Britain's Got Talent / Mike Norman / 17 April 2011 /

Mike Norman wasn't overly impressed with Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent auditions, but he believes a few acts are worth keeping an eye on as the show progresses.

The first serving of Britain's Got Talent 2011 was a cocktail of weird, wacky, and not-so-wonderful acts that included a Mr Bean wannabe, a duet of bell-ringers, a boring dog act, and a less-than-funny comedian.

Ok, I might have fell out of bed the wrong side this morning, but after watching a re-run of Saturday night's opening show I'm definitely not bursting with excitement. A few of the better acts were good (more on them later); it was the ones that got the judges drooling - but weren't actually any good - that were annoying.

Take young David Knight for example; a nine-year-old comedian who looked remarkably how I'd envisage a young Prince Charles! He was full of confidence and his delivery was assured, but his material was old and unfunny, and let's be honest, if a grown man had come on and told the same jokes he probably would have been booed off the stage. Yet for some reason Messrs David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre loved him. I'm happy to put their kind words down to them not knowing how to burst a kid's bubble Simon Cowell style - "I like you, but the problem we have is you're not very good!"

And then there was 66-year-old Donelda Guy and her two sheepdogs. Dog acts are like a trip to the dentist - extremely boring and sometimes painful; and even if you use two dogs instead of just one there's absolutely nothing exciting about seeing them stand on their back legs and spin round - not even in unison - to their owner's commands. Amanda Holden thought it was great though, but then she's always liked dogs!

Looking on the bright side it wasn't all bad. At least three acts impressed to varying degrees - not least Mr Bean-like Steven Hall.

Hall, a 53-year-old telecommunications engineer, looked like a typically dorky middle-aged man before bursting into an evolution of famous dance routines that included Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Birdie Song, and Riverdance. He received a standing ovation from the Liverpool audience - who by this stage were applauding anyone who didn't don a shell suit - as well as having all three judges in hysterics, more out of surprise than anything else.

Hall's act has at least the potential to surprise again, which is more than can be said about a blasted dog act!

Michael Collings arguably stole the show - his acoustic guitar rendition of Tracy Chapman's hit Fast Car was not only great, but it was the only act on the night that was normal! It wasn't exactly a Susan Boyle moment when Collings performed well, but his appearance hardly singled him out as a star performer. The teenager lives on a caravan park with his mother and father, and dressed in grey joggers and an orange hoody he brought along his pregnant girlfriend to his potentially life-changing audition. But it's the performance that matters - as his girlfriend knows only too well - and Collings is surely heading for the live shows judged on what we've seen so far.

ITV have a habit of saving the most uplifting act until last, at that's exactly what they did again on Saturday night's opening show in the shape of husband and wife bell-ringing duo Gay and Alan.

Perhaps the most eccentric of the night's acts also, Gay and Alan drew gasps and second glances from the audience when they walked out on stage, and there were more than a few heads in hands when they announced what they were about to do. But what followed was wonderfully entertaining and I dare say a tad tear-jerky to the more emotional British viewers. A bell-ringing rendition of My Heart Will Go On certainly wasn't top of my list of potential Britain's Got Talent winning acts, and although that's still the case, I personally can't wait to see Gay and Alan again.

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