Britain's Got Talent - The Live Shows

It was the ninth most popular programme this decade.

1 – 20.3m (73%) – Only Fools and Horses (BBC1, 25/12/01)
2 – 18.9m (70%) – Euro 2004: England v Portugal (BBC1, 24/06/04)
3 – 17.9m (69%) – EastEnders (BBC1, 05/04/01)
4 – 17.6m (61%) – Coronation Street (ITV1, 24/02/03)
5 – 15.1m (56%) – Tonight Special: Millionaire (ITV1, 21/04/03)
6 – 14.4m (58%) – World Cup 2006: England v Sweden (ITV1, 20/06/06)
7 – 14.3m (53%) – Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (BBC1, 25/12/0
8 – 14.1m (55%) – I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! (ITV1, 09/02/04)
9 – 13.6m (52%) – Britain’s Got Talent (ITV1 25/05/09)
10 – 13.5m (54%) – The X Factor Results (ITV1, 13/12/0

(Thanks to rzt on Digital Spy)

It looks to be on target to climb into around 5th position by the final,

Just a shame there MORE singing people yes there good but I want a bit of variety

THAT WAS A SHOCK!

Damn my prediction were right then...

As much as I thought Stavros Flatley could do a lot better, I'm pleased they were the most popular.

Plus, did anybody catch News at Ten afterwards? It was airing "teasers" reporting that 'somebody' was considering Susan Boyle incredibly overrated... who else but Lily bloody Allen; I thought Digital Spy took over for a moment.

They seemed to have changed the running order compared to the preview last night on More Talent (which is usually in the same order as the next show). They had MD Showcase billed first, with Stavros Flatley seventh and Shaheen in the guaranteed finalist position as the last act on.

And although of course in determining the line up of these shows you tend to put your best act on last, it's a bit ridiculous now that in every single semi-final across three series the last act has got through on the public vote.

I do wish they'd open the lines after the judges comments for the last act - it might not make much difference, but would at least appear fairer. Perhaps next year with ITV allowed more ads in lengthier shows they can expand them to 2 hours to give a longer voting period and time for the guest performance plus the usual recap VTs, which seem to have been dropped now in favour of the promotions by the BGT alumni.

I think its really unfair that they open the phone lines BEFORE the judges have made comments on the last act - that act is therefore fresh in everyone's minds and people will vote for them. This has been proved as that final act always gets the highest votes. It wouldn't make much difference if they opened the phone lines after the last act has left the stage - they could then have a recap of all the acts as the lines opened. A much more fair way to do it IMO.

Harmony - sickeningly sugar sweet, candy, etc but very bad song rendition, butching it in one fell swoop. Kay Oresanya - ridiculous, totally ridiculous, horrible to listen to. why it was put through to the semis will be one of life's greatest mysteries. Ben and Becky were semi-decent but it was a very cold looking act, admittedly. Like being in a freezer. Barrow Boys - different, yes, but to my mind nothing more than a one-trick pony as there's only realistically so many ways you can chuck a wheelbarrow around before it starts to look silly. MD Showgroup is a clear example of more is less. 34 members in a group - total overkill and if truth be told the act was too complicated because there's too many people. Floral Highnotes - she sings wonderfully but I think he could have been a bit more creative with the flowers. Shaheen - great singer with a great voice for a young age but as we will probably find out on Friday - when your balls drop, that may be the end of the road. Stavros Flatley - strangely compelling, a fat Greek man and his fat Greek son. Somehow you can't not like it.



The problem with shows like these and running orders is that somebody has to go last. Considering phone lines open after the final act there's always going to be an element of "the last act was good, I remember it the most, let's vote for that".

That being said, somebody's added the league table for Series 2 - how the public voted in the final. Strangely enough, the ultimate winner then was George Sampson - who went sixth. Signature went last and finished runners-up. Andrew Johnston went seventh and finished third. Cheeky Monkeys went first and finished sixth. Andrew Muir finished last, though that was more down to the fact he hanged, drawed and quartered 'Imagine' good and proper rather than going second on the night.



A far better idea might be not to give out any phone numbers at all initially, then don't go down the predictable route of "act 1 gets 09011 33 22 01, act 2 gets 02," etc, but instead mix them up. As an example, Shaheen went fourth tonight, so don't give him 09011 33 22 04 but instead give him, 07, then give Floral Highnotes 02 even though they were last but one, MD Showdown get 08, etc. You'd only get these numbers on the recap and scroller, it'd force you to watch the recap to find the number you need, plus it would cut down on the patronising screen crap on the ITV2 repeat.

I swear that during the first 'act' the picture shifted to the right with an identical picture following it, seperated by a thick white stripe, much like a broken Video tape. Did anyone else see it or was it just me?

Anyway, I was very interested to see That Was Nightly (?), but Susan will win and if she don't ITV will be worried since the media will claim the show was fixed.

Yeah, I saw it too... thought something was up with my tv though.

How that Greek act got though first time so it could become anyone RACE!

Ratings for last night courtesy of the ITV Insider on Twitter;

12.7 million average = 50% share
(peak at 14.9 million at 9.30pm)