Fortunately, Richard's performance in the Grand Final (above) allowed him to stand out. Richard's routine paid tribute to Fergus Anckorn, "the conjurer on the River Kwai", who is currently Britain's oldest living magician. Performing in military uniform, Richard went to the judges table and did a series of Card tricks recounting Fergus's story. He began by mentioning the year in which Fergus was born (1918) and the year he joined Britain's Magic Circle (1936), whilst performing a storytelling trick in which he, revealed eight cards in an order which exactly matched the two years he provided (Ace, 9, Ace, 8, Ace, 9, 3, 6), as well as a King card to reflect the phrase "King and Country". After this, Richard talked about Fergus's experiences in World War Two. Fergus served in the British Royal Artillery in Singapore, but was captured by the Japanese army and imprisoned in a POW camp. He was forced to work on the infamous Burma Railway and subjected to numerous physical and psychological tortures. During this time, Fergus's ability to perform magic tricks became highly valuable. Not only did they keep up his morale, and the morale of his comrades, but by performing for the Japanese guards, he was able to gain enough food to survive until the end of the war.
Whilst depicting Fergus's struggle to survive, Richard provided an example of one of the tricks Fergus performed whilst he was imprisoned. He got judge Amanda Holden to sign a card, and tore it into quarters. He then took out a lighter, and set the pieces on fire. When the fire died out, Richard revealed that the signed card had been restored to its original, undamaged condition. After Richard performed this trick, he revealed Fergus's name, and used the deck to reveal a picture of Fergus from when he joined the army. As Richard was doing this, the stage behind him was covered with a giant Union Jack curtain, and just after Richard finished revealing the picture, the curtain was removed to reveal that Fergus Anckorn himself, now 97 years old, had appeared on the stage, joined by the band of the Household Cavalry, which Richard has served with since 2014.
Overall, Richard's performance for the Grand Final was very impressive. Richard's delivery was as confident as usual, but he managed to convey his respect for Fergus and the ordeals he went through. Although I personally hadn't heard of Fergus Anckorn until I saw Richard's performance, his story is incredible, and it was fascinating to see it used in a performance for such a large audience, with 10 million viewers watching the Grand Final live (anyone who wants to learn more about Fergus's experiences should read the articles written about him by British newspapers such as The Times or The Daily Telegraph, which are accessible online, or the Peter Fyans book Captivity, Slavery and Survival as a Far East POW). The primary complaint surrounding Richard's performances has been the unoriginal nature of the tricks, but by emphasising his military background, Richard managed to make his Grand Final performance feel totally unique, whilst playing to the patriotic sentiments of many viewers. Richard performed all his tricks smoothly, with no visible errors, ensured that they highlighted his connection with the subject matter (the Torn and Restored Card trick was used to reflect Fergus's suffering and resilience), and managed to combine them to tell an effective story (as past Britain's Got Talent winners such as Attraction and Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse have demonstrated, this is a great way of getting audiences to vote for you). This meant that whilst the tricks Richard performed were rather conventional, he was able to use them in a fascinating and unique way . All in all, Richard's performance for the Grand Final surpassed his previous routines by some distance, and demonstrated that he deserved to win this series of Britain's Got Talent.
The judges were full of praise for Richard's Grand Final routine. Alesha Dixon called it "Poignant, Noble" and "Brilliantly British", Simon Cowell praised Richard for performing an "appropriate" routine on such a special occasion, and David Walliams noted the emotional nature of the performance, saying that it was unusual for a magician to provide such a moving routine. Ultimately, Richard's routine proved to be resoundingly popular with the viewers, as he beat Swing Singer Wayne Woodward and comedic Dance Troupe Boogie Storm to be crowned the winner of the Tenth series of Britain's Got Talent, becoming the first magician to win the show, and the eighth magician to win a Got Talent series overall. I look forward to seeing Richard Jones perform at the Royal Variety Show, and hope that he can provide even more memorable performances in the future.
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