Britain's Got Talent series 1

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Britain's Got Talent
Series 1
Hosted by Ant & Dec (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Judges Piers Morgan
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell
Winner Paul Potts
Release
Original network ITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release9 June (2007-06-09) 
17 June 2007 (2007-06-17)
Series chronology
Next 
Series 2
List of episodes
Judges and Presenter(s) for Britain's Got Talent Series 1
Ant and Dec in Cardiff Bay.jpg
Ant & Dec (ITV1)

The first series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 to 17 June 2007; it was commissioned following the success of the first season of America's Got Talent , helping to revive production of the British edition after initial development was suspended in 2005. Simon Cowell, the programme's creator, formed the judging panel with both Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, with Ant & Dec operating as the programme's hosts. Alongside the main programme, the first series was accompanied by a spin-off sister programme on ITV2, titled Britain's Got More Talent, hosted by Stephen Mulhern.

The first series was won by opera singer Paul Potts; as of today, result information on other finalists has yet to be disclosed. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 8.4 million viewers. [1] The first series faced controversy relating to the involvement of two participants who failed to disclose information that would make them ineligible for participation, alongside receiving criticism from viewers for airing footage that was considered unsuitable during one of the semi-finals.

Series overview

When production on the show resumed, Morgan was brought in as a judge, having been an original choice during the show's initial conception. Piers Morgan 2012.jpg
When production on the show resumed, Morgan was brought in as a judge, having been an original choice during the show's initial conception.

After Simon Cowell pitched to ITV his plans for a televised talent competition, production was green-lighted for a full series after a pilot episode was created in mid-2005, with the original panel being Cowell, journalist Piers Morgan and former This Morning presenter, Fern Britton. However, a dispute broke out between Paul O'Grady, the original choice as host for the programme, and the broadcaster, that resulted in O'Grady signing up to another broadcaster. His decision resulted in production being suspended, and did not resume until in the wake of the success of the first series of America's Got Talent . When it did resume, production staff focused on a schedule of ten episodes to begin with for the first series of Britain's Got Talent, with major auditions for potential acts held within the cities of Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. The initial choices for judges changed to begin with following O'Grady's decision to switch broadcasters, with it eventually finalised on Cowell, Morgan and actress Amanda Holden rather than Britton as originally intended and the hosts being Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, commonly known as Ant & Dec.

Of the participants who auditioned to be in the contest for this series, only 24 made it into the three live semi-finals, with eight appearing in each one, and six of these acts moving on into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

Key:   Winner |   Runner-Up |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist

ParticipantAge(s)GenreActSemi-finalResult
Bessie Cursons 11SingingMusical Theatre Performer2Finalist
Caroline Boyes48DanceDancer1Eliminated
Cheeky Bits14–29DanceDance Group3Eliminated
Connie Talbot 6SingingSinger3Finalist
Craig Womersley17VarietyBaton Twirler2Eliminated
Crazeehorse29–37AcrobaticsAcrobatic Duo2Eliminated
Crew 8218–32MusicBeatboxing Group3Eliminated
Damon Scott 27ComedyVentriloquist1Finalist
Doctor Gore30MagicGore Magician3Eliminated
Dominic Smith14SingingSinger1Eliminated
Jack Reeve80DanceTap Dancer2Eliminated
Jake Pratt 10ComedyComedian2Eliminated
Kombat Breakers13–25DanceDance Group2Finalist
Luke & Charlotte11 & 11DanceBallroom Dance Duo1Eliminated
MD Productions11–28DanceDance Group1Eliminated
Mel's Klever K9’S10–25Animals / DanceDog Act1Eliminated
Mike Garbutt37ComedyImpressionist3Eliminated
Paul Potts 36SingingOpera Singer1Winner
Scott Holtom21DanceBreakdancer3Eliminated
The Bar Wizards 26—28VarietyJuggling Duo3Finalist
The Free Runners17–35AcrobaticsFree Running Group1Eliminated
The Mini-Mezzos8–11DanceDance Group2Eliminated
Tony Laf26Singing / MusicSinger & Guitarist3Eliminated
Victoria Armstrong29VarietyAngle Grinder2Eliminated

Semi-final summary

Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Buzzed out | Crystal Clear app clean.svg Judges' vote |   Advanced - Public Vote
  Advanced - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (14 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult
CowellHoldenMorgan
MD Productions1Eliminated
Damon Scott2 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Mel's Klever K9’S3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Dominic Smith4 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Luke & Charlotte5Eliminated
Caroline Boyes6 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
The Free Runners7 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Paul Potts8Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 2 (15 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult
CowellHoldenMorgan
Kombat Breakers1 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Victoria Armstrong2Eliminated
Jack Reeve3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Jake Pratt4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
The Mini-Mezzos5 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Crazeehorse6Eliminated
Craig Womersley7 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Bessie Cursons8Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 3 (16 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult
CowellHoldenMorgan
Cheeky Bits1Eliminated
Mike Garbutt2Eliminated
Doctor Gore3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Tony Laf4 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Scott Holtom5Eliminated
Crew 826 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
The Bar Wizards7 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Connie Talbot8Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Final (17 June)

FinalistOrderResult
Kombat Breakers1Finalist
Damon Scott2Finalist
Bessie Cursons3Finalist
The Bar Wizards4Finalist
Connie Talbot5Finalist
Paul Potts6Winner

Ratings

EpisodeAir dateTotal viewers
(millions) [2]
ITV1
Weekly rank [2]
Viewer share
Auditions 19 June5.201222.7% [3]
Auditions 210 June6.73828.0% [4]
Auditions 311 June7.281529.4% [5]
Auditions 412 June7.391329.3% [6]
Auditions 513 June7.511129.2% [7]
Semi-final 114 June8.36934.0% [8]
Semi-final 215 June9.28838.1% [9]
Semi-final 316 June9.29740.9% [9]
Live final17 June11.58143.7% [1]
Live final results11.45244.7% [1]

Criticism & controversies

The first series of Britain's Got Talent found itself marred with controversy over two participants - Richard Bates, and Kit Kat Dolls - that auditioned for the competition, after they were found to have breached rules that required personal details and information that was not "untruthful, inaccurate or misleading". [10] Bates was removed at the request of Lancashire Police, after they revealed that he had not disclosed being on the UK's Violent and Sex Offender Register at the time of filming for an offence he had committed in 2005, [11] while the Kit Kat Dolls were disqualified after three of their members were discovered to be secretly working as prostitutes during an undercover investigation by the News of the World . [12]

When the live rounds took place, viewers criticised the programme for the involvement of magician Doctor Gore. Their complaints focused on the nature of his performance and their presentation, which they deemed as unsuitable for a family-orientated programme that would be watched by young children. Production staff claimed in their defence that the performance was thoroughly reviewed before it was broadcast, but the investigation of regulator Ofcom ruled against Britain's Got Talent for breaching its broadcasting code with regards to protecting young children from unsuitable material. [13] [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 ITV gets 13.5m with 'Talent' Digital Spy, 18 June 2007
  2. 1 2 "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. F1 helps ITV win ratings race Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
  4. BBC 'Dream' pays off Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
  5. Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (subscription required)
  6. Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 "Viewing Figures The Authority on Television Viewing > Viewing Figures Home". Viewingfigures.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
  10. "BGT: Terms and Conditions". Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  11. "Police alert over TV contestant". BBC News. 16 June 2007.
  12. "Britain's Got Talent…For Hire: Kit-Kat Sex". Unrealitytv.co.uk. 17 June 2007. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008.
  13. "Broadcast Bulletin Issue Number 91". Ofcom.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008.
  14. "Britain's Got Talent rapped over Dr Gore". 20 August 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2007.