Britain's Got Talent (series 3)


The third series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2009, from 11 April to 30 May on ITV.
Prior to production taking place, producers originally intended to expand the judging panel to include a fourth judge, but later dropped this idea; the intended newcomer, Kelly Brook, was credited as a guest judge for her involvement in a session of auditions. Apart from this, no major changes took place with the programme.
The third series was won by street dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle finishing in second place, and saxophonist Julian Smith placing third. With their win, Diversity became the highest-placing act to advance via judges’ vote. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 13.3 million viewers, with the figures partly helped by the notable performances of Boyle during her time in on the show. Boyle's performance on the third series contributed predominately to the formation of her global singing career, with her audition considered as one of the most notable moments in the programme's history. The programme faced criticism during the third series for airing an unsuitable performance conducted in an audition, while Boyle's well-being became a major concern for producers following the final.

Series overview

Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2009, within Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. When the auditions were being overseen, the producers decided to expand the judging panel by adding a fourth judge to proceedings, and thus they recruited Kelly Brook as their choice for this role. The alteration to the panel was made prior to the Manchester auditions, but within six days after it was introduced, the producers deemed it an over-complication to the show's format and dropped it. As a result, Brook, while receiving her fee for her involvement in the third series, was labelled as a guest judge when it began broadcasting.
This series is notable for launching the career of Susan Boyle, despite the singer being only a runner-up by the end of the competition. Her performances during this series made her internationally famous, with her audition performance, involving her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Misérables, being later posted to YouTube and earning around 100 million views within five days of its posting.
Of the participants that took part, only forty made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals, with eight appearing in each one, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
ParticipantAge GenreActFromSemi-FinalResult
2 Grand76, 12SingingGrandfather & Granddaughter DuetDoncaster, South Yorkshire4'
Aidan Davis12DanceStreet DancerBirmingham5'
Ben and Becky18, 16DanceBallroom DancersEssex3
Brit Chix23–26MusicRock BandBoston, Lincolnshire4
Callum Francis12MusicMusical Theatre PerformerHertfordshire4
Darth Jackson37DanceDarth Vader & Michael Jackson ImpersonatorBirmingham1
DCD Seniors14–21DanceDance TroupeCardiff5
Diversity13–25DanceStreet Dance TroupeLondon1'
DJ Talent30SingingRapperLondon2
Fabia Cerra35Dance / VarietyBurlesque DancerOxford4
Faces of Disco24, 30Comedy / DanceComic DancersLondon1
Flawless20–31DanceStreet Dance TroupeLondon2'
Floral High Notes43, 46Singing / VarietyOpera Singer & Flower ArrangerStockport, Greater Manchester3
Fred Bowers73DanceBreak Dancing PensionerLoughborough, Leicestershire4
Gareth Oliver28ComedyVentriloquistCalderdale, West Yorkshire2
Good Evans6–42SingingSinging FamilyCoventry, West Midlands5
Greg Pritchard24SingingCountertenor & Male SopranoUsk, Monmouthshire5
Harmony14, 16Music / SingingMusical Theatre PerformersEssex3
Hollie Steel10SingingSingerAccrington, Lancashire5'
Hot Honeyz16–25DanceDancersMaidstone, Kent2
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes40, 2 Animals / DanceDog Dancing ActOxford4
Jamie Pugh38SingingSingerCardiff2
Julia Naidenko24DanceBelly DancerLondon 1
Julian Smith40MusicSaxophonistHalesowen, West Midlands4'
Kay Oresanya31Singing / VarietyHuman "Saxophonist"Glasgow 3
Luke Clements36VarietyFruit JugglerCornwall5
Martin "Gos" Matcham35Singing / MusicSinger & GuitaristDover, Kent5
MD Showgroup9–17DanceStreet Dance GroupLiverpool3Eliminated
Merlin Cadogan35DangerEscapologistDevon2
Natalie Okri10SingingSingerLondon1
Nick Hell26DangerFreak Show Stunt PerformerSunderland, Tyne and Wear1
Peter Coghlan48VarietyDrag ActStafford, West Midlands2
Shaheen Jafargholi12SingingSingerSwansea3'
Shaun Smith17SingingSingerLichfield, Staffordshire2'
Stavros Flatley13, 40Comedy / DanceComic DancersLondon 3'
Sue Son24MusicElectric ViolinistLondon1
Sugarfree16–23DanceStreet dancersGravesend, Kent4
Susan Boyle48SingingSingerBlackburn, West Lothian1'
The Barrow Boys18–27Dance / VarietyWheelbarrow DancersDevon3
The Dreambears29–34Comedy / DanceComic DancersLondon5

Semi-final 1 (24 May)

Semi-final 2 (25 May)

Semi-final 3 (26 May)

Semi-final 4 (28 May)

Semi-final 5 (29 May)

Final (30 May)

FinalistOrderActResult
Flawless1Dance Troupe8th
Shaheen Jafargholi2Singer6th
Aidan Davis3Street dancer5th
2 Grand4Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet10th
Hollie Steel5Singer7th
Stavros Flatley6Comic Dancers4th
Shaun Smith7Singer9th
Susan Boyle8Singer2nd
Diversity9Dance Group1st
Julian Smith10Saxophonist3rd

Ratings


EpisodeDateOfficial ratings
Weekly rankShare
Auditions 111 April11.21145.1%
Auditions 218 April12.95150.6%
Auditions 325 April13.21152.3%
Auditions 42 May11.30147.2%
Auditions 59 May11.98148.4%
Auditions 616 May11.09141.0%
Auditions 723 May12.62251.1%
Semi-final 124 May12.93149.2%
Semi-final 225 May14.66351.6%
Semi-final 326 May13.56549.9%
Semi-final 428 May13.11651.2%
Semi-final 529 May13.84457.3%
Live final30 May16.36271%
Live final results30 May18.29167.6%

Criticism & incidents

Fabia Cerra audition

On 11 April 2009, the programme was given notice that an investigation by Ofcom for the involvement of burlesque dancer Fabia Cerra would take place in regards to complaints made by viewers. The primary concern in the complaint was in the nature of her audition - which primarily involved her stripping down to a basque and nipple tassels - and thus its suitability for a family audience. Although the investigation would cross-check the content's broadcast with broadcasting codes on the protection of children from unsuitable content, ITV argued in their defence that the production staff had done its utmost to edit the footage to censor most of her audition, in some cases using reaction shots from the judges and audience.

Susan Boyle's well-being

Although the care and well-being of participants in the live rounds is a priority concern for production staff, the involvement of Susan Boyle required greater attention. This became most important prior to and after her appearance in the live final, when a number of stories began to emerge from the media that placed pressure on Boyle with a number of questionable claims, negatively impacting her health and required her to spend time in The Priory psychiatric clinic in London to recover. Producers were faced with the task of dealing with continual media intrusion into her private life, after already having to deny some of the claims published in the stories, along with the amount of attention she was receiving from amongst her fans and the public over her care and well-being, and came to the decision to involve the Press Complaints Commission. Their involvement led to calls being made with press editors to adhere firmly to the code of press conduct in regards to its rules on privacy - this included not allowing unauthorised photography to take place and respecting Boyle's entitlement to privacy while she recovered from her involvement in the programme.