted to be a magician, before explaining that he liked magic as it were all about making people smile and believe. He also stated that his magic had managed to support him with the improvement of his social skills due to the fact that he had difficulty with them as he lived with autism.
In his audition, O'Connor performed a series of magic tricks whilst describing how discovering a passion for magic gave him confidence as an autistic person. He then had Simon look through a notepad of his favourite sweets before landing on Jelly Beans before he opened a gift package which contained a jar of Jelly Beans and was able to accurately guess how many were within the jar. To culminate his performance, O'Connor had Simon take a face down cards from a pack of cards which were revealed to be the 7 of Diamonds which Simon chose at the beginning of the performance. Simon remarked 'That absolutely freaked me out, there is something really really incredible about you', with Alesha adding 'I love everything about it, but especially you, your passion and your personality'.
In his Semi-Final, O'Connor performed a set of sleight-of-hand tricks, finishing with himself vanishing from the stage and re-appearing inside a cardboard box. All four Judges praised his performance, with Amanda remarking 'That performance was so skilful and so brilliant I am at a loss for words', and Bruno describing him as 'The new Grand Master of magic'. He won the Public Vote and advanced directly onto the Final.
In the Final, O’Connor ripped apart a comic he created of his journey of the show before it repaired itself, performed another set of sleight-of-hand tricks, finishing with having Ant briefly disappear from the stage. Simon remarked ‘One of the things I love most about your performances is how surprised you are at the end’, with Amanda adding ‘[Your confidence] has just grown and grown and tonight you were at the top of your game’.
