benjamin-twist I liked BGT in the early days but the show has become too manipulated in recent years. Now we not only have footage of the acts supposedly waiting to be auditioned by Simon and the other judges (even though they're actually being auditioned by anonymous staff on earlier dates) we also have footage of acts making their way to the audition, after the audition where hug their family/friends and most perversely miked up members of the audience who make inane or obvious comments about the acts performing (while other pull stupid faces in response to bad/weird acts, not realising they look equally stupid themselves).Added to this the fact that a lot of the acts are not British and a lot are professional or have entered and won talent shows elsewhere leaves the traditional meaning Talent Show a bit meaningless. In other words BGT so manipulated and dubious you stop believing its real and start thinking its one big con and you're in danger of falling for it.It's interesting that some of the acts who won (or came close) in previous years including the first winner Paul Potts, Susan Boyle and the 2015 series winner didn't appear at the 2016 ten year final celebrations (go figure).Talking of which, Richard Jones, the winner of the 2016 final was a very unworthy winner. Not because he stole his tricks - a lot of magicians borrow from the past - but because he didn't perform them well. A lot of the time you can see exactly how he did them (and he made some unforgivable mistakes when he did the trick on This Morning), close up magic is a bad choice for large arenas (relies too much on cameras which is never good) but mainly because he's so bloody boring. The guy has no real presentation style, no clever or funny patter and most importantly ZERO charisma. He's just a tall soldier. End of.I could just about forgive all that but that crock of rubbish he served up as magic in the final was truly pathetic. A child could have done that routine with the same result. There was just one simple card trick involved which has nothing to do with what he was talking about, and then he brings on the veteran soldier alongside some more of his army mates. When Jules O'Dwyer bought on an extra dog in the previous years final she got criticised. This guy brings on half a dozen extra people with no comment The whole thing's a stitch up. Let the soldier win. Let's be patriotic. Fine but it has nothing to do with magic. But that's BGT in a nutshell, it has little to do with real talent but a lot to do with what they want us to see and what Simon Cowell can get out of it.

marie d There are some fabulous performers in Britain' Got Talent every year. This year there have been some excellent singers, an amazing water acrobatics group which should have won and gone on to the Royal Variety Show.There are some odd performers: a German 'plumber' had an act of throwing sink plungers at the backs of muscular men to make them stick. Accompanied with a running commentary in German which was entertaining for its humorous delivery.Famous outcomes of this show have been Susan Boyle and Paul Potts. And that shows the ignorance of the judges. The panel are philistines most of the time. Susan can sing well but she's not the outstanding singer that all the applause and record sales would suggest. The surprise that her voice is good coming from someone who is unglamorous gave her the fame and winning on the show. Her voice is good enough for a career but there are far better singers who would have beaten her on vocal ability. The judges pushed her forward because of the contrast of her voice with her appearance. The likes of Amanda Holden are not experienced casting directors. With the exception of Simon Cowell none of the judges has any experience promoting or producing a new act. The panel consist of whatever well known faces are available this year. A panel of experts who can assess acts abilities and help them develop would be better but they would be unknown and the show panders to the audiences need for identifiable faces.Consequently many real talents and years of practice either don't apply or are rejected because the judges are easily impressed by a nice sounding but only of average quality for professional standards.To confirm my opinion a dog won and beat the water acrobatics, musicians, dancers and singers. That says it all.

chrisbishop5000 Well, what can you say about "Britain's Got Talent" other than EXTRAORDINARY!!! Independent Television ought to be so proud of owning this show. I've so enjoyed the show and yet it's ending tonight in about 50 minutes at 9:30.Last night, Holly Steele (who my sister says is annoying) really grabbed my heart when she ultimately broke down live on stage when she gave it all she got singing "Edelwiess" and I honestly didn't think she'd find the courage to continue her performance and agree to go through to tonight's final but she has - she's a very brave little girl.Susan Boyle nearly quit? Why?! She seemed to be really enjoying herself last week. Maybe it's because, like Holly, she, too, felt the pressure.I can't say I know who I'd like to win... I'd say it's a 3-way-tie between Holly, Susan and Aiden: I'll just have to stay tuned with much enthusiasm. However, I'm sure it'd break her heart if Holly doesn't win tonight and mine would break for her.I must say, Shaun Smith wasn't bad either. I think he's a proper sexy 17-year-old, if I'm to be honest.Whatever your age, wherever your home (ideally in Great Britain) you must let "Britain's Got Talent" fill your heart - it's an unmissable show that's gripped the entire nation!

Jackson Booth-Millard If you like entertainment/talent shows, e.g. Pop Idol, The X Factor, etc, finding the newest talent from the country, then this is the show with it all. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, this new show sets out to find the best talent that would have the chance to win £100,000, and the chance to perform in front of The Queen or Prince Charles at The Royal Variety Performance. The judges were ex-newspaper editor and media baron Piers Morgan, actress of stage and screen Amanda Holden (who performed there herself), and the always popular music producer Simon Cowell, with temporary guest judges actress, dancer and model Kelly Brook and music manager Louis Walsh. The show has no rules about age or act, they just want anyone to turn up who thinks they have something to impress the judges, the thousand strong audience, and (if they win) royalty. The difference here is not just the audience, but the judges have the opportunity to stop the act with three X buzzers. The acts that get through to the semi-finals are all great fun in their own ways, and most deserved to get there. Acts have included: Damon Scott with Bubbles the Monkey, opera singer and winner Paul Potts, young classical singer Faryl Smith, young soprano Andrew Johnston, electric violin players Escala, street dancer and winner George Sampson, canine freestyle act Kate and Gin, dance act Signature, rapper DJ Talent, street dance group Flawless, young singer Shaheen Jafargholi, comedy dance act Stavros Flatley, singing phenomenon Susan Boyle, street dance group and winners Diversity, and many more. Ant and Dec were number 56, and Simon Cowell number 33 on The 100 Worst Britons (why?), Cowell was number 28, and Ant and Dec number 7 on TV's 50 Greatest Stars, and Cowell was number 67 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols. Very good!