TEENAGER Kieran Lai mesmerised the judges on Britain’s Got Talent – the show that inspired him to start dancing.

Kieran, 17, performed a mind-bending Tin Man-style routine in front of Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon.

Cowell described him as one of the best dancers he had seen on the ITV show and called him “a real genius”.

Kieran, who moved from Basildon to Southend four years ago, is a member of the Kayzar Dance School, in Market Pavement, Basildon.

Nader Kayzar Boulila, 34, his trainer and manager, hopes Essex will get behind Kieran in his bid to win.

He said: “Kieran’s been with us six years now and came in as a bright kid who had been teaching himself from YouTube videos, but he quickly reached a level where we had to get international people to teach him because he’s that good.

“The opportunity came along and I suggested he audition for the show.

“He only picked the soundtrack two days before the audition and finalised it the day before.

“But Facebook has been hopping since he was seen on the show on Saturday.

“Both of us love what we do and it’s a great opportunity that we’re very grateful for.”

Kieran’s robotic dancing delighted the audience, the judges and ITV’s viewers.

He was one of the most popular names on Twitter shortly after his performance.

Kieran won his first gold medal at the European Hip Hop Championships, in Denmark, in 2011, at the age of 15, when he was still at Rayleigh’s FitzWimarc School.

That was only two years after he was inspired to start learning street dance after watching Britain’s Got Talent.