A FORMER cruise singer wowed the X Factor judges with his rendition of James Brown’s “I Feel Good”.

Steven Johnson, of Burnaby Road, Southend, got his big break on this weekend’s ITV show when he got through to boot camp.

The 34-year-old father, who has an 18 week old baby boy called Aaron, passed round one of auditions at Wembley stadium.

Steven said: “I was buzzing when I got through, it was amazing.

“I have been in the industry all my life so it was quite a stressful thing to do, to put myself out there where I could get slated or criticised.”

He said friends and family had told him to enter the competition for years.

He added: “There’s always been something else that I was doing. I decided that this year as I was around that I would do it.

“I have heard boot camp is very tough and they try and break you down mentally, but I’ll see what happens. I don’t want to break down on TV, I just want to be me and would love to get through to the next round.”

Maria Johnson, Steven’s wife, thinks her husband can definitely win.

The 32-year-old performer, who met Steven whilst singing together on holiday 14 years ago, added: “I am extremely proud and think he will continue to have great success.”