Britain's Got
Talent is a British
television
show on ITV and part of the Got Talent series.
Presented by British celebrity presenters
Ant & Dec, singers, dancers, comedians,
variety acts, and other performers compete against each other for
audience support. The winner of each series receives
£100,000 and is given the opportunity to
perform at the
Royal Variety
Performance in front of members of the
Royal Family, including the
Queen. The first series
of the
talent show began on 9 June 2007,
and was broadcast daily with a live final on 17 June 2007, in which
Paul Potts won. Street-dancer
George Sampson went on to win the second
series of the show on 31 May 2008. The third series began on 11
April 2009, and ended on 30 May 2009, with
Diversity winning the competition,
while Scotswoman
Susan Boyle, whose
audition performance of
I Dreamed a
Dream sparked an internet sensation, ended up in second
place.
History
It is the creation of
The X
Factor creator and
Pop
Idol/American Idol judge and
Sony Music Entertainment
A&R Executive
Simon Cowell, who has created a
Got Talent series across the
globe. On
12 February 2007, it was announced by
ITV the
judges would be Simon Cowell,
Piers
Morgan (who had also judged
America's Got Talent) and
Amanda Holden (a late replacement for
Cheryl Cole, who later became a judge on
The X Factor). Originally the judge line-up was to have
been Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and
David Hasselhoff, from
America's Got
Talent. In a similar fashion to
The X Factor, the
show has an
ITV2 counterpart called
Britain's Got More
Talent, presented by the magician and former
CITV presenter
Stephen
Mulhern.
It was originally planned that the show would be aired in 2005
(before
America's Got Talent) and would be presented by
Paul O'Grady. However, after O'Grady's
defection to
Channel 4 for
The Paul O'Grady Show, he refused
to appear in another ITV show, so the series was put on hold after
just one rehearsal show.
Format
The auditions take place in front of the judges and a live audience
at a different city across Britain. At any time during the audition
the judges may show disapproval to the act by pressing a buzzer
which lights that lights a red X near them. If all the judges press
their buzzers, the act ends immediately. To advance to the second
round, auditionees needed to get at least two yes votes (three
votes were required at the Manchester Auditions during the third
series) or they would be sent home.
After the auditions the judges have to whittle almost 200
successful acts down to just 24 in series 1 or 40 in series 2-3.
All of the performers are called back to discover if they have
progressed to the semi-finals.
The
semi-final and final shows are broadcast live from Fountain
Studios
in Wembley
(which is
also used for Britain's Got Talent's sister show,
The X Factor), with a
varying number of semi-finals, followed by the one live final split
into two episodes over one night. The remaining acts perform
across a number of semi-finals, with the two most popular acts from
each semi-finals winning a position in the final. Unlike the
American version, judges may still end a performance early with
three Xs. The judges are again asked to express their views on each
act's performance.
After all acts have performed, phone lines open for a short time.
After the votes have been counted, the act that has polled the
highest number of public votes is automatically placed in the
final. The judges then choose between the second and third most
popular acts, with the winner of that vote also gaining a place in
the final. All other acts are then eliminated from the
competition.
The show's secondary theme song is "
Lux Aeterna" (originally
from the movie
Requiem for a
Dream), which is used to create tension. It is also used
for the judges "walk-in" at the beginning of every live show.
Judges and presenters
Presenters
Judges
Series One
Series one of
Britain's Got Talent began on 9 June 2007
and ended on 17 June 2007. The first five shows covered the
audition stages and the final three shows were the live semi-finals
and final. Altogether, 24 (26) acts performed in the semi-finals,
eight acts in each episode, with a further two acts disqualified
from the competition before the semi-finals were aired. The series
was eventually won by opera singer
Paul
Potts.
Series Two
The 2008
series of Britain's Got Talent included notable
differences from the 2007 series, including the fact that the
auditions visited Scotland
and that
there were 40 in the live semi-finals. The series also ran
for longer, this time airing for seven weeks instead of one. The
series was won by street-dancer
George
Sampson, with dual dance group
Signature coming in second and
singer
Andrew Johnston
third. Other acts in the final included martial arts duo Strike,
dance troupe Nemesis, 12-year-old mezzo-soprano
Faryl Smith, junior dance couple Cheeky Monkeys,
singer Andrew Muir,
Kate and Gin and
electric violin players
Escala
originally named Scala.
Series Three
As announced at the end of Series 2,
Britain's Got Talent
returned on 11 April 2009.
Ant &
Dec returned as the hosts of the show. Sister-show
Britain's Got More Talent with
Stephen Mulhern has also returned, as
announced in the last episode of the second series.
The 2009 panel of judges consists of
Simon
Cowell,
Amanda Holden and
Piers Morgan.
Kelly
Brook was originally announced as a new fourth judge,
reportedly being offered £200,000 for the role, but was fired after
just six days, having acted as a judge in Manchester only, just one
of the five audition venues.
The
application process took place throughout January and February 2009
with auditions being held in five of Britain's major cities:
Manchester
for three days, where the judges saw a total of 120
auditionees; Glasgow
for one day,
viewing a total of 40 auditionees; Birmingham
for three days, watching a further 120 auditionees;
London
for three days, seeing 128 acts; and Cardiff
for one day,
where they saw 40 auditionees.
The "First Round Call-Backs" took place in London on Saturday 7
February, where 40 acts were made aware that they would be
competing in the live semi-finals in May.
Britain's Got Talent 2009 kicked off on 11 April and there
were five semi-final shows taking place beginning from the 24th of
May, until the final on the 30th of May.
One of the most notable performances for the series was by
Susan Boyle, a 48-year-old Scottish woman. Boyle
sang “
I Dreamed a Dream” from the
musical
Les
Misérables. The performance earned a unanimous "yes" vote
and resounding astonishment from the judges. Her performance helped
lift the show to a launch record of 11.2 million viewers. Within
five days of her initial appearance,
YouTube
recordings of the event had collectively generated more than 100
million views. Boyle also attracted widespread international media
coverage. It is highly thought that this media coverage led to
Susan Boyle being admitted to the psychiatric clinic
The Priory
However, other people in the final included;
Aidan Davis, Stavros Flatley, Flawless,
Hollie Steel,
Diversity, Shaun Smith,
Shaheen Jafargholi, the grandfather and
granddaughter singing duo "2 Grand" and Julian Smith who played the
soprano saxophone.The top three finishers were Julian Smith,
Diversity and Susan Boyle, with Diversity coming out as the
winners, Susan Boyle finishing second and Julian Smith third.
Bookmakers are said to have made a fortune because of
the unexpected result.
"We are in shock and have made a six figure sum in what has been
the biggest surprise in reality TV history. Susan was a certainty,"
said William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.William Hill estimate
that over £3m was bet on the show in the final hour.
Series Four
As announced at the end of series three, 'Britain's Got Talent'
will return for another series. The show is currently in the
non-televised audition stages.
Awards and Nominations
Britain's Got Talent has been nominated for 2 'National
Television Awards' in the category of 'Most Popular Talent Show' in
2007 and 2008, losing to its sister show The X-Factor and
Strictly Come Dancing respectively. Its shows presenters
have won the award for 'Most Popular Entertainment Presenters' at
the same awards in 2007 and 2008. It has also been nominated for 2
BAFTA
Awards in 2008, but failed to win any awards. In 2007 and 2008,
the show was nominated at the TV Quick and Choice Awards in the
'Best Talent Show' category, losing out to The X-Factor
and Strictly Come Dancing respectively.
In 2008 it was a recipient of a RTS Award for its technical
achievements. It has also won 4 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards from 5
nominations. In 2009, it won its first ever Digital Spy Reality
Award for Escala for Favourite Reality Contestant. It was further
nominated in the Reality Show category, but lost to The
X-Factor in the Reality TV Presenter category for Ant and Dec
and 2 nominations in the Reality TV Judge category for Simon Cowell
and Piers Morgan, but lost to Cheryl
Cole from The X-Factor.
Awards Table
| Year |
Group |
Award |
Nominee |
Result |
| 2007 |
National Television
Awards |
Most Popular Talent Show |
|
Nominated |
| National Television Awards |
Most Popular Entertainment Presenter |
Ant and Dec |
Won |
| Nickelodeon UK
Kids Choice Awards |
Best Reality Show |
|
Nominated |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards |
Best TV Presenters |
Ant and Dec |
Won |
| TV Quick and Choice Awards |
Best Talent Show |
|
Nominated |
| 2008 |
National Television
Awards |
Most Popular Talent Show |
|
Nominated |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards |
Favourite Winner |
George Sampson |
Won |
| National Television Awards |
Most Popular Entertainment Presenter |
Ant and Dec |
Won |
| BAFTA Awards |
Lew Grade Award |
|
Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards |
Audience Award |
|
Nominated |
| Royal Television
Society Awards |
Best Production Design-Entertainment |
Dominic Tolfts |
Won |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards |
Best TV Presenters |
Ant and Dec |
Won |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards |
Best Family TV Show |
|
Won |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards |
Best TV Baddie |
Simon Cowell |
Won |
| 2009 |
TV Quick and Choice Awards |
Best Talent Show |
|
Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards 2009 |
Favourite TV Reality |
|
Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards |
Favourite TV Reality Judge |
Simon Cowell |
Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards |
Favourite TV Reality Judge |
Piers Morgan |
Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards |
Favourite TV Reality Presenters |
Ant and Dec |
Nominated |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards |
Favourite Reality Contestant |
George Sampson |
Won |
Live tour 2008 and 2009
On 17 April 2008 it was announced that a 13-date live tour would be
visiting the UK's major cities during the month of June, featuring
the semi-finalists, the finalists and the winner from series two,
along with a few surprises. Stephen
Mulhern hosted the tour, which began on 6 June. None of the
judging panel were present, and there was no live voting.After high
demand for tickets, the tour was later extended to 22 performances,
including matinées. The tour featured all 10 finalists, as well as
semi-finalists Tracey Lee Collins & Anya Sparks. The tour also
featured a duet with Faryl Smith and Andrew Johnston.
On 13
January 2009 a four-date tour was announced via the Ticketmaster website, with the dates in
Newcastle
, Cardiff, Liverpool
and in Manchester. More dates were later added and the tour will
run for 18 shows from 12 to 26 June 2009 and will also travel to
Dublin
(Ireland
), Birmingham, Belfast
, Sheffield
, Glasgow, Edinburgh
, Nottingham
, Wembley
Arena
, Aberdeen
and Bournemouth
.
The tour in 2009 included these acts:Diversity, Flawless, Aidan
Davis, Shaun Smith, Stavros Flatley, Hollie Steel, 2 Grand, Julian
Smith, Shaheen Jafargholi, Susan Boyle, Darth Jackson, DJ Talent
and the 2008 winner, George Sampson. Stephen Mulhern presented the
show.
International Versions
Merchandise
Currently, there are only four pieces of merchandise:
- Best Of The Auditions DVD (2009)
- The Electronic Board Game (2009)
- The Magic Set (2009)
- Finalists Of 2009: Annual 2010 (2009)
References
- O'Grady to host prime-time talent show Digital
Spy, 13 August
2005
- Paul O'Grady quits Unreality TV
- Talent show singer is online hit, BBC
- “Singing Talent of Susan Boyle Stuns Simon Cowell,
Times of London
- “Britain’s got talent hits high note,’
Guardian
- "An unlikely star brings smiles to views, NBC Nightly
News
- "Middle-aged Scottish woman is unlikely instant
singing star after reality TV appearance, LA Times
- Le Monde - Susan Boyle, chanteuse en herbe et
vedette sur le Web
- L'Express - Susan Boyle, la révélation de
"Britain's got talent"
- Le Figaro - La gloire surprise de Susan
Boyle
- Susan Boyle admitted to Priory
- Willaim hill Fortune made by bookmakers
External links
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