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Britain's Got Talent

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Britain's Got Talent
File:BritainsGotTalentlogo.jpg
GenreTalent show
Created bySimon Cowell & Syco TV
Presented byBritain's Got Talent:
Anthony McPartlin,
Declan Donnelly
Britain's Got More Talent:
Stephen Mulhern
JudgesSimon Cowell,
Amanda Holden,
Piers Morgan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series2
No. of episodes23
Production
ProducerSYCO TV in association with talkbackTHAMES
Running time60 minutes (inc. comms)
60-90 minutes (inc. comms)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release9 June 2007 –
Present
Related
America's Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent is a British television show on ITV (also on TV3 in Ireland). Presented by Ant & Dec, the talent show premiered on 9 June 2007, and was broadcast daily with a live final on 17 June 2007. It is a search for Britain's next best talent act, featuring singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other talents of all ages. Anyone who believed they have talent was encouraged to audition. The winner of the show received £100,000 and performed at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen and members of the Royal Family at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool.

Format

The series made its début soon after the conclusion of its U.S. counterpart, America's Got Talent, and is the creation of The X Factor creator and Pop Idol/American Idol judge 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 Cowell, Piers Morgan (who had also judged America's Got Talent), and Amanda Holden (a late replacement for Cheryl Cole[1]). In a similar fashion to The X Factor, the show has an ITV2 counterpart called Britain's Got More Talent, presented by magician and former CITV presenter, Stephen Mulhern.

The show was originally planned to air much earlier (before America's Got Talent) and be presented by Paul O'Grady. However, after O'Grady's defection to Channel 4 from ITV for The Paul O'Grady Show, O'Grady refused to appear in another ITV show, so the series was put on hold after just one rehearsal show.[2][3]

The audition process is similar to The Gong Show but with the judges pressing buzzers instead of banging a gong. The buzzers can only be pressed once if the judge has seen enough, and when all three are pressed the act must stop. The auditions also include the added twist of having to perform in front of a studio audience alongside the judges. Once the act finishes or is stopped, judges express their opinions and decide whether they would like to see them in the semi-finals, with acts needing to receive a majority vote to go through. The audience is invited to express their views (often boos or cheers) which may have a positive or negative impact on a judge's decision, should the judge be unsure on whether to put the act through.

Semi finals and final

The final four shows broadcast live, with three semi-finals, followed by the final. In Series 1, eight acts performed in each semi-final, with the six most popular acts from all the semi-finals winning a position in the final. Unlike the American version, judges may still end a performance early with three 'X's. The audience are again asked to express their views on each act's performance.

After all eights acts have performed, phone lines open for a short time. After the votes are counted the act who polled the highest number of public votes was automatically placed in the final. The judges then choose between second and third most popular acts, with the winner of that vote gaining a place in the final. All other acts are then eliminated from the competition.

Paul Potts was announced as the winner of Britain's Got Talent Series 1.

In series 2, of Britain's got talent, the winner will receive £100,000 and get the chance to perform in front of the future king, Prince Charles.

Series 1

Results

Semi-final 1 Semi-final 2 Semi-final 3 Final
Paul Potts Bessie Cursons Connie Talbot Paul Potts
Damon Scott Kombat Breakers The Bar Wizards Bessie Cursons
Dominic Smith Craig Womersley Tony Laf Kombat Breakers
MD Productions The Mini-Mezzos Cheeky Bits Damon Scott
Luke and Charlotte Crazee Horse Scott Holtom Connie Talbot
The Freerunners Jake Pratt Mike Garbutt The Bar Wizards
Mel's Klever K9s Jack Reeve Crew 82
Caroline Boyes Victoria Armstrong Doctor Gore
Richard Bates[4][5] Kit Kat Dolls[6]
Key   Won the public vote   Won the judge vote   Top 3 - lost judge's vote   Winner   Withdrawn

Ratings

Show 1 (Saturday, 9 June 2007 at 21:25) - 4.9 million viewers (22.7% Share)[7]
Show 2 (Sunday, 10 June 2007 at 20:30) - 6.4 million viewers (28% Share)[8]
Show 3 (Monday, 11 June 2007 at 21:00) - 6.9 million viewers (29.4%)[9] The show saw its audience rise from 6.6m (28.9%) to 7.3m (30.5%)
Show 4 (Tuesday, 12 June 2007 at 21:00) - 6.8 Million (29.3% Share)[10]
Show 5 (Wednesday, 13 June 2007 at 21:00) - 7.1 Million (29.2% Share). Peaking at 7.9 Million (33.9% Share)[11]
Show 6 (Thursday, 14 June 2007 at 21:00 [First Live Show]) - 7.9 Million (34% Share). Peaking at 8.9 Million (40.1% Share)[12]
Show 7 (Friday, 15 June 2007 at 21:00 [Second Live Show]) - 8.9 Million (38.1% Share)[13]
Show 8 (Saturday, 16 June 2007 at 19:45 [Third Live Show]) - 8.9 Million (40.9% Share)[13]
Show 9 (Sunday, 17 June 2007 at 20:00 [Final - Performances] - 11 Million' (43.7% Share) (Peaking at 13.5 Million - 51.7% share)[14]
 Show 10 (Sunday, 17 June 2007 at 22:00 [Final - Results] - 10.6 Million (44.7% Share). Peaking at 11.2 Million - 48.4% Share[14]

The average ratings for series one is 8 million and a 33.6% share.[14]

Series 2

As Britain's Got Talent returns for its second series, hosts Ant & Dec and judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan once again begin their search for Britain's most talented performer. The second series began on a primetime slot at 19:45 on 12 April and for the remainder of the auditions will continue in this Saturday night slot. The last of the audition episodes will be televised on 17 May with the selection process for the live finals airing on 24 May. Once the semi-finals begin they will be shown daily, like in series one, over one week 26 May - 30 May with the live final on Saturday 31 May. Each show will last for 90 minutes, with the grand final being split into two shows, 'The Grand Final' and 'The Final Results'.

There will be five semi-finals this year, six to eight acts in each. The format remains the same to last year, two acts will go through each night, the act that is top of the public vote and another will be selected by the judges from the next two highest voted acts. 10 acts will compete in the live final.

Companion show Britain's Got More Talent, hosted by Stephen Mulhern also returned to ITV2 beginning at 22:05 on 12 April. The show once again gives viewers a behind the scenes look at the production of the show with exclusive interviews with Simon, Piers and Amanda as they continue their search for the nations best performers. The show also features unseen auditions, interviews with contestants and Ant and Dec learn more about each other in spoof feature 'Mr and Mr' (a parody of Mr and Mrs, which airs before Britain's Got Talent on ITV). During the week of the live finals, Britain's Got More Talent will broadcast directly after Britain's Got Talent finishes, it will feature past and present auditionees, interviews with the judges and the winning acts on the night, celebrity guests and performances from stars such as Four Poofs and a Piano and Chesney Hawkes.

Ratings

  • Show 1 (Saturday, 12 April 2008 at 19:45) - 8.8 million (37.0% share) - peak: 9.8m (40.4%)[15]
  • Show 2 (Saturday, 19 April 2008 at 20:05) - 10.3 million (43.3% share) - peak: 10.6m (43.4%)
  • Show 3 (Saturday, 26 April 2008 at 20:05) - 9.4 million (41.3% share)- peak: 9.8m (42.0%)
  • Show 4 (Saturday, 3 May 2008 at 20:05) - 8.5 million (39.1% share)- peak: 8.8m (39.8%)
  • Show 5 (Saturday, 10 May 2008 at 20:00) - 7.5 million (37.9% share) - peak: 8.5m (41.5%)
  • Show 6 (Saturday, 17 May 2008 at 20:00) - 8.6 million (37.5% share) - peak: 9.6m (42.4%)

Current Series Average - 8.85 Million (37.35% share)

Live Tour 2008

On 17 April it was announced there was to be a 13-date live tour, visiting the UK's major cities during the month of June, featuring the unknown finalists from this current series, and the not-so talented audtionees. It has been confirmed that Stephen Mulhern will be hosting the tour. None of the judging panel will be present, and there will no live voting. The tour will start on Friday 6 June at London's Hammersmith Apollo, then moving on to, Bournemouth BIC, Liverpool Echo Arena, Brighton Centre, Manchester Apollo, Sheffield Arena, Trent FM Arena Nottingham, Birmingham NIA, Cardiff International Arena, Glasgow Clyde Auditorium, Newcastle City Hall, Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, before concluding in Edinburgh Playhouse on Saturday 22 June. Tickets are on sale via ITV's offical Britain's Got Talent website, priced at £32.50 / £29.50

Controversy

Contestant Richard Bates claimed he quit the ITV show after injuring himself in an accident with his electric organ, but in fact the Lancashire Police force had contacted producers to inform them that he was listed on the Sex Offenders Register following an unspecified offence committed in December 2005.[4][5] Lancashire Police stated that they were worried the `victim` might see Bates on television.

On 16 June (the last semi-final show), drag act the Kit Kat Dolls were disqualified after the News of the World claimed three of the members were prostitutes.[6]

References

  1. ^ Cheryl Cole: I’m Not Qualified To Be A Judge
  2. ^ O'Grady to host prime-time talent show Digital Spy, 13 August 2005
  3. ^ Paul O'Grady quits Unreality TV
  4. ^ a b Forced out, the Britain's Got Talent act who's also got a sordid secret
  5. ^ a b Police alert over TV contestant
  6. ^ a b Britain’s Got Talent…For Hire: Kit-Kat Sex Cite error: The named reference "kkdolls1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ F1 helps ITV win ratings race Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
  8. ^ BBC 'Dream' pays off Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
  9. ^ Broadcast Now
  10. ^ Broadcast Now
  11. ^ Broadcast Now
  12. ^ http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcastnowarticle.aspx?intStoryID=169542
  13. ^ a b http://www.viewingfigures.com
  14. ^ a b c ITV gets 13.5m with 'Talent' Digital Spy, 18 June 2007
  15. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=508185&page=385
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