Britain's Got Talent / Mike Norman / 18 April 2010 / 1

Reality TV fan Mike Norman loves nothing more than to spend a night in with the family watching Britain's Got Talent, so we think he's best equipped to run the rule over this year's hopefuls.

Not that I've been counting or anything, but at 8pm on Saturday night it had been 322 days, 21 hours and 30 minutes since Britain's Got Talent Series 3 concluded. My long wait for another fix of variety entertainment was over, and I sat down with the kids, the other half, and a bucket full of seedless grapes to watch this excitement-filled show.

Over the next five or six weeks I'll take a look back at the previous evening's audition show, throw in a few wisecracks, and hopefully highlight the act that will eventually go on to win Britain's Got Talent 2010.

In terms of the format nothing has changed; basically everything is the same as previous years including And & Dec presenting and some typically predictable judges, from Simon Cowell saying, "What the bloody hell was that" to Amanda Holden crying at an ageing performer trying to earn a living for the family she hasn't seen for 20 years.

Actually, one thing that has changed this year is Ant's hairstyle. For one moment I thought I was watching a scene from Schindler's List. C'mon Ant - what the bloody hell is that?

If previous years are anything to go by, then from a betting perspective at least, the only types of acts that should be on our radar are singers and dancers. Paul Potts (singer) beat Connie Talbot (singer) in 2007; George Sampson (dance) finished ahead of Signature (dance) and Andrew Johnson (singer) in 2008; and last year it was dance group Diversity that triumphed ahead of singer Susan Boyle and saxophonist Julian Smith. This means that out of the eight places to be awarded since BGT hit our screens, only Smith has been a non singer or dancer... and he played a musical instrument.

In fact, if we take the last two years as a guide, 16 of the 20 finalists fell into the category of singers or dancers. Of the other four, two of them (Escala and Smith) were musical instrument performers. Incredibly then, only two acts, Kate and Gin (the performing dog) and Strike (martial arts duo) made the final without dance or music being the crux of their performance.

On Saturday night BGT commenced with Holden admitting that she was hoping for a variety act to triumph this year; so step forward the first two acts to impress - Tobias Mead and Chloe Hickinbottom... you guessed it... one a dancer and the other a singer!

If truth be told Mead was good, but nothing special and certainly not unique. He was like a cross between previous winners Sampson (in the way that he moved) and Diversity (ideas and surprise element), but just not as good. Cowell and Holden loved him, but Piers Morgan was correct in saying that there were better dancers around. Still, Mead is certain to reach the live semi-finals, but I for one won't be queuing up to have a wager on him.

Ten-year-old Hickinbottom surprised everyone when she did a rendition of Dame Vera Lynn's White Cliffs of Dover. True, she was faultless in her performance, but I personally have had more fun suffering from toothache. She needs to sing more modern material from here-on-in, and if she does, she could be a lively outsider.

If audience reaction is anything to go by then stealing the show in week one were Tina and Chandi, a dancing dog act that provided plenty of laughs and cheers. But I have two problems with this act. One, it wasn't as good as Kate and Gin, and secondly, I've seen Tina and Chandi many times at Crufts - in fact a lot of people have. Britain's Got Talent is supposed to be for undiscovered talent, so showcasing a dog that has arguably reached the height of its career is a bit like allowing Madonna on the show telling us she is going to sing.

In summary, week one wasn't great; I don't think we've seen this year's winner by any means, and that includes talented young drummer Kieran Gaffney. But the beauty of BGT is that anyone can walk onto that stage and provide us with a Susan Boyle moment at anytime. In the next few weeks, I think we'll see many.

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1. jess | 18 April 2010

   britains got talent stars george sampson, diversity and flawless are all going to be staring in the new 3D streetdance movie released on 21st may 2010.

   make sure you watch it its going to be brilliant
   for all the latest news follow streetdance on twitter @streetdancefilm

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