Britain's Got Talent (series 1)

The first series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2007, from 9 June to 17 June on ITV. The first series was commissioned following the success of America's Got Talent, and helped to revive production of a British edition after initial development for the programme was suspended. The first series saw Simon Cowell, the programme's creator, being joined by Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden as the judges for those participating in the competition, with Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec) operating as the programme's hosts. The first was also accompanied by a spin-off sister programme on ITV2, broadcast alongside the main programme, entitled Britain's Got More Talent, and hosted by Stephen Mulhern.

Britain's Got Talent
Series 1
Hosted byAnthony McPartlin (ITV)
Declan Donnelly (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
JudgesSimon Cowell
Amanda Holden
Piers Morgan
WinnerPaul Potts
Release
Original networkITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release9 June –
17 June 2007
Series chronology

The first series was won by opera singer Paul Potts; as of 2019, 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.

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. 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, Piers Morgan, and Amanda Holden.

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:

  Winner |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist
Participant Genre Act Semi-final Result
Bessie Cursons Music Musical Theatre Performer 2 Finalist
Caroline Boyes Dance Dancer 1 Eliminated
Cheeky Bits Dance Dance Group 3 Eliminated
Connie Talbot Singing Singer 3 Finalist
Craig Womersley Variety Baton Twirler 2 Eliminated
Crazeehorse Acrobatics Acrobatic Duo 2 Eliminated
Crew 82 Music Beat Boxing Group 3 Eliminated
Damon Scott Comedy Comic Puppeteer 1 Finalist
Doctor Gore Magic Magician 3 Eliminated
Dominic Smith Singer Singer 1 Eliminated
Jack Reeve Dance Tap Dancer 2 Eliminated
Jake Pratt Singing / Comedy Comic Singer 2 Eliminated
Kombat Breakers Dance Dance Group 2 Finalist
Luke & Charlotte Dance Ballroom Dancers 1 Eliminated
MD Productions Dance Dance Group 1 Eliminated
Mel's Klever K9’S Animal / Dance Line Dancing Dog Act 1 Eliminated
Mike Garbutt Comedy Impressionist 3 Eliminated
Paul Potts Singing Opera Singer 1 Winner
Scott Holtom Dance Dancer 3 Eliminated
The Bar Wizards Variety Cocktail Jugglers 3 Finalist
The Free Runners Acrobatics Acrobatic Group 1 Eliminated
The Mini-Mezzos Dance Dance Group 2 Eliminated
Tony Laf Singing Singer 3 Eliminated
Victoria Armstrong Variety Angle Grinder 2 Eliminated

Semi-final summary
Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Advanced - Public Vote
  Advanced - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (14 June)
Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result
Cowell Holden Morgan
MD Productions 1 Dance Group Eliminated
Damon Scott 2 Comic Puppeteer Advanced (Won Judges' vote)
Mel's Klever K9’S 3 Line Dancing Dog Act Eliminated
Dominic Smith 4 Singer Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
Luke & Charlotte 5 Ballroom Dancers Eliminated
Caroline Boyes 6 Dancer Eliminated
The Free Runners 7 Acrobatic Group Eliminated
Paul Potts 8 Opera singer Advanced (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 2 (15 June)
Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result
Cowell Holden Morgan
Kombat Breakers 1 Dance Group Advanced (Won Judges' vote)
Victoria Armstrong 2 Angle Grinder Eliminated
Jack Reeve 3 Tap Dancer Eliminated
Jake Pratt 4 Singer And Comedian Eliminated
The Mini-Mezzos 5 Dance Group Eliminated
Crazeehorse 6 Acrobatic Duo Eliminated
Craig Womersley 7 Baton Twirler Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
Bessie Cursons 8 Musical Theatre Performer Advanced (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 3 (16 June)
Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result
Cowell Holden Morgan
Cheeky Bits 1 Dance Group Eliminated
Mike Garbutt 2 Impressionist Eliminated
Doctor Gore 3 Magician Eliminated
Tony Laf 4 Singer Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
Scott Holtom 5 Dancer Eliminated
Crew 82 6 Beat Boxing Group Eliminated
The Bar Wizards 7 Cocktail Jugglers Advanced (Won Judges' vote)
Connie Talbot 8 Singer Advanced (Won Public vote)

Final (17 June)
Finalist Order Act Result
Kombat Breakers 1 Dance Group Finalist
Damon Scott 2 Comic Puppeteer Finalist
Bessie Cursons 3 Musical Theatre Performer Finalist
The Bar Wizards 4 Cocktail Jugglers Finalist
Connie Talbot 5 Singer Finalist
Paul Potts 6 Opera Singer Winner

Ratings
Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes
Episode Date Official ratings
(millions)[2]		 Weekly rank[2] 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 17 June 11.45 2 44.7% [1]

Criticism & controversies

Failure to disclose information

During filming for the series, ITV and the production staff had to remove two separate groups who auditioned for Britain's Got Talent - Richard Bates, and the Kit Kat Dolls - after two separate sources came forward with information that showed they had failed to disclose information about themselves. The failure to disclose this information was considered a breach of Section 24 of the programme's terms and conditions in regards to applying for the programme:[10]

"The Producer reserves the right to disqualify you if you have supplied untruthful, inaccurate or misleading personal details and/or information, have failed to abide by the Rules and/or are in breach of the terms hereof."

Bates' removal from the programme was the result of a request by Lancashire Police, who revealed him to be on the UK's Violent and Sex Offender Register (at that time) for an offence he had committed in 2005, and were concerned that his appearance would unsettle those affected by his crime.[11] The Kit Kat Dolls were disqualified after an undercover investigation by the News of the World found that three of the group were secretly working as prostitutes.[12]

"Doctor Gore" complaints

The involvement of the magician Doctor Gore caused the programme to face investigation from Ofcom, after it received complaints from viewers over the disturbing nature of the participant's performance. The particular aspect of the complaint that Ofcom focused on was in regards to the presentation used by the magician in the tricks he performed, in relation to the broadcast time of the semi-final he appeared in. Although the production staff claimed in their defence that the performance had been thoroughly reviewed to ensure it was not frightening to viewers, the regulator ruled against the programme for breaching broadcasting code with regards to protecting young children from unsuitable material.[13][14]

References
  1. ITV gets 13.5m with 'Talent' Digital Spy, 18 June 2007
  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. "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.
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