Britain's Got Talent / Mike Norman / 02 May 2010 /

Two weeks of audition shows for "Mystic" Mike Norman to review this time, though judging by what he has to say, he's already found his favourite to win the competition.

Apologies for my absence last week folks; like most people, events in Iceland caused me to be away from my home - only I didn't get stranded at some airport, instead I tripped over a frozen chicken and was hospitalised with a sprained ankle!

I did watch Britain's Got Talent from my hospital bed however, and I was delighted to see some good-old-fashioned variety acts steal the show in the shape of acrobatic gymnast troupe Spellbound, and death-defying regurgitator Stevie Starr.

As a child, I remember watching the Royal Variety Performance every year knowing that one of the first acts on would be some crazy gymnast/dance group from somewhere like Kyrgyzstan. More often than not they'd have the audience gripped with excitement and bewilderment as they threw each other around the stage. Spellbound recreated that memory for me, only they were better than anything I'd seen in my childhood.

Ranging from ages 12-24, the troupe hail from Halifax and are trained by a guy who looks like he specialises in sausage rolls not forward rolls. But whatever his methods he gets the best out of a group of kids desperate to make the big time. Spellbound will be in the final, I'm quite confident of that.

If Spellbound raised a smile on people's faces then Stevie Starr did the complete opposite - everyone looked completely horrified at his act. But in all honesty it was brilliant. Swallowing coins doesn't sound like entertainment but this guy was unique. He'd swallow numbered coins, let you here the sound of them hitting the pit of his stomach, and then bring a coin of your choice back up. To raise the final coin from his stomach his act is to swallow a whole, normal-size pool ball, release the coin, and then bring the ball back up through his throat and mouth. Quite incredible if you ask me, even if it was a little eerie.

I'm not sure an act like Starr's will win this year's BGT but he is someone I certainly want to see again. He'll reach the semi-final for certain, but he'll have to have a completely different routine - whilst still keeping it dangerous - if he is to reach the final.

Episode three of BGT was mainly highlighting the Newcastle auditions, and I can officially confirm that Geordieland doesn't have talent. Mind you, knowing that the guy from the 'canny bag of Tudor out me wages' advert is still revered in these parts, it's not surprising that talent is a bit thin on the ground in the north-east.

So it was back to the Manchester auditions for the highlight of the night, the best audition of this year's BGT so far, and arguably the most spine-tingling performance since an unknown Susan Boyle walked onto a Britain's Got Talent stage in 2009. It came from 14-year-old singer Olivia Archbold... whose parents run a garage! Don't ask.

A nervous Olivia took to the stage amidst one of those classic BGT will she/won't she (be good) moments. Thankfully she was the latter, only she wasn't just good, she was absolutely outstanding. Physically shaking, she told Piers Morgan that she was going to sing In the Arms of the Angels, to which Simon Cowell said to Amanda Holden, "This is a hard song to sing". Cowell of course is right; it is a hard song to sing, especially for a young girl undoubtedly singing for the first time in front of such a huge audience. But as soon as she sang the words, "Spend all your time waiting", everyone was hooked. Her voice was so soft and beautiful, every note was in tune, and she made the song her own in every way possible. It was an incredible performance - on a par with Boyle's first audition I have no hesitation in saying.

As we know last year's hot favourite Boyle didn't eventually win, but I think Olivia can. I know that's a bold statement considering we aren't even half way through the auditions yet; but it will take something ultra-special to hoist an act ahead of Olivia Archbold... in my mind at least.

The only market Betfair have so far is the Winning Gender market. Male Only is the current [2.3] favourite, just ahead of Female Only ([2.64]) and Mixed Gender ([2.82]). Careful though, the Mixed Gender option doesn't mean you'll be backing drag artists, it means you'll be backing acts like Spellbound... but I'm sure you knew that.

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