CHARISMATIC happy chappie Olly Murs has come a long way since quitting his job in a call centre and coming second in X Factor eight years ago.

So what a joy it was to see him still bursting with fun and enjoying every moment of the huge adulation that greeted him at a sold out BIC last night.

A natural born entertainer he hardly stopped to draw breath in the 90 minute set that saw him fully working the T-shaped catwalk that jutted out of the main stage into the packed crowd of fans who got up close and personal, giving him high fives and even smacking his backside!

Olly, looking smart and trim in a dark suit, told everyone to forget it was Tuesday night with school/college/work tomorrow and imagine they had “eaten their chicken ‘nuggs’ , watched X Factor and we’re now out partying!”

With his energetic, choreographed moves with ample thrusting and wiggling of hips, grabbing his crotch and pulling of theatrical expressions, he constantly worked the crowd, drawing on all his TV presenting experience, whilst singing beautifully throughout.

And with a super tight band , including a brass section, and four excellent backing singers, large video projections, lasers, and pyrotechnics this was a top notch production too.

There were around eight new songs, starting with the recent hit from his new 24 Hours album, ‘You Don’t Know Love’ followed by ‘Wrapped Up’ which had girls from primary school age upwards singing along.

Making several references to his single status and his X he introduced Grow Up ( apparently something his X told him to do!) and then Flaws, explaining it was a song about his insecurities and flaws . But this was a fleeting melancholy moment.

His epic hit Heart Skips a Beat seemed to get pulses racing with the crowd really bouncing around. Equally, Dear Darlin’ where he took a moment to sit on the edge of the stage, melted a few hearts too!

Soon Olly invited everyone to dance to his medley of floor fillers dating from the 70’s to now as he strutted and sang his way through his versions of That’s the way I Like It, Never Too Much, She’s Got that Vibe, Jump Around and finally U Can’t Touch This.

Then came his brilliant rendition of Justin Timberlake’s feel-good song Can’t Stop the Feeling, before really cranking up the excitement to another level with his own massive hits Trouble Maker and Dance with Me.

The encore gave us the excellent recent hit ‘Kiss Me’ and then he thanked everyone for getting him out of the call centre and “changing my life” . This was reflected in the lyrics of final song ‘Years and Years’ summing up how grateful he is for the dedication of his fans.