Britain's Got Talent / Mike Norman / 28 May 2009 / Leave a comment

I don't think our Britain's Got Talent Correspondent was in the best of moods on Tuesday, but after cleaning out the cellar later today, "Mystical" Mike Norman should be a barrel of laughs for tonight's penultimate semi-final...

If the first semi-final was fantastic, the second extremely entertaining, then I'm afraid the third semi-final of Britain's Got Talent resembled a waste disposal skip - full of rubbish.

Only 12-year-old singer Shaheen Jafargholi, and father and son dance act Stavros Flatly provided a glimmer of satisfaction, both making it through to Saturday's final thanks to the weak opposition they faced.

Jafargholi is good (and Lilly Allen's tip to win the whole competition by the way), but he doesn't leave me with a feeling of 'wow' after he performs, certainly not in the way that Susan Boyle did in both her audition and semi-final. He is a live contender for Saturday's final alright, and at [9.4] to back he is currently the second favourite to win behind Boyle ([1.98]). I'm going to go with my gut instinct however and say that he won't win, but remember, bigger fools than me have been wrong before.

I loved Stavros Flatly first time around, so much so that I put them up as my selection to win Tuesday night's semi-final (and they did). But even the joy of tipping a winner was soon wiped away when I watched a re-run of their performance on Youtube. I simply didn't like it as (in my humble opinion) it was nowhere near as good as their audition.

Maybe I got out of the wrong side of bed on Tuesday, and even a 14-strong female dance act called Topless wouldn't have put a smile on my face that evening. But fear not, my enthusiasm has been rekindled at the thought of cleaning out the cellar today (whoopidydoo), and I'm hoping I'm just as happy tonight when the penultimate semi-final commences.

Stealing the show tonight (fingers crossed) will be 12-year-old singer/dancer/actor Callum Francis.

This kid really does have the most uplifting smile you will ever see (see picture above), and I'm quite certain that whatever he performs tonight he will completely endear himself to the British public. In his audition he sang and danced to Consider Yourself, received a standing ovation, and had the judges purring in delight. Simon Cowell did say however, that he feels Francis is better than a 'safe' performance like the one he performed, hinting that he is hoping for something more 'testing' this evening.

Francis is available to back at [3.85] in the Public Vote Winner market and would be my idea of tonight's winner, though failing that, he should be nailed on for a place in Saturday's final and is available to back at just [1.34] in the To Qualify market.

Favourite to win this fourth semi-final is 39-year-old saxophonist Julian Smith ([1.49], an extremely talented guy to say the least. He was another to wow the audience during his audition, and at odds of just [1.07] To Qualify, the strength of his claims are summed up completely.

The only other act who can seriously mount a challenge tonight are grandfather/granddaughter combination 2 Grand. They are ok, but surely will only poll votes on emotion and not talent. If you disagree, you can back them at [13.0] in the Public Vote Winner market, or at [4.4] in the To Qualify market.

As always, I will review tonight's winners tomorrow, and briefly preview Friday's semi-final contestants. Enjoy the show.