From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Britain's Got Talent
Series 3
Broadcast from	11 April – 30 May 2009
Judges	Simon Cowell Amanda Holden Piers Morgan Kelly Brook (Manchester auditions only)
Presenter(s)	Britain's Got Talent: Ant & Dec Britain's Got More Talent: Stephen Mulhern
Broadcaster	ITV
Winner: Diversity
Origin	Leytonstone, East London Dagenham, Essex
Runner-up
Susan Boyle
Chronology
◄ 2009

The 2009 series of Britain's Got Talent was the third series of the programme. It began airing on ITV on 11 April, and ended on 30 May 2009 with street dance group Diversity as the winner. Singer Susan Boyle was the runner-up, and saxophonist Julian Smith came in third place.

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

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]

Semi-final summary

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

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Semi-final 3

Semi-final 4

Semi-final 5

Footnotes

1. ^ Steel was unable to complete her initial performance after she broke down with nerves, but she was granted the opportunity to perform again later in the show.

Final

Footnotes

1. ^ Out of nearly four million votes. [1]

Live show chart

Ratings

• The 6th auditions programme took a large dip in numbers due to the BBC showing the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
• The final peaked at 19.19 million (71.6%) making it the most watched non-sporting event since an episode of Coronation Street in 2003. Overall, the final was the fifth most watched programme of the century.
• The series officially averaged 13.36m (52.4%), making it the most watched British reality series of the century. It easily surpasses the previous record of 10.51m (42%) gained by The X Factor (UK series 5).

Controversies

Performance order

Although the show denies that the 3 judges influence performance order ^[28] the production company has never confirmed that order is random or based on any objective criteria. The lack of objective criteria is underlined by judge Piers Morgan's comments a few days after the final: "I think Flawless were unlucky to have gone on first. If they had gone last it may have been different. They're both amazing dance groups. Diversity were just very lucky." ^[29]. Diversity performed 2nd last and jumped from 7th best vote percentage in the semis to 1st in the finals. Flawless started first and fell from 5th to 8th.

Fabia Cerra

Auditionee Fabia Cerra, a dancer, sparked complaints after her performance in the audition stages was criticised as being unsuitable for a family audience. Cerra's top half of her clothing fell, accidentally, revealing her breasts, covered with tassels, although the editing of the program included two Union Jack flags as graphics to completely cover her exposed breasts. Despite this, both the producers of the show and ITV received 40 complaints.^[30]

Fred Bowers

Elderly breakdancer Fred Bowers, who did make into the live semi-finals, was also reported to have made 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.^[31]

Natalie Okri

Natalie Okri's performance of Jamelia's "Superstar" in the semi-final was criticized by Simon Cowell for being a bad choice of song. After reaching the Top 3 with dance group Diversity in the first semi-final, Natalie cried on stage after Simon Cowell chose to put Diversity through to the final instead of her. Following this, British singer Lily Allen criticized the show, and Simon's decision, as "bordering on child cruelty". After the show, Natalie Okri and her mother complained that the song choice was made by the producers and they had been given no choice but to accept.^[32] 2008 Finalist Andrew Muir was in a similar situation.

Susan Boyle

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) became concerned by press reports about Boyle's erratic behaviour and speculation about her mental condition, and wrote to remind editors about clause 3 (privacy) of their code of press conduct.^[33] The day after the final, Boyle was admitted to The Priory, a private psychiatric clinic in London,^[34] TalkbackThames explained "Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained." Her stay in hospital attracted widespread attention with the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, wishing her well.^[35]

Hollie Steel

In the fifth and last semi-final, contestant Hollie Steel broke down in tears during her performance of "Edelweiss" and was unable to continue singing. After initially being told by Ant & Dec that there was no time for her to start her performance again, Simon Cowell overruled and she sang the song again, and eventually beat Greg Pritchard in the judges' vote. Steel was the only act to be allowed to restart her performance in the semi-final, controversial as the later acts were rushed into smaller time slots, which may have hampered their performances.^[36]

References