He has become an instantly recognisable face on the streets of the town since impressing the judges on the Saturday, August 30, show with a rendition of the classic Hank Williams track, Hey, Good Lookin', and some twinkle-toed footwork.

Cyril, of Mill Farm Nurseries, got 'Yes' votes from all four judges, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole, to put him through to the boot camp stage of the competition.

He said it was a dream fulfilled to appear on the X Factor.

"That was something I wanted to do for years because I have always wanted to be in the limelight – I play and sing and jump about because I'm an entertainer," he said.

"It's beautiful, everything is going fine and I'm enjoying every moment of it," he said.

"It's put a new lease of life into me and I feel like a 40-year-old now.

"People don't want to believe I'm 80 – but I keep telling them that I have two Weetabix every morning."

He spent a week at boot camp in London's O2 arena, but told the Lynn News: "To see how I got on, people will have to look at the telly."

Cyril came to Britain from Guyana in 1954.

He got work in Tottenham, London, as a carpenter and specialised in making saw handles for many years before being made redundant.

Away from his day job, he became a regular face on the live music scene, playing saxophone and singing and dancing in clubs and pubs all over the capital.

On retirement, he and his wife, who died about five years ago, moved to Swaffham where their daughter, Lyn Branson, and her family were living. It was her husband, Nick, who wrote into the programme to get Cyril his audition.

At least eight million viewers are thought to have watched his performance on August 30, and Lyn said: "He is such a showman and he gets so into it."

THIS MORNING

She added: "On the Sunday I was very proud to accompany him to London, where we stayed in a hotel overnight and were then taken to appear on ITV's This Morning show live on the Monday."

She said her dad was an all-round entertainer and playing the saxophone was the love of his life, but he could also double up with the clarinet and had a guitar and an electric keyboard.

"He also used to play drums many moons ago," she said.

Cyril now has his own online fans' sites on Bebo and Facebook, set up by his granddaughter, Nicola (16), and his audition features on the X Factor website.

His other granddaughter, Michelle (24), is equally proud of him, and Lyn may get some T-shirts printed with "Nice One, Cyril" for his supporters to wear.