As the BGT semi finals continue, the acts seem to becoming more and more obscure.
With the exception of Boyband New Bounce, which were branded “the ones to beat” by Simon Cowell and got themselves the public vote to the final, the other contestants took a walk onto the weird side.
Firstly there was keyboard player Jean Martyn, who with her bright coloured coat and inane smile made us think she was ready for the looney bin more than the final, but that didn’t stop all four judges putting her through over magician act Karen and David.
Amanda even compared the excitable musician to an energy drink, calling her “a can of red bull”.
Meanwhile, Britney Spears impersonator Lorna Bliss was booted off the programme after causing controversy by making it through to the semi-final, despite getting buzzed by judges three times in auditions.
Frankly we’re not sure why she bothered come back. Yes she may have looked like the pop princess but that voice really needs some work.
Then there was Up and Over it, the act that made dance with their hands. We wish we’d thought of an act like this for our five minutes of fame.
In fact their weirdness even beat the Circus of Horrors, a show with trapeze artists, bouncers and weird made up people.
It was a night of pyrotechnics and performances, as well as egos as the first semi final of Britain’s Got Talent took place last night.
Amanda, Michael and David were joined by king Simon Cowell who walked on to Superman music to cast his beady eye on the first contestants.
Although he liked fire entertainment group Girls Roc, the public didn’t agree and the girls were sent home, not before securing a place to perform at Simon’s birthday and without a few bitter words of “the girls never do well.”
If anyone should have been bitter however it should have been Joe, who cycled his way into the top three, only to lose a place in the final to pianist Paul after the four judges took the vore to deadlock – a first in BGT apparently.
Joining him in the final was the 12-year-old Justin Bieber lookalike who received rave reviews from the judges for his performance of Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ on the ITV1 show.
Others booted off the show was Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator Stuart Arnold and grandaughter and grandad singing duo Ted and Grace, frankly we don’t think Grace will be going round to see her grandad for tea anymore after she failed to use him to get her fame. In fact her plan may have backfired completely with all the judges saying they’d like to see more of the 93 year old, rather than what we think was a bad Gwen Stefani wannabe.
Meanwhile, hosts Ant and Dec took the opportunity to poke fun at Simon, who reportedly axed Cheryl Cole from the US version of ‘The X Factor’ because of her strong Geordie accent.
They joked: “Before we start Simon, can you understand our accents OK?”
The red-faced TV boss brushed off the comment, saying: “Why, has something happened? Sorry I’ve been away.”
Britain’s Got Talent’ hopeful Paul Gbegbaje was bullied at school for being religious.
The 19-year-old pianist has revealed he turned to music to escape his cruel classmates, who dubbed him “Jesus Freak” because he read the Bible while they looked at Playboy magazine.
He explained: “I was different because of what I believed in. In year eight I would bring my Bible for reading time and they would bring Playboy and stuff like that. They would call me Jesus Freak.
“I didn’t swear, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t bunk. They were listening to things in the charts, whereas me, I was listening to piano.”
However, Paul – who wowed panellists Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and guest judge Louis Walsh on Saturday night’s (21.05.11) show – is now glad he ignored the bullies, who have since made contact to congratulate him on his success on the ITV1 series.
He added to The Sun newspaper: “Some of them even emailed me on Facebook saying, ‘Well done’. I feel like I’ve had some form of victory. I had the last laugh.”
“People didn’t understand my passion and they saw it as strange and weird. But now I am so glad I stayed true to myself.”
Meanwhile, new viewing figures have revealed more people tuned in to watch the sixth episode of ‘Britain’s Got Talent than they did in 2010.
While an average of 10 million were glued to their screens watching the talents of the nation on Saturday night, some 9.4 million watched on the same week last year.
Declan Donnelly has vowed to “never ever” get dragged onto the Britain’s Got Talent stage again after a contestant made him help with his act.
The host – one half of duo Ant and Dec – was roped in to assist Shaun Jones aka Mr. Remarkableman by holding his legs for his bizarre routine which includes Mr. Jones standing on his head to blow up and burst three hot water bottles and the contestant admitted producers were worried about the risks involved.
Mr. Jones told the Norwich Evening News newspaper: “At one time I actually thought that the security crew were all going to pile on the stage and rescue Dec as he was trembling, holding me up by my legs. I could see the security staff back stage ready to come on.
“It was just really crazy as the judges had no idea what was going to happen. I was surprised that they let me carry on with my act as it’s really bizarre and dangerous.
“But I was warned before I went on the stage to just calm down as one of the security people was watching me getting pumped up for the act and was very concerned about what was going on.”
However, the judges weren’t too impressed with his act, with comedian Michael McIntyre telling him: “To justify your surname you might want to do your own headstands rather than have Dec hold your feet.”
Other acts set to appear on tomorrow night’s episode (21.05.11) include Bobby Button aka Rockin’ Robin who despite being rejected at first by Amanda Holden, impresses the audience so much, the judge changes her mind. She says: “I’ve made a mistake. I’d like to change my vote – you’re through to the next round.”
Fans of Britain’s Got Talent will be relieved. As rumoured, Simon Cowell will return to the show’s semi-finals, starting Monday 30 May.
The music mogul missed the audition stages of this year’s contest to focus on launching The X Factor in America but will return to take a seat on the panel alongside Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff for the live stages of the competition, which kick off at the end of this month.
Amanda recently admitted she had missed “flirting” with Simon on the panel – and would love for him to make a spectacular re-entrance to the show.
She said: “Simon won’t like the fact he’s not missed. He will return for part of the live finals. I’d love him to come down from the ceiling on a cloud, wearing a toga and showing off his macho chest. That would be a good way for him to return!
“Hopefully he’ll be draping himself over me again, because I’ve missed the flirting!”
However, the 40-year-old star also admitted she feels in charge of the judging panel at the moment because she is the only judge to have featured in previous years.
She joked: “Michael did ask me for lots of advice and turns to me a lot, so I did feel like the boss, which I liked!
Meanwhile fellow BGT judge David Hasselhoff judge claims he is a good judge of character and values certain qualities in contestants, rather than talent.
He explained to Now magazine: “I can pick people out of a crowd and know exactly the person I need to talk to. And I can tell when someone is having me on. I’m pretty good at that.
“I try to vote people through on charisma. People either have it or they don’t – sometimes they’re not the best singers or the best entertainers, but they’re magnetic when you look at them. You can’t draw your eyes away.”
Apparently filming of Britain’s Got Talent had to be halted after Amanda Holden became allergic to a BGT contestant. The judge’s nose became inflamed after Lorna Bliss, who danced to Britney’s hit Toxic wearing only a thong and hundreds of diamantes, kissed her while wearing a plumping lip gloss, which she had a reaction to, prompting the show to be halted until her face had returned to normal.
Amanda said: “She had lip plump on and got my nose. We ended up stopping the show for five minutes because my nose ‘plumped’.” An embarrassed Lorna said: “I’m really sorry that happened to Amanda. I only kissed her because she’s the most attractive member of the panel.”
Meanwhile, Lorna has revealed she was offered £50,000 to play her idol in a porn movie but turned it down out of respect for Britney. The 30-year-old blonde, who has spent £170,000 copying Britney’s look, said: “I’m known as a lookalike internationally and have had some weird offers. I was offered £50,000 to play Britney in a porn film. I wasn’t offended but it wouldn’t be fair on Britney if I did an adult movie.”
Bodhi - the skateboarding dog - will appear on this wekend's Britain's Got Talent
Whatever next? Last week we had a guy who made artwork out of marmite on toast, the week before it was a guy who used his pants to paint pictures. This weekend it’s a skateboarding dog.
And who said that Britain’s talent pool is drying up?
Lakeland Terrier Bodhi – who landed his owner Jonathan Fell with an £80 fine after running over two women, and has been threatened with a pet restraining order – apparently stunned the judges and audience alike when he auditioned for the ITV1 show by managing to totally to ruin someone else’s act.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Bodhi came on and just skated all over the stage. He was met with a baffled reception from the judges and left.
“But he obviously fancied more time to show off – and he shot back on during an opera act.”
Jonathan takes Bodhi out skateboarding near their Brighton home but was soon hit with a council fine after his beloved dog smashed into two passers – one of whom was pregnant.
However, Jonathan – who has since been reminded by Brighton and Hove City Council that dogs must be kept on leads – insists Bodhi was just over-excited, adding: “Bodhi loves skateboarding and is not a criminal. It makes people laugh.”
‘Britain’s Got Talent’ hopefuls Girls Roc are confident Prince Philip will be a huge fan of their sexy dance routine, even if it may be too raunchy for Queen Elizabeth.
The fire-breathing group have made it through to the next round of the ITV1 show, and despite their skimpy costumes and x-rated performance, they have vowed they won’t tone down their act if they win ‘BGT’ and perform in front of the queen and Philip at the Royal Variety Performance.
Leader Nicola Wills said: “We actually toned down our act for ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
“The queen might be shocked but Prince Philip – he’d love it, he would be like, ‘Woo hoo.’ ”
However, Nicola insisted the group’s costumes looked skimpier on stage because they had wardrobe malfunctions which made it appear as if they were wearing thongs.
She added to The Sun newspaper: “We all have dancers’ bums so we much up the leotard. We didn’t have thong leotards on but by the end of it we looked like we had.”
While judge Amanda Holden praised the girls’ “fantastic bottoms”, Michael McIntyre said they were too naughty.
Simon Cowell said that this years Britain’s Got Talent was “better than ever” and for once we’re inclined to agree.
Over the past four weeks we’ve seen a number of amazing acts from dogs to very young children, which have blown away Amanda Holden and new judges David Hasslehoff and comedian Michael Mcintyre.
However, if we have one criticism of the show so far, it’s that there’s none of those really bad acts. It could just be because there is far too much talent, or that producers are going through a new change. An example of this was clearly shown this week when we were just given an hour of pure talent. Kicking off the long list was gymnast Valerie whose flexible nature and of course er, talent had the Hoff all hot under the collar. The same could be said about girls, Girls Roc, whose skimpy outfits and and suggestive moves were almost too much for the Baywatch star.
Then there was New Bounce, who proved that despite appearances they weren’t the new Jacksons after a terrible song. However, after being given a second song choice by Amanda the boys did well. Another surprise came in the form of Robert wh looked all masculine but there was nothing laddish about his high feminine voice.
However, our top three of the night were clear. Artist Nathan’s artistic Marmite and toast picture of judge Micheal showed that you didn’t have to be a dancer or singer to have talent, while autistic school boy James moved the judges, and I, to tears with his stunning performance. Also making it into our top three was Michael.
Although not technically British – he was from France and wasn’t too good with English – the dancer blew us away with his popping dance moves. By far my favourite of the night.
Britain’s Got Talent hopeful Tracey Moran once handed in £33,000 after discovering it on a plane seat and is still waiting award for a reward for her honesty.
The airplane cleaner – who impressed the judges with her dance routine to the Grease theme tune on last Saturday’s show (30.04.11) – found the cash and some suspicious white powder and pills in a washbag as she cleaned a jet at Heathrow airport, and immediately handed it over to her bosses.
Although they promised her a financial reward, six years later she is still waiting for it.
Recalling the incident, Tracey told The Sun newspaper: “I found it on one of the seats. I thought it was a bag of toiletries so I opened it.
“Inside were rolls of dollars. The money was surrounded by some pills and powder. I think it was drugs. Whoever brought it on to the plane had maybe chickened out from trying to take it through security so left it on board.
“I handed it to my boss, then we gave it into the man that makes sure we’re on time with cleaning and preparing the plane. He said I would get a reward but I haven’t seen him since.”
However, Tracey says she is now concentrating on wining Britain’s Got Talent after making it through to the live semi-finals in the hope of being able to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in December.
She said: “I love the Royal Family. I cried all through the wedding.”
TV and music mogul Simon Cowell thinks Britain’s Got Talent is better than ever, despite ratings having slumped to their lowest levels since the series was launched in 2007.
The 51-year-old music mogul jumped to the defence of the ITV1 talent show, claiming more viewers are tuning in to watch the “fantastic” ‘BGT’ as the weeks go on.
He said: “We’ve got to get out of the habit of being so gloomy. The fact is, people are enjoying it. I think it’s fantastic. Ratings peaked last year at 11.8million and this week it was 11.4million. If you’d told me a year later we’d be getting these numbers, who says that would be bad news?
“It’s creeping up. It went up week on week. You’ve just got to keep making good TV. The public aren’t stupid. They like the show. I know this is a good show. I think the talent is better this year than last year. I’m happy with it and really looking forward to the semi-finals.”
Simon – who will be returning to the ‘BGT’ judging panel alongside Amanda Holden, David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre for the live finals of the competition – revealed he has been “keeping his distance” from the show so he can judge contestants fairly.
He added: “I’m going to walk into the live shows on the night and try to judge it fairly. I’m keeping my distance because I think it’s only fair. I’m not going to see any rehearsals.”
Certainly last week’s show was great, especially 12 year old singer Ronan Parke who stole the show with his absolutely stunning performance of Nina Simone’s classic Feeling Good. You can see him here.
Click on the gallery below for some of last week’s contestants – including a bloke who took off several pairs of underpants and used them to smear paint on a canvas. Nice act.
A ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant has angered viewers after it was revealed he has previously had chart success with two different groups.
Pub landlord Herbie Armstrong claimed he had “never broken through as the front man” when he appeared on the ITV1 show on Saturday (30.04.11) but old YouTube footage shows the singer appeared on ‘Top of the Pops’ with his bands Fox and Yellow Dog.
Herbie, 66, was also part of Van Morrison’s backing band after the pair met in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where they both grew up and released his own solo album through his website last year.
However the judges were impressed, with Amanda Holden saying: “I think you’ve got a good heart. I can feel that this is kind of your last shot. I think you can do better. But I think you did a great job.”
Guest judge Louis Walsh added: “You’ve got Celtic soul and I’m saying yes.”
Meanwhile, 12-year-old Ronan Parke has been compared to pop sensation Justin Bieber after he wowed the judges and audience with own version of ‘Feeling Good’.
The ambitious singer – who received over 50,000 hits on YouTube after his appearance – is grateful for the compliment but wants to be known in his own right.
He said: “I take that as a very big compliment because Justin Bieber is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. But I don’t want people to think ‘That’s the new Justin Bieber’, I want them to think ‘That’s Ronan Parke’.”
A magician claims he was kicked off ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ because he threatened to hypnotise David Hasselhoff.
Chris Richards had initially wowed David and his fellow judges Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre in the audition rounds for the ITV1 show after jumping off stage to perform an array of magic tricks in front of their table.
They then asked Chris how he could better his magic act if he reached the live semi-finals, to which he replied: “I’ll hypnotise The Hoff.”
The former ‘Baywatch’ star then laughed: “I’ve been hypnotised for the past 16 years, baby.”
But despite Chris being one of the favourites, he has now been told he has not made it through to the live shows and he thinks the only explanation for his axing is because of his plans.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: “I think David was scared. I really did plan to hypnotise him, to make him forget he was on ‘BGT’ and get him doing a silly dance. I can only think I’m off the show because The Hoff chickened out.”
A ‘BGT’ spokesman insisted the decision had nothing to do with Chris’ plans.
‘Britain’s Got Talent’ hopeful Razy Gogonea is desperate to win the show so he can buy his fiancee an engagement ring.
Unemployed Razy – who wowed judges Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff and the audience with his body-popping routine on Saturday night’s (23.04.11) show before breaking down in tears as he made it through to the next round – proposed to Ruth Lee six months ago but never had enough money to buy a ring.
However, if he is crowned winner of the ITV1 show he has promised to splash out on a sparkler with the £100,000 prize.
He said: “It’s upsetting not being able to afford one. If I won ‘BGT’ the first thing I’d do is buy one. I’ve got my eye on a couple already. She deserves the best and I’ll do my best for her. We’re hoping to get married this year.”
Ruth added: “Razy has always said the first thing he’ll do when he gets some money is get me a ring. I’ve seen a few I like, but they are quite expensive. We really want to get married but it all depends on the money.”
Razy – who originally hails from Romania – also admitted he has been “overwhelmed” by the public support he has received since his Matric-style routine hit TV screens, and he is now keen to make a name for himself.
He added to The Sun newspaper: “It feels fantastic. I am feeling overwhelmed by it. I didn’t anticipate how big it would be.”
Razy is now 10-1 favourite to win the ITV1 talent show.
A teenager who wowed judges on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ went on the show because he wants to lift his family out of poverty.
Singer-guitarist Michael Collings – who impressed Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff with his rendition of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ in last night’s premiere of the ITV1 show (16.04.11) – lives in a caravan and struggles to pay his bills.
He said he wants to hit the big time on the reality talent contest so he can properly provide for his fiancee Sophie and their eight-week-son Jamie and get them their own place.
The 19-year-old hopeful told the Sunday Mirror: “At the moment I’m still in the caravan with my parents so it would be great to get a place for Sophie, Jamie and myself.
“That’s the main reason behind me doing this, to take them with me and provide for my family.
“It would be such a relief not to have to worry about money all the time like we do now.”
An early favourite to win the show’s £100,000 prize, Michael stunned the judges at his audition despite his scruffy looks.
Comedian Michael said: “Most people who look awful are truly awful. Which is why Michael Collings shows up, we think he’s going to be awful, but he is amazing.”
Amanda added that he could be the next Susan Boyle, who, despite her unconventional appearance, went on to become a singing sensation after wowing judges on the programme in 2009.
The panellist said: “It’s the Susan Boyle moment. When someone like that walks on stage, you judge them. It’s bad but it’s human nature, you look at someone and think about how they’re presented rather than who they are.”
A scruffy teenager with a traveller-inspired lifestyle has wowed the judges on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
Singer-guitarist Michael Collings – who lives on a caravan park – impressed Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff with his rendition of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’, despite them ruling him out because of the way the 19 year old looks.
Comedian Michael said: “Most people who look awful are truly awful. Which is why Michael Collings shows up, we think he’s going to be awful, but he is amazing.”
Amanda likened Michael’s audition to that of Susan Boyle, who wowed the judges and audience in 2009 with her rendition of ‘Les Miserables’ song ‘I Dreamed A Dream’, despite not looking great.
She said: “It’s the Susan Boyle moment. When someone like that walks on stage, you judge them. It’s bad but it’s human nature, you look at someone and think about how they’re presented rather than who they are.”
Other acts set to impress viewers of the ITV1 show when it is aired on Saturday (16.04.11) include Alan and Gay Cooper, who do a handbell version of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’, nine-year-old comic David Knight, martial arts duo Grace and Chloe and Donelda Guy with her dog freestyle act.
Simon Cowell has nicknamed David Hasselhoff “Precious”.
The reality TV mogul has been friends with the former ‘Baywatch’ star for years and Simon’s brother, Tony, claims he is the only person who could get away with calling him such a girly pet name rather than his preferred The Hoff.
Tony told Star magazine: “The Hoff is a TV legend and I’m loving him! He’s been friends with Simon for 20 years. In fact, Simon’s nickname for him is ‘Precious’ and he’s the only man on the planet who could get away with calling him that!”
“Simon said, ‘David makes such great television and is so funny he doesn’t know it’.”
David has previously appeared next to Simon on the panel of ‘America’s Got Talent’, and is now working on the British version of the show – alongside comedian Michael McIntyre and actress Amanda Holden – which has led to him finding a new girlfriend, factory worker and part time model Hayley Roberts, while he was filming in Wales.
When quizzed on his new romance, David – who has been married twice – said: “I knew you would ask that! I’m not sure if I’m in love at the moment. But I like her very much; the whole thing is quite fresh.
In the future maybe I will be married. I definitely want to be in a solid relationship. I don’t want to spend my time with a lot of women. I appreciate a solid partner by my side, with which I can spend the rest of my life.”
A man dressed up as a giant hamster has auditioned for ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
Cameraman Stuart Kettell – whose stage name is The Mad Fool – has tried out for the talent search show with an act which includes him pulling on a hamster suit and running in a giant wheel and he explained he would love to win the show for the chance to perform his unique act for the queen.
He said: “I would like to think the queen would like to see a giant hamster running across her stage one day.”
Judge Amanda Holden has revealed she and her fellow panellists David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre are putting through some ridiculous acts on purpose in order to annoy Simon Cowell when he returns for the live shows.
She said: “I can’t wait to see Simon – and I especially can’t wait to see his face when he sees some of the acts we’ve put through.”
Some unusual contestants this year include architect Gary Craig – who calls himself Geordie Pantsman – whose act comprises of him putting on as many pairs of underwear as he can and ‘Sailor Pig’ Andrew Evans who sings while dressed up as a pig in a naval costume.
The number of dance acts appearing on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has been reduced this year.
After the ITV1 show started getting too many entrants similar to 2009′s winning dance troupe Diversity its bosses started welcoming more ‘Glee’-style musical groups.
The change was confirmed by the presenting duo Ant and Dec who said audiences can now expect more variety of contestants on the reality talent show, which starts airing this Saturday (16.04.11).
Ant said: “There haven’t been so many dance troupes as Diversity set the bar so high before. There were a lot of ‘Glee’-inspired acts, groups singing and dancing, but not all of them were that great.”
Dec added to The Sun newspaper: “There has been a lot of very talented singing children, so that will be a competitive area. The illusionists were great too. We really hope some make the semi-finals.”
Meanwhile the show’s judges Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff have admitted to deliberately putting through weird and wonderful acts to challenge the show’s boss Simon Cowell when he joins the panel for the semi-finals.
Those who have already appeared on the show include a dancing Darth Vader and Princess Leia, a guitar-strumming dog and a horse and motorbike stunt act called Stallions of Substance.
Amanda said: “I can’t wait to see Simon back and I especially can’t wait to see his face when he sees some of the acts we’ve put through.”
David added: “The young acts are without a doubt going to the finals along with a fantastic dog act and some very funny comedians.
“The worst was a man that did an impersonation of trucks I think he was run over last week while doing a truck sound.”
Amanda Holden loves being the “top dog” on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
The ITV1 show returns to TV screens next weekend but following the departures of original judges Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell, Amanda is joined on the panel by Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff and is enjoying being in control.
She said: “Simon will return for part of the live finals but we’re getting on fine without him. Piers is old hat. I’m top dog now. Like God.”
Amanda – who is returning to the ‘BGT’ live shows following the tragic loss of her baby son seven months into her pregnancy in February – also revealed she thinks a child will win this series although has been impressed with the overall standard of everyone.
She said: “I don’t want to ruin any surprises but the standards are brilliant and there are an awful lot of amazing children. I think a child will win if I had to put money on it.
“None of the acts are cheesy or cutesy but really heart-warming. These are all the things that ‘BGT’ wants – and we’ve got surprisingly few pushy mothers this year!”
‘Britain’s Got Talent’ hopeful Razy Gogonea is desperate to win the show so he can buy his fiancee an engagement ring.
From:Coronation Street fans apply here