Britain's Got Talent series 3

Template:Infobox reality music competition The 2009 series of Britain's Got Talent is the third and current series of the show. It began airing on ITV on 11 April, and is due to end on 30 May 2009.

Judges and presenters

Initially, it was announced that the judges for the 2009 series would consist of original judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan with the addition of new judge Kelly Brook.^[1] However, it was later announced that Brook was to leave the panel after just six days working on the show.^[2] It was reported that Cowell felt "very bad"^[3] following Brook's exit and that he had offered her a job in another role on the show.^[4] It was also reported that Brook would receive her full £100,000 fee for appearing on the show.^[5]^[6] According to Cowell, the reason given for sacking Brook was because the producers decided the format was "too complicated" with four judges. She has since been referred to as a "guest judge" at only Manchester.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Ant and Dec return as hosts of the main show on ITV.^[10] Stephen Mulhern also returned as host of the sister-show Britain's Got More Talent.

Broadcasts

Britain's Got Talent 2009 began on 11 April. Overall, there were seven audition shows on consecutive Saturdays before a week of nightly shows so fans can pick the finalists who will battle it out on 30 May 2009.

Auditions

The application process took place throughout January and February 2009. First the judges visited Manchester for three days where they saw a total of 120 auditioners. They then visited Glasgow for a day, viewing a total of 40 auditioners. They then headed back down south to England, and to Birmingham for three days, watching a further 120 auditioners.

The next stop was London, where the judges saw a total of 128 acts over three days from Wednesday 28 January to Friday 30 January. Finally, the judges went to Cardiff for a day on Monday 3 February, where they saw 40 auditioners attempt to win their vote. Auditions were also to be held in Newcastle, but were cancelled just days beforehand.

Semi-finalists

On 23 May, the 40 semi-finalists selected from the almost 200 successful auditions in the "First Round Call-Backs" were revealed.^[11]

Key	Finalist	Winner	Semi-finalist (lost judges' vote)

Name / Name of Act	Age(s)	Genre	Act	From	Semi	Position Reached
2 Grand	12,76	Singing	Grandfather and granddaughter singing duo	Doncaster	4	Finalist
Aidan Davis	12	Dancing	Street dancer	Birmingham	5	Finalist
The Barrow Boys	18-27	Dancing	Wheelbarrow dancers	Devon	3	Semi-finalist
Ben and Becky	18, 16	Dancing	Ballroom dancers	Essex	3	Semi-finalist
Brit Chix	23-26	Music	Rock band	Boston	4	Semi-finalist
Callum Francis	12	Performing	Musical theatre performer	Hertfordshire	4	Semi-finalist
Darth Jackson	37	Dancing	Darth Vader and Michael Jackson impersonator	Birmingham	1	Semi-finalist
DCD Seniors	14-21	Dancing	Dance troupe	Cardiff	5	Semi-finalist
Diversity	12-25	Dancing	Street dancers	Dagenham	1	Finalist
DJ Talent	30	Singing	Rapper	London	2	Semi-finalist
The Dreambears	28-33	Dancing	Comedy dancers	London	5	Semi-finalist
Fabia Cerra	35	Dancing	Burlesque dancer	Oxford	4	Semi-finalist
Faces of Disco	24,30	Comedy / Dancing	Comedy dancers	London	1	Semi-finalist
Flawless	20-31	Dancing	Street dancers	London	2	Finalist
Floral High Notes	43,46	Singing	Opera singing and flower arranging	Cheshire	3	Semi-finalist
Fred Bowers	73	Dancing	Break dancing pensioner	Loughborough	4	Semi-finalist
Gareth Oliver	28	Comedy	Ventriloquism	Calderdale	2	Semi-finalist
Good Evans	6-42	Singing	Singing family	Coventry	5	Semi-finalist
Greg Pritchard^[12]	24	Singing	Countertenor/Male Soprano	Usk	5	Semi-finalist
Harmony	14,16	Performing	Musical theatre performers	Essex	3	Semi-finalist
Hollie Steel	10	Singing / Dancing	Singer and ballerina	Lancashire	5	Finalist
Hot Honeyz	16-25	Dancing	Dancers	Maidstone	2	Semi-finalist
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes	40,2	Dancing / Animals	Dog dancing	Oxford	4	Semi-finalist
Jamie Pugh	37	Singing	Singer	Cardiff	2	Semi-finalist
Julia Naidenko	24	Dancing	Belly dancer	Latvia	1	Semi-finalist
Julian Smith	39	Instrumentalist	Saxophonist	Birmingham	4	Finalist
Kay Oresanya	31	Miscellaneous	Human "saxophonist"	Nigeria	3	Semi-finalist
Luke Clements	36	Miscellaneous	Fruit Juggler	Cornwall	5	Semi-finalist
Martin "Gos" Matcham	35	Instrumentalist	Guitar player	Dover	5	Semi-finalist
MD Showgroup	9-17	Dancing	Street dancers	Liverpool	3	Semi-finalist
Merlin Cadogan	35	Stunts	Escapologist	Devon	2	Semi-finalist
Natalie Okri	10	Singing	Singer	London	1	Semi-finalist
Nick Hell	26	Stunts	Freakshow/stunt performer	Sunderland	1	Semi-finalist
Peter Coghlan (aka Mama Trish)	48	Performer	Drag act	Stafford	2	Semi-finalist
Shaheen Jafargholi	12	Singing	Singer	Swansea, South Wales	3	Finalist
Shaun Smith	17	Singing	Singer	Lichfield	2	Finalist
Stavros Flatly	12,40	Comedy / Dancing	Greek/Irish Dancers	Cyprus	3	Finalist
Sue Son	23	Instrumentalist	Electric violinist	London	1	Semi-finalist
Susan Boyle	48	Singing	Singer	Blackburn, West Lothian	1	Finalist
Sugarfree	16-25	Dancing	Street dancers	Gravesend, Kent	4	Semi-finalist

Semi-final summary

The "Order" columns lists the order of appearance each act made for every episode.

Key	X Buzzed out	✔ Judges' choice	Won the public vote	Won the judges' vote

Semi-Final 1
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
1	2nd (won judges' vote)	Diversity	Street dancers	✔		✔
2	Unknown	Sue Son	Electric violinist
3	3rd (lost judges' vote)	Natalie Okri	Singer		✔
4	Unknown	Julia Naidenko	Dancer		X
5	Unknown	Darth Jackson	Darth Vader/Michael Jackson impersonator	X
6	Unknown	Nick Hell	Freakshow/stunt performer	X	X	X
7	Unknown	Faces of Disco	Comedy dancers	X		X
8	1st (won public vote)	Susan Boyle	Singer
Semi-Final 2
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
1	Unknown	DJ Talent	Rapper
2	Unknown	Merlin Cadogan	Escapologist
3	Unknown	Jamie Pugh	Singer		X
4	Unknown	Hot Honeyz	Dancers	X		X
5	Unknown	Peter Coghlan	Drag act	X	X
6	3rd (lost judges' vote)	Gareth Oliver	Ventriloquist	X		✔
7	2nd (won judges' vote)	Shaun Smith	Singer	✔	✔
8	1st (won public vote)	Flawless	Dancers
Semi-Final 3
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
1	Unknown	Harmony	Musical theatre performers
2	Unknown	Kay Oresanya	Human saxophone	X
3	Unknown	Ben and Becky	Ballroom dancers
4	2nd (won judges' vote)	Shaheen Jafargholi	Singer		✔	✔
5	Unknown	The Barrow Boys	Wheelbarrow dancers	X		X
6	3rd (lost judges' vote)	MD Showgroup	Dancers	✔
7	Unknown	Floral High Notes	Opera singing and flower arranging	X
8	1st (won public vote)	Stavros Flatly	Greek/Irish Dancers
Semi-Final 4
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
1	Unknown	Sugar Free	Dancers
2	Unknown	Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes	Dog act			X
3	3rd (lost judges vote)	Callum Francis	Musical performer			✔
4	Unknown	Fred Bowers	Break dancer
5	Unknown	Brit Chix	Rock band	X	X	X
6	1st (won public vote)	Julian Smith	Saxophonist
7	2nd (won judges' vote)	2 Grand	Singers	✔	✔
8	Unknown	Fabia Cerra	Burlesque dancer
Semi-Final 5
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
1	Unknown	The Dreambears	Comedy dancers	X
2	Unknown	Good Evans	Singers			X
3	Unknown	Luke Clements	Juggler	X	X	X
4 & 7	2nd (won judges' vote)	Hollie Steel^{[note 1]}	Singer and ballerina	✔	✔	✔
5	Unknown	Martin "Gos" Matcham	Singer and guitarist	X
6	1st (won public vote)	Aidan Davis	Street dancer
8	Unknown	DCD Seniors	Dancers
9	3rd (lost judges' vote)	Greg Pritchard	Countertenor singer	X
Final
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Buzzes and judges' choices
Order	Finished	Artist	Act	Simon	Amanda	Piers
TBA	TBA	Susan Boyle	Singer
TBA	TBA	Diversity	Street dancers
TBA	TBA	Flawless	Dancers
TBA	TBA	Shaun Smith	Singer
TBA	TBA	Stavros Flatly	Greek/Irish comedy dance duet
TBA	TBA	Shaheen Jafargholi	Singer
TBA	TBA	Julian Smith	Saxophone player
TBA	TBA	2 Grand	Singers
TBA	TBA	Aidan Davis	Breakdancer
TBA	TBA	Hollie Steel	Singer

Footnotes

^ Hollie was initially denied a second go by the producers after she broke down with nerves, but Simon allowed her to have another attempt at her performance. This occured after the 3rd advert break, before the seventh act, to positive comments.

Live show chart

**Legend**
Winner	Runner-Up	Eliminated	Judge's Choice

Did Not Perform

Won Semi Final

Top 3 (Eliminated)

Show	Contestant	Result
Show	Contestant	SF 1	SF 2	SF 3	SF 4	SF 5	Final
Final	2 Grand				JC
	Aidan Davis					Win
	Diversity	JC
	Flawless		Win
	Hollie Steel					JC
	Julian Smith				Win
	Shaheen Jafargholi			JC
	Shaun Smith		JC
	Stavros Flatly			Win
	Susan Boyle	Win
Semi Final 5
	DCD Seniors					ELIM
	The Dreambears					ELIM
	Good Evans					ELIM
	Greg Pritchard					Top 3
	Luke Clements					ELIM
	Martin "Gos" Matcham					ELIM
Semi Final 4	Callum Francis				Top 3
	Brit Chix				ELIM
	Fabia Cerra				ELIM
	Fred Bowers				ELIM
	Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes				ELIM
	Sugarfree				ELIM
Semi Final 3	MD Showgroup			Top 3
	Harmony			ELIM
	Kay Oresanya			ELIM
	Ben & Becky			ELIM
	The Barrow Boys			ELIM
	Floral Highnotes			ELIM
Semi Final 2	Gareth Oliver		Top 3
	DJ Talent		ELIM
	Merlin Cadogan		ELIM
	Jamie Pugh		ELIM
	Hot Honeyz		ELIM
	Peter Coghlan		ELIM
Semi Final 1	Natalie Okri	Top 3
	Sue Son	ELIM
	Julia Naidenko	ELIM
	Darth Jackson	ELIM
	Nick Hell	ELIM
	Faces Of Disco	ELIM

Performances

A number of acts from past series of Britain's Got Talent have appeared as guest performers on many of the semi-finals of season 3. They are listed as follows:

Semi-Final 1: None
Semi-Final 2: Escala
Semi-Final 3: Faryl Smith
Semi-Final 4: George Sampson
Semi-Final 5: Paul Potts
Final: TBA

Ratings

Show	Date	Overnight Rating	Share	Peak	Official Rating	Source
Auditions 1	11 April	10.52m	45.1%	11.81m	11.21m	^[13]
Auditions 2	18 April	11.86m	50.6%	13.48m	12.95m	^[14]
Auditions 3	25 April	12.24m	52.3%	13.16m	13.21m	^[15]
Auditions 4	2 May	10.46m	47.2%	11.46m	11.16m	^[16]
Auditions 5	9 May	11.12m	48.4%	11.30m	11.98m	^[17]
Auditions 6	16 May	9.77m	41.0%	—	11.09m	^[18]
Auditions 7	23 May	11.62m	51.1%	12.94m	—	^[19]
Semi Final 1	24 May	11.77m	49.2%	13.59m	—	^[20]
Semi Final 2	25 May	13.64m	51.6%	15.35m	—	^[21]
Semi Final 3	26 May	12.75m	49.9%	14.87m	—	^[22]
Semi Final 4	28 May	12.31m	51.2%	13.63m	—	^[23]
Semi Final 5	29 May	—	—	—	—	—
Final Performances	30 May	—	—	—	—	—
Final Results	30 May	—	—	—	—	—
Series Average	2009	11.58 (so far)	48.6%	—	—	—
"—" denotes where information is currently unavailable

The series' second semi-finals on 25 May pulled in over 15 million viewers at its peak, which is by a significant margin the highest number of viewers to ever watch the show; the act performing at that time was Flawless, who proceeded on to the finals by winning the most votes from the public.^[24]

Controversy

Neil Horan

One act that passed through the first round of auditions was Irish dancer Neil Horan. Unknown among the three judges and the audience inside the theatre Horan was infact a protestor whose labels included running out during the 2004 Olympics Men's Marathon and various Formula 1 races. Horan did not make it into the live semi-finals.

Fred Bowers

Elderly breakdancer Fred Bowers, who did make into the live semi-finals, was also reported to have claimed disability claims for his leg, despite having no obvious major problems with it. Since the story emerged in the media, Bowers has vowed to pay all the money back if he is found to be in the wrong.^[25]

References

[13] Hollie was initially denied a second go by the producers after she broke down with nerves, but Simon allowed her to have another attempt at her performance. This occured after the 3rd advert break, before the seventh act, to positive comments.

[1] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britainsgottalent/a142167/brook-confirmed-for-britains-got-talent.html

[2] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britainsgottalent/a143680/brook-axed-from-britains-got-talent.html

[3] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britainsgottalent/a143798/cowell-feels-very-bad-over-brook-axe.html

[4] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britainsgottalent/a144118/cowell-ive-offered-kelly-new-talent-job.html

[5] ttp://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/news/daily-gossip/090122-kelly-brook-receives-100000-for-s.aspx

[6] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britainsgottalent/a143938/brook-paid-gbp100k-for-talent-exit.html

[7] ttp://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/kelly+brook+axed+as+tv+talent+show+judge/2906982

[8] ttp://itn.co.uk/news/24bd19c69869b8332c2e8c173fa01986.html

[9] ttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/kelly-brook-axed-from-britains-got-talent-1451591.html

[10] ttp://www.officialantanddec.com/blog/2009/04/08/the-boys-are-back-in-town/

[11] ttp://entertainment.stv.tv/home/98324-britains-got-talent-the-40-semi-finalists/

[12] ttp://talent.itv.com/videos/video/item_200163.htm

[14] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a152472/huge-audiences-for-talent-who.html

[15] ttp://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a153234/talent-climbs-to-119-million.html

[16] 'Talent' appeals to 12.2 million

[17] Latest 'Talent' pulls in 10.5 million

[18] 'Got Talent' back up to 11.1 million

[19] 7.8 million tune in for Eurovision

[20] 'Talent', 'Primeval' help ITV1 win Saturday

[21] Susan Boyle shows 13.6m she's Got Talent

[22] Latest 'Talent' peaks with 15.4 million

[23] 12.8 million tune in for third 'Talent' semi

[24] [1]

[25] ttp://talent.itv.com/videos/video/item_200244.htm

[26] "Britain's Got Talent star Fred's anger". Leicester Mercury. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.

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