| Britain's Got Talent | |
|---|---|
Britain's Got Talent logo (2011–present) |
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| Format | Interactive reality talent show |
| Created by | Simon Cowell |
| Presented by | Ant & Dec |
| Judges | Simon Cowell Amanda Holden Alesha Dixon (2012–) David Walliams (2012–) Piers Morgan (2007–10) Kelly Brook (2009) David Hasselhoff (2011) Michael McIntyre (2011) |
| Voices of | Peter Dickson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 67 (as of 4 June 2011) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Talkback Thames FremantleMedia SYCOtv |
| Running time | 60-150mins |
| Production company(s) | Talkback Thames FremantleMedia SYCOtv |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (UK) TV3 (IRL) |
| Picture format | 576i (16:9 SDTV) (2007–) 1080p (16:9 HDTV) (2010–) |
| Original run | 9 June 2007 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Britain's Got More Talent America's Got Talent The X Factor Red or Black? |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Britain's Got Talent (often shortened to BGT)[1][2][3] is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's Talkback Thames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in the Republic of Ireland. The spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent is shown in both countries also. Anyone of age with some sort of talent to audition for the show can audition. Acts will compete against each other in order to gain the audience support while trying to win the title of "The winner of Britain's Got Talent".
Throughout the show, contestants will have to perform in front of the judges, and each year auditions have been held in front of a live audience. The show follows live shows where the final 40 contestants will perform throughout the week in order to impress the British public. There have been five winners to date: Paul Potts, George Sampson, Diversity, Spelbound and Jai McDowall. The winner of each series is given the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of members of the British Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth, the winner also receives a cash prize, which from series 1 to 5 was £100,000, but from series 6 onwards the cash prize was increased to £500,000. The show is known as one of Britain's biggest television talent competitions and has also proven popular throughout Europe. The series 3 live final brought in 17.3 million viewers.[4] (a 64.6% audience share). On 18 October 2010, ITV announced that Cowell had signed a three year contract renewing Britain's Got Talent until 2013.[5]
The initial judging panel consisted of Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. However, during the series 3 Kelly Brook was brought in as judge, but was dropped a few days later. In 2010, it was announced that Morgan would not return as judge for series 5 and he was replaced by former America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff, while Michael McIntyre also joined the panel. In 2011, Hasselhoff and McIntyre revealed they would not return for the series 6 and was replaced by David Walliams and Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon.
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The show's format was devised by The X Factor creator 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 in 2008). Originally the judge line-up was to have been Cowell, Cole and David Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff, along with Michael McIntyre, acted as judges in the 2011 series. 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.
It was originally planned that the show would be broadcast in 2005 (before America's Got Talent) and 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.[6][7] The Got Talent format has been adopted in a number of other countries, however, the original UK version has only been broadcast in one other country (Ireland) due to unsolved rights issues. Television stations in Scandinavian countries have also expressed an interest in showing the UK version, but have not been able to acquire the rights.
From series 1, the show has been presented by English comedy and TV presenting duo Ant & Dec.
Series 1 and 2 consisted of original judges, music executive and television producer Simon Cowell, television and West End star Amanda Holden, and newspaper editor and journalist Piers Morgan. As series 3 started, it was announced that the show would have a fourth judge, actress and glamour model Kelly Brook. However after just a few day of filming, it was announced that Brook had been dropped as a talent judge after stating the format would be "too complicated" with four judges; Brook was later credited as a guest judge.[8] Series 4 would remain with just Cowell, Holden and Morgan as judges. Cowell fell ill at one point and was unable to attend the Birmingham auditions. Long-time friend and fellow X Factor judge Louis Walsh stepped in for him.[9]
It was announced the show would return for a fifth series, but Morgan revealed that he would not return as a judge as he was preparing to take over the highly popular Larry King Live chat show on CNN in America. Cowell also announced he would not be present during the auditions, as he would be busy launching The X Factor USA; however he confirmed he would be present for the live shows.[10] It was revealed that comedian Michael McIntyre would be completing the judging panel,[11] as would actor, singer and former America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff.[12] Hasselhoff was absent during the Birmingham auditions due to his commitments with a pantomime and Walsh returned as a guest judge.
In October 2011, it was announced that neither Hasselhoff or McIntyre will be returning as a judge for the sixth series.[13] On 2 January 2012, it was announced that Alesha Dixon and David Walliams would replace them for the upcoming sixth series.[14]
The auditions take place in front of the judges and a live audience at a different city across Britain. Unlike the The X Factor, at any time during the audition, the judges may show disapproval to the act by pressing a buzzer which lights a large red "X" on the stage. If all the judges press their buzzers, the act must end immediately. From Series 1 to 5 it was 3 buzzers due to the show having 3 judges, from Series 6 onwards it is 4 buzzers due to the show having 4 judges. From Series 1 to 5, voting works on a best-of-three basis, with the sole exception of the auditions in Manchester during series 3, where 3 positive votes were required, because there were four judges. From Series 6 onwards, voting works on a majority-of-four basis as there are four judges
After the auditions, the judges have to whittle almost 200 successful acts down to just 24 in series 1 and 40 in series 2–onwards. All of the performers are called back to discover if they have progressed to the live semi-finals. During series 5, some of the acts were asked to perform again to try to get through to the semi-finals as the judges were having difficulty coming to a final decision on who to send through to the semi-finals.[15] This was the first time this had ever happened in the history of the show.
The semi-finals and final are broadcast live from The Fountain Studios in Wembley (which is also used for 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. Judges may still end a performance early with three Xs from Series 1 to 4, and four Xs from Series 5 onward. 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, while the public vote for the act they think were the best. 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. From series 5, the rules relating to judges' votes in the results show changed from previous series. In the past, the decision as to which act was sent through to the finals was made by the three judges (from which there would always be a majority). Now, with four judges, if there was a two-way tie the act with the second highest number of votes from the public would be sent through to the finals, otherwise the judges' decision would stand.
The show's secondary theme song is a full orchestral version of Lux Aeterna (produced for the theatrical trailer of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but originally written for the film 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. Britain's Got Talent has been criticised by psychologist Glenn Wilson. who has referred to it as a "freak show". He states that "[contestants'] deficiencies and shortcomings are as important as their talent. We enjoy the stress we are putting these people under – will they or will they not survive?"[16]
The treatment of contestants at the audition stage was heavily criticised by the Daily Mail, which described applicants being kept waiting for over 10 hours with no food or drink provided, with no certainty of being allowed to perform more than a few seconds of their act. It also detailed how staff intentionally built up the hopes of low-quality performers in order to maximise the dramatic effect of the judges' put-downs, and the fine points of the contracts performers must sign, which gives the show infinite freedom to "modify" the footage for their own purposes, and to use the footage indefinitely for whatever purpose they choose.[17] Each year, on the morning of the first show of the new series, Britain's Got Talent has a special program titled "Most Talented". This features interviews of the winners from the previous series and their progress since winning.
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 broadcast. The series was eventually won by Paul Potts.
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 lasting 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, young dance couple Cheeky Monkeys, and canine freestyle team Kate and Jin.
Britain's Got Talent returned on 11 April 2009.[18] Ant & Dec continued as hosts. 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 judges were 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,[18] but was fired after just six days, having acted as a judge at the Manchester auditions only.[19] According to Cowell, the reason given for sacking Brook was because the producers decided the format was "too complicated" with four judges while insiders maintain neither Ant nor Dec warmed up to the idea of bringing on a judge without their consent. Ant published in his autobiography the reason the pair didn't like Kelly was that on the first day she asked what (Ant and Dec) would be doing on the show, which they took as a sign that she had not watched the show before. According to interviews, Kelly maintains that she was simply asking what they were going to do on that day, as in, "so what's on the agenda today". Either way, the show decided to simplify and just go with 3 judges.
During January and February 2009, applicants auditioned in: Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. At first round callbacks in London on 7 February, 40 acts were selected for the televised live semi-finals. The televised recordings of auditions started on 11 April, with the live semi-finals running from 24 April and the live final on 30 May. A contestant who was rejected during the fifth audition show, Emma Czikai, was said to have "complained to the media regulator Ofcom and lodged a complaint of unfairness and discrimination with the employment tribunal."[20] The series's most notable performance was by Susan Boyle, a 48-year-old Scot, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. The performance earned a unanimous "yes" vote and resounding astonishment from the judges.[21] 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.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Among other finalists were: 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. In a shock result, Diversity won the series, with Boyle as runner-up and Julian Smith third. Bookmakers 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 spokesman Rupert Adams. William Hill estimate that over £3m was bet on the show in the final hour.[29]
The 2010 panel of judges remained unchanged, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan all returning for the start of the televised auditions on 18 January at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow,[30] although Cowell said that this was his last year doing the auditions.[31] Auditions were then held in Manchester at the Manchester Opera House, Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre.[32] The Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, Birmingham's Birmingham Hippodrome and ended on 10 February at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Due to illness, Simon was unable to attend the filming of the Birmingham auditions and Louis Walsh stood in for him at the last minute, the first time that Cowell has missed an audition show in his entire career.[33] The first programme of Series 4 was broadcast on 17 April 2010.[34] Spellbound won the final on 5 June 2010, with Twist and Pulse as runners-up and Kieran Gaffney placing third. Other finalists included Paul Burling, Tobias Mead, Christopher Stone, Tina and Chandi, Connected, Janey Cutler and Liam McNally.
The show returned for a fifth series on 16 April 2011. Auditions took place in January 2011 in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and, for the first time, Liverpool. Ant & Dec continued as main hosts on ITV, while Stephen Mulhern again hosted Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2. Among the judges, Piers Morgan left the show due to him hosting his new show Piers Morgan Tonight in America.[35] Simon Cowell judged the live shows only as during the auditions he was busy launching The X Factor USA. Amanda Holden returned to the regular judging panel, joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre,[36] Auditions took place in January 2011 in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and, for the first time, Liverpool. Louis Walsh appeared as a guest judge in the London auditions, while Hasselhoff was appearing in pantomime.[37] The winner was Jai McDowall.
ITV confirmed in June 2011 that the show will return for a sixth series in 2012. In October 2011, it was announced that neither David Hasselhoff or Michael McIntyre will be returning as a judge for the sixth series.[38] Despite rumours of being absent for the auditions stage, Amanda Holden confirmed via her Twitter account that she will be participating in the whole series.[39] In December 2011, it was announced that Simon Cowell would be returning as a full time judge for the series.[40][41] On 2 January, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon were confirmed as judges, with the latter leaving her role on Strictly Come Dancing.[42]
| Britain's Got More Talent | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Simon Cowell |
| Presented by | Stephen Mulhern |
| No. of series | 5 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | The Fountain Studios |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV2 |
| Picture format | 576i: SDTV (2007–2010) 1080p: HDTV (2011–present) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Britain's Got Talent |
Britain's Got More Talent is a companion show which is broadcast on digital channel ITV2 and on TV3 Ireland, after the main ITV and TV3 Britain's Got Talent broadcast. It features behind-the-scenes footage of Britain's Got Talent and shows the emotional responses of the contestants after the judges comment on their performances.
Britain's Got More Talent is currently hosted by Stephen Mulhern. Mulhern was also host of the Britain's Got Talent: Live Tour in 2008 but Paddy McGuinness took up the position in 2010.
Each year, after the series has come to an end, Britain's Got Talent has a week of special programmes entitled Britain's Got Talent: Best and Worst, featuring the best and worst auditions from the series, ranging from two to five episodes each year. This series is also hosted by Mulhern, though the series may feature clips of Ant & Dec interviewing the acts beforehand.
Britain's Got Talent has been nominated for two 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. Ant & Dec have won the award for 'Most Popular Entertainment Presenters' at the same awards in 2007 and 2008. It has also been nominated for two 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 four Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards from five 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 & Dec and two nominations in the Reality TV Judge category for Cowell and Morgan.
| Year | Group | Award | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Talent Show | Nominated | |
| National Television Awards | Most Popular Entertainment Presenter | Ant & Dec | Won | |
| Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards | Best Reality Show | Nominated | ||
| Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards | Best TV Presenters | Ant & 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 & 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 & 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 & Dec | Nominated | |
| Digital Spy Reality TV Awards | Favourite Reality Contestant | George Sampson | Won | |
| 2010 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Talent Show | Nominated | |
| 2011 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Talent Show | Nominated | |
| 2011 | TV Choice Awards | Best Talent Show | Won |
On 17 April 2008, a thirteen date live tour was announced 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 twenty two performances, including matinées. The tour featured all ten finalists, as well as semi-finalists Tracey Lee Collins and Anya Sparks. The tour also featured a duet with Faryl Smith and Andrew Johnston.
On 13 January 2009, a four date tour was announced with dates in Newcastle, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester. More dates were later added and the tour ran for eighteen shows from 12–26 June 2009 and also travelled to Dublin, Birmingham, Belfast, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nottingham, London, Aberdeen and Bournemouth. The tour in 2009 included: 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 hosted the tour.
The tour returned in 2010, this time hosted by comedian Paddy McGuinness. the show also added a new city to the schedule, Brighton. The tour included all the finalists: Spelbound, Twist & Pulse, Kieran Gaffney, Tobias Mead, Tina & Chandi, Paul Burling, Christopher Stone, Janey Cutler, Liam McNally and Connected. The tour lasted from June 19 - July 11. With 16 cites and 23 shows, it was the longest Britains Got Talent Tour to date.
The tour in 2011 included all the finalists: Jai McDowall, Ronan Parke, New Bounce, Razy Gogonea, Michael Collings, Paul Gbegbaje, Steven Hall, James Hobley, Les Gibson and Jean Martyn.[43]
These albums were sold after Britain's Got Talent. The sales numbers are UK sales only.
| Former contestant Total sales |
Debut album | Second album | Third album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Susan Boyle (Series 3, Runner-up) 2,340,000 |
I Dreamed a Dream (23 November 2009) Syco/Columbia 7x Platinum 2,100,000[44] Peak: 1 |
The Gift (8 November 2010) Syco/Columbia Gold 500,000 Peak: 1 |
Someone to Watch Over Me (1 November 2011) Syco/Columbia Peak: 1 |
| 2 | Paul Potts (Series 1, Winner) 680,000 |
One Chance (16 July 2007) Syco/Columbia 2x Platinum 680,000 Peak: 1 |
Passione (1 June 2009) Syco/Columbia n/a n/a Peak: 5 |
Cinema Paradiso (15 October 2010) Sony n/a n/a Peak: did not chart |
| 3 | Andrew Johnston (Series 2, 3rd place) 120,000 |
One Voice (29 September 2008) Syco Gold 120,000 Peak: 4 |
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| 4 | Connie Talbot (Series 1, Runner-up) 120,000 |
Over the Rainbow (26 November 2007) Rainbow Recording Company Gold 120,000 Peak: 35 |
Connie Talbot's Christmas Album (24 November 2008) Rainbow Recording Company n/a n/a Peak: did not chart |
Holiday Magic (26 November 2009) Rainbow Recording Company n/a n/a Peak: did not chart |
| 5 | Escala (Series 2, 4th place) 100,000 |
Escala (25 May 2009) Sony BMG/Syco Gold 100,000 Peak: 2 |
| Former contestant | Total sales | Albums | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Faryl Smith (Series 2, 5th place) |
150,000 |
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| 7 | Charlie Green (Series 2, Semi-finalist) |
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There are five pieces of related merchandise:
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