Did You See That

Well, that was a turn up for the book - I did not expect little George Sampson to come out on top, but the rain soaked dancer scooper the prize after the public vote. Ant and Dec asked him how he would feel performing for Prince Charles. I doubt this 14 year old really cares too much about dancing for the heir to the thone - this isn’t the 18th century - but I suspect he might be a little more interested in the £100,000 prize money which they had been curiously coy about that mentioning until that point.

Andrew Muir flopped a bit in the final with a fairly uninspiring version of Imagine. There’s no really soaring parts to that song and he didn’t convey emotion very well, so it was all a bit of a disaster and he got a strong slating from Amanda and Simon. Andrew hinted that he had been told to sing that song though which certainly adds a bit of intrigue. I don’t think we will be seeing much of Andrew Muir though.

I’d liked to have seen Gin and Kate win, as that dog might be the most amazing animal I’ve ever seen. I can see Gin being the star of TV adverts for sure, so hopefully it’s not the last we’ve seen of him.

Do you think the right act won Britain’t Got Talent?

The attractive, female violin quartet, Escala, went through to the Britain’s Got Talent final last night, and deservedly so as they were great.

But one comment made by Simon and Piers really rankled with me. They both said the act was “original”. Original? Presumably they haven’t heard of Bond then, the other, well established, foursome of sexy girls on stringed instruments? Escala were very good but in no way could they be described as original as far as I can tell. And just in case you weren’t sure of the Bond homage, notice the song they did: “Live and Let Die” - a James Bond theme song.

Charlie Green crashed out of the competition last night after performing an original song on Britain’s Got Talent. I think everyone expected the talented little singer to do another standard, and I was taken aback by the sound of this unfamiliar song. At my first, my reaction was similar to the look of horror that Simon gave, but I have to admit that I was quite enjoying it by the end of the song … and today I can’t get it out of my head! “Music, singing… Jazz when it’s swinging - these are my favourite things…” It’s a catchy little song I think! But was certainly a brave, probably foolish, move when a safe choice might have got him through to the final.

Watch it again - what do you think of the song?

The standout act from last night’s Britain’s Got Talent. This phenomenal 18 year old from Middlesbrough came on and did a song from the musical, Miss Saigon. He performed the first part when Simon interrupted and quite oddly said he didn’t like the song and could he do another. It was a weird contribution but probably just Simon hamming it up as usual. Dan didn’t have another song prepared so he was allowed to start again and gave an absolute belting performance of it. Check out the video of it from Youtube below…

Andrew Johnson - could he be this year’s Paul Potts? This little boy from Carlisle came on stage and said that he got bullied at school but just wanted to carry on singing. Then he gave a spell binding performance of the classical requiem, Pie Jesu

Britain’s Got Talent is back on our screens, with another great array of talent - some amazing, some less so. One special performance from last night’s first episode was from Gin The Dog. He performed a number of amazing stunts in a routine with his owner, set to some James Bond theme music. He really is one in a million - check him out below.

The variety extravaganza that’s got the country talking reached its ninth and final night tonight, with the top six acts of the competition performing again to win the coveted top spot.

The honest truth is, most of the acts for me didn’t live up to their previous performances. Damon Scott’s monkey routine was entertaining but somehow lacked the spark of the first time I saw it and had some damb squib ending. Barwizards were good, but I still maintain I’ve seen dancing cocktail barmen too many times to think its as original as the judges seem to think. Kombat Breakers were entertaining but it’s always going to be hard for a dance group to engage with the viewer in the way that an individual can so I thought it was odd that Amanda “I completely agree” Holden suggested that could be heading for a win. Even the sensational Paul Potts wasn’t quite as moving for me as when he appeared on that humble theatre stage in the earlier auditions when his talent was so unexpected.

Probably the only act that stil had the wow factor for me was Connie Talbot, so my money was on her to win. In the end, it wasn’t to be and the winner was Paul Potts, who to be fair has shown himself to be an amazing talent. It was no suprise to hear Simon Cowell announce at the end that Paul would soon be in the recording studio recording his first album. Simon must be delighted because with this kind of act, you don’t need to find new material, you can unashamedly re-record the popular operatic classics.

This was a competition to find an act that could appear at the Royal Variety Performance. Truth be told though, the Royal Variety is usually a mixed bag and actually all six of these acts could be on the bill and it would be a better show for it. In the run up to the result, all six contestants explained why it would mean so much to them to perform for the Queen. As fond as I am of the Queen, I don’t quite get the hunger to perform for one particularly wealthy octigenarian. It seems Britain’s got talent, but none of them are Republicans.

Well done to Paul Potts - Britain’s Got Talent has been fantastic entertainment and I hope it’s back soon!

It was the last of the semi finals tonight and the last two places were up for grabs.

Here’s a quick run down of everyone did…

• Cheeky Bits - very cheeky dance troupe, and much better than the group that were on the previous night.
• Dr Gore - Oh dear. This was a disaster. Their first audition was funny and made you recoil in mock horror. This was just dull and boring and they got a rough ride from the studio audience.
• Mike the Comedy Impressionist - Some of the impressions were a bit hit and miss, but that’s true of most TV impressionists, so I’d say he’s at least as good as John Culshaw.
• Tony Laf - Moving version of Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven.
• Crew 82 - Cool beat boxing combo which led Piers and Simon to bitch fight over who was the most in touch with popular culture.
• Scott -Great dancer, but as the judges righty said I think, it’s surely tough for a solo dance act to compete when the quality of the other acts was so good.
• Bar Wizards - Entertaining routine, but I really feel like I’ve seen the dancing cocktail barmen act too many times to find this too exciting and am suprised the judges find it “unqique”.
• Connie - the adorable toothless wonder wowed the judges with her rendition of “Ben”.

Connie won the audience vote and the judges had to choose between Tony and the Bar Wizards. They chose the Bar stewards, I suspect because they didnt wan’t too many singers in the final. Connie must be the favourite to win this competition now?

Well, look who turned up on ITV2’s Britain’s Got More Talent…. none other than BB8’s fame hungry Shabnam. Check out her cringeworthy audition.

It was the first of the live semi finals, and the show started with some funny banter between Ant and Dec and the judges. Ant and Dec have been around for years now and it’s easy to just take them for granted as a safe pair of hands, but I noticed last night that are actually funny and add a lot to the proceedings. I guess being massively paid stars in their own right gives them a certain confidence in their dealings with big egos like Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan.

Biggest disappointment of the night was Damon Scott. He was so funny with his monkey puppet and Michael Jackson routine when he first auditioned, but last night he really bombed. It lacked the energy and fun that he had shown before and it was actually like watching a car crash. He got emotional as the judges told him as much. I think it’s his likeability and the memory of his first audition that saw him through to he next final.

Paul Potts was the other entrant to go through to the final, after yet another fantastic operatic performance. Last night’s losers were Dominic Smith, MD Productions (which sounds oddly corporate for a dance troupe), Caroline Boyes and Klever Kanines.