Britain's Got Talent (series 3)

The third series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2009, from 11 April to 30 May on ITV. Prior to production taking place, producers originally intended to expand the judging panel to include a fourth judge, but later dropped this idea; the intended newcomer, Kelly Brook,[1][2] was credited as a guest judge for her involvement in a session of auditions.[3][4] Apart from this, no major changes took place with the programme.

Britain's Got Talent
Series 3
Hosted by	Anthony McPartlin (ITV) Declan Donnelly (ITV) Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Judges	Simon Cowell Amanda Holden Piers Morgan Kelly Brook (guest)
Winner	Diversity
Runner-ups	Susan Boyle Julian Smith
Release
Original network	ITV ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release	11 April – 30 May 2009
Series chronology

The third series was won by street dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle finishing in second place, and saxophonist Julian Smith placing third. With their win, Diversity became the highest-placing act to advance via judges’ vote. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 13.3 million viewers, with the figures partly helped by the notable performances of Boyle during her time in on the show.[5] Boyle's performance on the third series contributed predominately to the formation of her global singing career, with her audition considered as one of the most famous moments in the programme's history.[6] The programme faced criticism during the third series for airing an unsuitable performance conducted in an audition, while Boyle's well-being became a major concern for producers following the final.

Series overview

Brook was initially intended as a fourth judge, before producers decided against this.

Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2009, within Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. When the auditions were being overseen, the producers decided to expand the judging panel by adding a fourth judge to proceedings, and thus they recruited Kelly Brook as their choice for this role.[1] The alteration to the panel was made prior to the Manchester auditions, but within six days after it was introduced, the producers deemed it an over-complication to the show's format and dropped it. As a result, Brook, while receiving her fee for her involvement in the third series, was labelled as a guest judge when it began broadcasting.[3]

This series is notable for launching the career of Susan Boyle, despite the singer being only a runner-up by the end of the competition. Her performances during this series made her internationally famous, with her audition performance, involving her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Misérables, being later posted to YouTube and earning around 100 million views within five days of its posting.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Of the participants that took part, only forty made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals,[13] with eight appearing in each one, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Finalist

  Runner-up |   Third place

  Semi-finalist

Participant	Age(s) ^1	Genre	Act	From	Semi-Final	Result
2 Grand	76, 12	Singing	Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet	Doncaster, South Yorkshire	4	Finalist
Aidan Davis	12	Dance	Street Dancer	Birmingham	5	Finalist
Ben and Becky	18, 16	Dance	Ballroom Dancers	Essex	3	Eliminated
Brit Chix	23–26	Music	Rock Band	Boston, Lincolnshire	4	Eliminated
Callum Francis	12	Music	Musical Theatre Performer	Hertfordshire	4	Eliminated
Darth Jackson	37	Dance	Darth Vader & Michael Jackson Impersonator	Birmingham	1	Eliminated
DCD Seniors	14–21	Dance	Dance Troupe	Cardiff	5	Eliminated
Diversity	13–25	Dance	Street Dance Troupe	London	1	Winner
DJ Talent	30	Singing	Rapper	London	2	Eliminated
Fabia Cerra	35	Dance / Variety	Burlesque Dancer	Oxford	4	Eliminated
Faces of Disco	24, 30	Comedy / Dance	Comic Dancers	London	1	Eliminated
Flawless	20–31	Dance	Street Dance Troupe	London	2	Finalist
Floral High Notes	43, 46	Singing / Variety	Opera Singer & Flower Arranger	Stockport, Greater Manchester	3	Eliminated
Fred Bowers	73	Dance	Break Dancing Pensioner	Loughborough, Leicestershire	4	Eliminated
Gareth Oliver	28	Comedy	Ventriloquist	Calderdale, West Yorkshire	2	Eliminated
Good Evans	6–42	Singing	Singing Family	Coventry, West Midlands	5	Eliminated
Greg Pritchard	24	Singing	Countertenor & Male Soprano	Usk, Monmouthshire	5	Eliminated
Harmony	14, 16	Music / Singing	Musical Theatre Performers	Essex	3	Eliminated
Hollie Steel	10	Singing	Singer	Accrington, Lancashire	5	Finalist
Hot Honeyz	16–25	Dance	Dancers	Maidstone, Kent	2	Eliminated
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes	40, 2 ^2	Animals / Dance	Dog Dancing Act	Oxford	4	Eliminated
Jamie Pugh	38	Singing	Singer	Cardiff	2	Eliminated
Julia Naidenko	24	Dance	Belly Dancer	London (originally Latvia)	1	Eliminated
Julian Smith	40	Music	Saxophonist	Halesowen, West Midlands	4	Third place
Kay Oresanya	31	Singing / Variety	Human "Saxophonist"	Glasgow (originally Nigeria)	3	Eliminated
Luke Clements	36	Variety	Fruit Juggler	Cornwall	5	Eliminated
Martin "Gos" Matcham	35	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	Dover, Kent	5	Eliminated
MD Showgroup	9–17	Dance	Street Dance Group	Liverpool	3	Eliminated
Merlin Cadogan	35	Danger	Escapologist	Devon	2	Eliminated
Natalie Okri	10	Singing	Singer	London	1	Eliminated
Nick Hell	26	Danger	Freak Show Stunt Performer	Sunderland, Tyne and Wear	1	Eliminated
Peter Coghlan	48	Variety	Drag Act	Stafford, West Midlands	2	Eliminated
Shaheen Jafargholi	12	Singing	Singer	Swansea	3	Finalist
Shaun Smith	17	Singing	Singer	Lichfield, Staffordshire	2	Finalist
Stavros Flatley	13, 40	Comedy / Dance	Comic Dancers	London (originally Cyprus)	3	Finalist
Sue Son	24	Music	Electric Violinist	London	1	Eliminated
Sugarfree	16–23	Dance	Street dancers	Gravesend, Kent	4	Eliminated
Susan Boyle	48	Singing	Singer	Blackburn, West Lothian	1	Runner-up
The Barrow Boys	18–27	Dance / Variety	Wheelbarrow Dancers	Devon	3	Eliminated
The Dreambears	29–34	Comedy / Dance	Comic Dancers	London	5	Eliminated

• ^1 Ages denoted in this column pertain to those of the respective participant(s) for their final performance for this series.
• ^2 The latter value pertains to the age of the dog, as disclosed by its owner.

Semi-final summary

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Advanced - Public Vote

  Advanced - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (24 May)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result [14]
			Cowell	Holden	Morgan
Diversity	1	Street Dance Group				Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Sue Son	2	Electric Violinist				Eliminated
Darth Jackson	3	Darth Vader & Michael Jackson Impersonator				Eliminated
Natalie Okri	4	Singer				Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Julia Naidenko	5	Belly Dancer				Eliminated
Nick Hell	6	Freak Show Stunt Performer				Eliminated
Faces of Disco	7	Comic Dancers				Eliminated
Susan Boyle	8	Singer				Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 2 (25 May)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result [14]
			Cowell	Holden	Morgan
DJ Talent	1	Rapper				Eliminated
Merlin Cadogan	2	Escapologist				Eliminated
Hot Honeyz	3	Dancers				Eliminated
Jamie Pugh	4	Singer				Eliminated
Peter Coghlan	5	Drag Act				Eliminated
Gareth Oliver	6	Ventriloquist				Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Shaun Smith	7	Singer				Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Flawless	8	Street Dance Troupe				Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 3 (26 May)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result [14]
			Cowell	Holden	Morgan
Harmony	1	Musical Theatre Performers				Eliminated
Kay Oresanya	2	Human "Saxophonist"				Eliminated
Ben and Becky	3	Ballroom Dancers				Eliminated
Shaheen Jafargholi	4	Singer				Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
The Barrow Boys	5	Wheelbarrow Dancers				Eliminated
MD Showgroup	6	Street Dance Group				Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Floral High Notes	7	Opera Singer & Flower Arranger				Eliminated
Stavros Flatley	8	Comic Dancers				Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 4 (28 May)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result [14]
			Cowell	Holden	Morgan
Sugar Free	1	Street Dancers				Eliminated
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes	2	Dancing Dog Act				Eliminated
Callum Francis	3	Musical Theatre Performer				Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Fred Bowers	4	Breakdancer				Eliminated
Brit Chix	5	Rock Band				Eliminated
Julian Smith	6	Saxophonist				Advanced (Won Public Vote)
2 Grand	7	Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet				Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Fabia Cerra	8	Burlesque Dancer				Eliminated

Semi-final 5 (29 May)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result [14]
			Cowell	Holden	Morgan
The Dreambears	1	Comic Dancers				Eliminated
Good Evans	2	Singing Family				Eliminated
Luke Clements	3	Fruit Juggler				Eliminated
Hollie Steel	4	Singer				Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Martin Matcham	5	Singer & Guitarist				Eliminated
Aidan Davis	6	Dancer				Advanced (Won Public Vote)
DCD Seniors	7	Dance Troupe				Eliminated
Greg Pritchard	8	Countertenor & Male Soprano				Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)

Final (30 May)

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place

Finalist	Order	Act	Result [14]
Flawless	1	Dance Troupe	8th
Shaheen Jafargholi	2	Singer	6th
Aidan Davis	3	Street dancer	5th
2 Grand	4	Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet	10th
Hollie Steel	5	Singer	7th
Stavros Flatley	6	Comic Dancers	4th
Shaun Smith	7	Singer	9th
Susan Boyle	8	Singer	2nd
Diversity	9	Dance Group	1st
Julian Smith	10	Saxophonist	3rd

Ratings

Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes

Episode	Date	Official ratings (millions) [15]	Weekly rank [15]	Share
Auditions 1	11 April	11.21	1	45.1% [16]
Auditions 2	18 April	12.95	1	50.6% [17]
Auditions 3	25 April	13.21	1	52.3% [18]
Auditions 4	2 May	11.30	1	47.2% [19]
Auditions 5	9 May	11.98	1	48.4% [20]
Auditions 6	16 May	11.09	1	41.0% [21]
Auditions 7	23 May	12.62	2	51.1% [22]
Semi-final 1	24 May	12.93	1	49.2% [23]
Semi-final 2	25 May	14.66	3	51.6% [24]
Semi-final 3	26 May	13.56	5	49.9% [25]
Semi-final 4	28 May	13.11	6	51.2% [26]
Semi-final 5	29 May	13.84	4	57.3% [27]
Live final	30 May	16.36	2	71% [28]
Live final results		18.29	1	67.6% [28]

Criticism & incidents

Fabia Cerra audition

On 11 April 2009, the programme was given notice that an investigation by Ofcom for the involvement of burlesque dancer Fabia Cerra would take place in regards to complaints made by viewers. The primary concern in the complaint was in the nature of her audition - which primarily involved her stripping down to a basque and nipple tassels - and thus its suitability for a family audience. Although the investigation would cross-check the content's broadcast with broadcasting codes on the protection of children from unsuitable content, ITV argued in their defence that the production staff had done its utmost to edit the footage to censor most of her audition, in some cases using reaction shots from the judges and audience.[29]

Susan Boyle's well-being

Although the care and well-being of participants in the live rounds is a priority concern for production staff, the involvement of Susan Boyle required greater attention. This became most important prior to and after her appearance in the live final, when a number of stories began to emerge from the media that placed pressure on Boyle with a number of questionable claims, negatively impacting her health and required her to spend time in The Priory psychiatric clinic in London to recover.[30] Producers were faced with the task of dealing with continual media intrusion into her private life, after already having to deny some of the claims published in the stories, along with the amount of attention she was receiving from amongst her fans and the public over her care and well-being,[31][32] and came to the decision to involve the Press Complaints Commission. Their involvement led to calls being made with press editors to adhere firmly to the code of press conduct in regards to its rules on privacy - this included not allowing unauthorised photography to take place and respecting Boyle's entitlement to privacy while she recovered from her involvement in the programme.[33][34]

References

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2. "TV – News – Brook confirmed for 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
3. "Kelly Brook Axed From Britain's Got Talent". Daily Mirror. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
4. "TV – News – Brook axed from 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
5. Leigh Holmwood (14 April 2009). "Britain's got talent hits high note,'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
6. "10 Years of BGT: Top Ten memorable moments". www.itv.com. 16 March 2019.
7. "Talent show singer is online hit, BBC". BBC News. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
8. Sadie Gray Last updated 7 January 2012 1:16 pm (29 March 2010). "Singing Talent of Susan Boyle Stuns Simon Cowell, Times of London". The Times. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
9. "An unlikely star brings smiles to views, NBC Nightly News". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
10. "Le Monde – Susan Boyle, chanteuse en herbe et vedette sur le Web". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
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12. "Le Figaro – La gloire surprise de Susan Boyle". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
13. "Britain's Got Talent – your 40 semi-finalists revealed | STV Entertainment". Entertainment.stv.tv. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
16. "TV – News – Huge audiences for 'Talent', 'Who'". Digital Spy. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
17. "TV – News – 'Talent' climbs to 11.9 million". Digital Spy. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
18. "'Talent' appeals to 12.2 million". Digital Spy. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
19. "Latest 'Talent' pulls in 10.5 million". Digital Spy. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
20. "'Got Talent' back up to 11.1 million". Digital Spy. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
21. "7.8 million tune in for Eurovision". Digital Spy. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
22. "'Talent', 'Primeval' help ITV1 win Saturday". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
23. Susan Boyle shows 13.6m she's Got Talent Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
24. "Latest 'Talent' peaks with 15.4 million". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
25. "12.8 million tune in for third 'Talent' semi". Digital Spy. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
26. "TV – News – 'Talent' boosts ITV News to 6.1m". Digital Spy. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
27. "TV – News – Friday 'Talent' pulls in 13.1 million". Digital Spy. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
28. "TV – News – 'Talent' final peaks with 19.2 million". Digital Spy. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
29. "Britain's Got Talent burlesque stripper prompts dozens of complaints to Ofcom". The Guardian. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
30. "Boyle favourite for Talent finale". BBC News. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
31. "Talent star Boyle taken to clinic". BBC News. 1 June 2009.
32. Jamieson, Alastair (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle could be in Priory clinic for weeks, says doctor". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
33. Brook, Stephen (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle: press warned to back off Britain's Got Talent star". The Guardian. London.
34. Editors Code of Practice