Britain's Got Talent is over for another year, a Hungarian act won but a stage invasion dominated the headlines. To be fair, the final was all a bit dull in the end. Too many kids, too many singers and a lot of over over hyped acts all equalled to a very long evening. So when people like Jack Carroll, Attraction and Steve Hewlett come along they automatically stand out a mile. Steve Hewlett was a worthy wild card winner, it's a shame there weren't any magicians or better dancers in the final. Attraction were the best act of the competition but their final performance didn't have any of the emotion punch of the other two. Jack Carroll was good, he was always going to finish high and the judges obviously wanted him to win. Was anyone else surprised by the lack of support Francine had in the end? She only ended up with 2% of the vote, maybe people were fed up of the Jordan routine especially that horrible song at the end.
The big story of the evening however was a Natalie Holt rising from her seat in the orchestra and pelting Simon Cowell with some eggs. How she got the eggs in, and actually to the edge of the stage is anyone's guess. Her reasons for doing so were obviously nothing to do with being a fame hungry attention seeking brat. Oh no. She wanted to start a debate about Cowell's power and influence in the industry. Something which is hard to believe as she previously audition for BGT a year ago and was basically working for him on the final. So, she's quite happy to be on television but not too happy being a backing musician. Also, she looked far to happy with herself. Very rarely will I agree with Amanda Holden but she had it right when she called her a "stupid cow."
She might have been angry at Cowell's influence but that doesn't stop her wanting to be part of the show did it? The final was nowhere near as good as previous ones, especially the Diversity/ Susan Boyle one, no matter how hard the judges were trying to convince us. However you know exactly what you're getting with BGT. Four judges with not much to say, a few sob stories, little kids not understanding irony and Ant and Dec. You either love it or hate it. See you next year, maybe they'll unearth some talent that we haven't seen before. Yeah, maybe.
While watching Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway last night I felt like I had been thrown back about 15 years. Yes, partly because we were treated to a performance from PJ & Duncan (there's the next band for ITV2's The Big Reunion) but also because shows like this just don't exist anymore. It's basically Noel's House Party but without Mr Blobby. The Ant & Dec Undercover (Gotcha!), Little Ant & Dec (Wait 'til I Get You Home, just without the annoyed parents) all of the talking to the audience and revealing some weird secret of theirs or just trying to embarrass them (very similar to NTV). This isn't a bad thing. I think Saturday night TV has been crying out for something like this for a while. It's been 4 years since this show has been on air and they really seemed to have honed everything about it. When it first started, it was all about the audience member winning the contents of a certain ad break, when they clocked on we weren't too bothered about that (but we did want to know what sort of car it was) they concentrated on the other aspects of the show.
Little Ant & Dec are okay, I did love it when they got the others ones came back at the start of the series; Ant & Dec's comedy timing is pretty good. I'm A Celebrity Get Out Of Me Ear may be a ridiculously forced pun on their other titan of a show but it works really well. Emma Bunton and Louis Walsh were game which made it all the more funnier. But by far my favourite item of the show is the End of the Show Show. The first one with Robbie Williams was okay but since them, it's really impressed me. I thought the boys did a fantastic job with Spellbound, they actually put some real effort in. And the Riverdance was really impressive too. Then when they bust out PJ & Duncan last night I was speechless. Why, when watching The Big Reunion I didn't ever think "I'd love to hear Let's Get Ready To Rhumble" I don't know. It's sitting pretty at number 6 in the iTunes chart as I type.
The ratings have been a huge success, probably more the ITV dared hope for. There hasn't been much competition for it though so when The Voice returns to BBC One for it's second series next Saturday it will be interesting to see how it holds up. Personally, I think Ant & Dec have nothing to worry about as they have a solid family entertainment show in their hands. I can't even think of anything similar to it at the moment, it really is one of the best things on television at the moment. The Voice will probably have a big start but let's see what happens in a couple of weeks. Britain's Got Talent is also back soon so they are going to be the kings of Saturday nights.
It’s been a really enjoyable series this year, we’ve had the one contestant
that the public want to torture (Helen), a politician who claims they are on
there to talk about serious issues (Nadine), a bit of a bossy boots (Rosemary),
an 80s singer (Limuli), someone who had to quit (Brian), a token blonde
(Ashley) and a man who calls it as it is (Eric). There’s always filler; not
their fault but their screen time is probably at the expense of other more
mouthy characters. See Linda; who seemed quite nice but the others were a bit
more in your face. We’ve also got Charlie who looked like she was going to turn
into her on screen character Janine, but turned into the eventual queen and
quite a nice girl. Janine would have eaten Rosie Webster for breakfast; don’t
stand too close to any cliffs Helen.
Let’s be honest though, we all know who the stars of the show are: Ant and
Dec. They have outshone themselves this year. Personal highlights include Dec
and his “Evening Prime Minister”, Ant with his Eric Bristow impression but my
favourite was Dec giving Ant a birthday card. Not just any card, a musical card
with Kajgoogoo’s Too Shy playing in it, which they accompanied with a little
dance. Red or Black is all forgotten guys.
Nobody watches this show for the celebrities, and this show just wouldn’t
work without Ant and Dec. While it might not quite be a vintage year, it is up
there. Helen going from zero to hero, Rosemary annoying them all and Kiosk
Keith in the jungle are some personal highlights. I love Kiosk Keith, more of
him please.
It’s a show which I can only put down its popularity to its hosts and the
mix of celebrities. While you might not have heard of some of them, the most
important thing is that they don’t get on. Throw in the fact they are basically
starving and certain people not pulling their weight and people’s masks soon
start to slip. It’s quietly turned into my favourite reality show; one that doesn’t
outstay its welcome and while it does have new and more horrible tasks each
year, it has basically stayed the same. Take note X Factor, you don’t need to
keep messing with a winning format.
