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.
| 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 release | 9 June – 17 June 2007 |
| Series chronology | |
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
edit
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
| Participant | Age(s) | Genre | Act | Semi-final | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessie Cursons | 11 | Singing | Musical Theatre Performer | 2 | Finalist |
| Caroline Boyes | 48 | Dance | Dancer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Cheeky Bits | 14–29 | Dance | Dance Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| Connie Talbot | 6 | Singing | Singer | 3 | Finalist |
| Craig Womersley | 17 | Variety | Baton Twirler | 2 | Eliminated |
| Crazeehorse | 29–37 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | 2 | Eliminated |
| Crew 82 | 18–32 | Music | Beatboxing Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| Damon Scott | 27 | Comedy | Ventriloquist | 1 | Finalist |
| Doctor Gore | 30 | Magic | Gore Magician | 3 | Eliminated |
| Dominic Smith | 14 | Singing | Singer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Jack Reeve | 80 | Dance | Tap Dancer | 2 | Eliminated |
| Jake Pratt | 10 | Comedy | Stand Up Comedian | 2 | Eliminated |
| Kombat Breakers | 13–25 | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | Finalist |
| Luke & Charlotte | 11 & 11 | Dance | Ballroom Dance Duo | 1 | Eliminated |
| MD Productions | 11–28 | Dance | Dance Group | 1 | Eliminated |
| Mel's Klever K9’S | 10–25 | Animals / Dance | Line Dancing Dog Act | 1 | Eliminated |
| Mike Garbutt | 37 | Comedy | Impressionist | 3 | Eliminated |
| Paul Potts | 36 | Singing | Opera Singer | 1 | Winner |
| Scott Holtom | 21 | Dance | Breakdancer | 3 | Eliminated |
| The Bar Wizards | 26—28 | Variety | Juggling Duo | 3 | Finalist |
| The Free Runners | 17–35 | Acrobatics | Free Running Group | 1 | Eliminated |
| The Mini-Mezzos | 8–11 | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | Eliminated |
| Tony Laf | 26 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | 3 | Eliminated |
| Victoria Armstrong | 29 | Variety | Angle Grinder | 2 | Eliminated |
Semi-final summary
edit
Buzzed out | 
Judges' vote | Advanced - Public Vote- Advanced - Judges' Vote | Eliminated - Judges' Vote | Eliminated
Semi-final 1 (14 June)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| MD Productions | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Damon Scott | 2 | 
|
|
|
Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Mel's Klever K9’S | 3 |
|
|
|
Eliminated |
| Dominic Smith | 4 |
|
Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Luke & Charlotte | 5 | Eliminated | |||
| Caroline Boyes | 6 |
|
|
Eliminated | |
| The Free Runners | 7 |
|
|
Eliminated | |
| Paul Potts | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Semi-final 2 (15 June)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| Kombat Breakers | 1 |
|
|
Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| Victoria Armstrong | 2 | Eliminated | |||
| Jack Reeve | 3 |
|
Eliminated | ||
| Jake Pratt | 4 |
|
Eliminated | ||
| The Mini-Mezzos | 5 |
|
Eliminated | ||
| Crazeehorse | 6 | Eliminated | |||
| Craig Womersley | 7 |
|
Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Bessie Cursons | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Semi-final 3 (16 June)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| Cheeky Bits | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Mike Garbutt | 2 | Eliminated | |||
| Doctor Gore | 3 |
|
|
|
Eliminated |
| Tony Laf | 4 |
|
Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Scott Holtom | 5 | Eliminated | |||
| Crew 82 | 6 |
|
Eliminated | ||
| The Bar Wizards | 7 |
|
|
|
Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Connie Talbot | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Final (17 June)
edit| Finalist | Order | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Kombat Breakers | 1 | Finalist |
| Damon Scott | 2 | Finalist |
| Bessie Cursons | 3 | Finalist |
| The Bar Wizards | 4 | Finalist |
| Connie Talbot | 5 | Finalist |
| Paul Potts | 6 | Winner |
Ratings
edit| Episode | Air date | Total viewers (millions)[2] |
ITV1 Weekly rank[2] |
Viewer share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 9 June | 5.20 | 12 | 22.7%[3] |
| Auditions 2 | 10 June | 6.73 | 8 | 28.0%[4] |
| Auditions 3 | 11 June | 7.28 | 15 | 29.4%[5] |
| Auditions 4 | 12 June | 7.39 | 13 | 29.3%[6] |
| Auditions 5 | 13 June | 7.51 | 11 | 29.2%[7] |
| Semi-final 1 | 14 June | 8.36 | 9 | 34.0%[8] |
| Semi-final 2 | 15 June | 9.28 | 8 | 38.1%[9] |
| Semi-final 3 | 16 June | 9.29 | 7 | 40.9%[9] |
| Live final | 17 June | 11.58 | 1 | 43.7%[1] |
| Live final results | 11.45 | 2 | 44.7%[1] |
Criticism & controversies
editThe 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
edit- ^ a b "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ F1 helps ITV win ratings race Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
- ^ BBC 'Dream' pays off Digital Spy, 11 June 2007
- ^ Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine(subscription required)
- ^ Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Broadcast Now Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Viewing Figures The Authority on Television Viewing > Viewing Figures Home". Viewingfigures.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
- ^ "BGT: Terms and Conditions". Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Police alert over TV contestant". BBC News. 16 June 2007.
- ^ "Britain's Got Talent…For Hire: Kit-Kat Sex". Unrealitytv.co.uk. 17 June 2007. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008.
- ^ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue Number 91". Ofcom.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008.
- ^ "Britain's Got Talent rapped over Dr Gore". 20 August 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2007.