Britain's Got Talent 2012 - Live Semi-Final 1

It's the first LIVE semi-final of Britain's Got Talent and I can finally talk about each act we see! This year it's nine acts each evening so plenty more talent to see! With a brand new studio design and layout, a cheesy intro from Ant and Dec and the judges all in place, we are ready to begin the show!

Act number one is Zipparah Tafari, who impressed the judges in the auditions with his own song about loosing his keys and his mobile phone. Sadly Zipparah sang pretty much the same song he did in his audition but with some new and some altered lyrics. It did however get everyone in the audience jumping with David Walliams even saying that he believes it will be a number one track! What's even better, Simon Cowell also surprisingly enjoyed the song!

Next up it was The Jive Aces. A jazz swing band who all dressed in bright yellow past their first audition with their own rendition of 'I wanna Be Like You' from Disney's 'The Jungle Book'. Their attempt to wow the judges was the same song from their audition. Aptly named ''Bananas In Pyjamas'' by Amanda Holden, she didn't believe they would win the show and I agree with her. Alesha Dixon seemingly liked the performance but Cowell, Walliams and Holden did not. As Cowell and Walliams said, there was not enough variety in the act and the performance was not something outstanding that could be potentially world class. I think it's safe to say that they have no hope in getting to the final.

The third act this evening was twelve year old school girl Lauren Thalia. Lauren got through the first auditions with an acoustic performance of Keri Hilson's 'Turn My Swag On'. For her semi-final performance she did another acoustic performance of Labrinth's 'Earthquake' with some new lyrics added to the song. Possibly the best act of the night SO FAR, baring in my mind at the time of writing we are only half hour into the show, it even received a standing ovation from the audience. Cowell, clearly eyeing Thalia as a potential star to sign to Syco Music, gave a big appraisal of the performance. Not one single bad response from the judges, could she be one of tonight's acts that goes through to the final?

Act four it's United We Stand. A dance group who got thought with a... err... dance act! With nothing really new to billions of dance acts we have seen on BGT, Simon was quick to buzz in with Amanda following soon after. Sadly it's much harder for dance acts on Britains Got Talent to create something new and original that will capture the eyes of everyone. As Holden said, we are bored of seeing street dance acts that lack imagination and that are boring. However Walliams and Dixon both enjoyed the act and were quick to defend the group from Simon and Amanda's laughing at them both. The only way this group will proceed in the competition is if the British public have no sense and vote them through.

Act number five was Analiza Ching. Who for her audition played the violin and is now back with another song which was unrecognisable for most of the verses, the chorus however gave it away as being 'The Pretender' by The Foo Fighters. Analisa manged to get a standing ovation from Amanda and a great response from the all four judges. I believe Ching was trying to make violin playing look 'sexy'. Needless to say, she didn't pull it off to well but the audience seemed to like her so maybe the public will.

The next act was The Mend, who come from Manchester but actually auditioned in Birmingham (yes, I was there in the audience, yay me!). For tonight's semi-final act they sang a medley of 'I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight' and 'Written In The Stars'. Obviously a big hit with the ladies with a definite large chance of getting to the finals. Dixon, who seems to have taken some sort of 'happy pill' that has made her over excited this evening, loved the act and loved everything the other judges said. Apparently they have put "cool back on the map" according to Amanda and Simon again can see potential in this act whether they win or not.

The seventh act of the evening was soul singing Mum, Rachael Knowland. Rachael seemed a little off key as she started the song and didn't seem to get much better throughout the song. With the song choice being The Ronnettes' 'Be My Baby', was a little bit risky with it being an old hit. Cowell claiming that this was one of his favourite songs but Rachael didn't put her own stamp on the song and he said he will forget it within ten minutes. I one hundred percent agree with Simon and I have high doubts that she will get through.

Next act, the penultimate act, was Ashley and Pudsey. They performed a dance to the theme tune from 'The Flintstones' and it wowed all the judges, especially Simon who is desperate for a dog act to win! Their song choice this evening was a jazz number and they showed off even more impressive dance skills. A standing ovation from all four judges and the audience! This could be Britain's Got Talent's first ever dog act to win the show! Simon said it was what he has been waiting for all of his life and all three of the other judges were all agreeing with him.

The final act of the evening was the all male voice choir Only Boys Aloud. A massive choir (for which I can't be bothered to count how many) of boys - believe it or not - singing a welsh hymn. Although it sounded amazing, I can't help feel that a twist of them singing a current chart song in their act would of made them more enjoyable. Needless to say all four judges thoroughly enjoyed the act, as well as the audience who gave a standing ovation.

And that's it, all of tonight's nine acts have performed! But who will make it through to the to the finals?

Below are the two acts that went through.

Ashley and Pudsey

Only Boys Aloud - (With two votes from the judges for each act it went to the phone vote)

The Mend - Sadly went out due to the above reasoning.

Britain's Got Talent 2012 - Week 7

Well it’s the last auditions show today and we are starting in Wales! The first act was a group of synchronised swimmers named Aquabatique. Sadly it didn’t appeal to me as I do not class synchronised swimming as a sport (sorry to those who do this). However, they thrilled the judges and the audience and swam through to the next stage!

Our next act was Honey Shazad, who by her dress sense looked as though there was not an ounce of talent... Until she sang! Although we only saw her briefly, she showed that looks are not everything (I’m sure there is a show on BBC1 who are trying to get that message across...).  We then saw Martyn Crofts who baffled us all when putting a pan on his head. He then gave the funniest rendition of ‘King of the Road’ in which he sung like a Dalek as well as altering the lyrics accordingly. Three yeses and he were through! But with auditions coming to an end, was there anything left that could surprise the judges? Well, there was a contortionist singer, a dance and strobe light spectacular,  a cool and crazy bongo player and a laser harp player... a what?

Now it’s Simon’s dreaded acts, the magicians. Each year we see plenty of magicians who try to be funny or try to be good but as Simon requests, there is not enough danger. We want to see someone nearly die or someone injured, not pulling flowers out of their sleeves! But then, we see two magicians who one violently duct tapes his friends face and then does a take on predicting a card. It just so happens to be in the mouth of the guy who has his face blocked up with duct tape! Could this be one of BGT’s most successful magic acts? We will find out very soon. Next is a mother daughter act with seemingly a 14 year old girl who can’t talk for herself until she is on the stage and a mother who enjoys bragging about the 40,000 gigs she has done live. Put it this way, as soon as the mother started singing you could tell it wasn’t going to work. As soon as she ditched the mother the act improved but it wasn’t good enough for her to get through. 

We were then subjected to the unfunny comedians and impressionists who really do not deserve to get past the production auditions. But then, last years BGMT viewers may remember Gattis from last year who was rapping, this year he is trying his hand at stand up comedy... he left us plenty of ‘tumbleweed’ moments. As Simon billed him, he was the ‘funniest unfunny comedian’ and believe it or not, he got through! So that’s it, the 2012 auditions are over!

 

It’s now the make or break day where our judges decide who is to go through to semi final week and who does not. With the judges arguing over who is to go through all the acts can do is sit nervously and await their fate. The judges have made their final decisions and it’s now time to find out who is through and who is not.

A full list of the acts who got through can be found here.

I'll be back tomorrow for the first semi final live show!

Britain's Got Talent 2012 - Week 6

It's week 6 and we are starting in London, what a surprise... Not. Our first act was an organ player called Graham, whose name is actually Michael, but he didn't know that until the age of 12. Quite frankly, Graham/Michael was a complete pillock. But he was so funny! He did a rendition of La Bamba which got the crowd on it's feet. The judges must of only put him through because he was funny. I wonder if he has a carer or something to help him with his day to day life...?

Our second act were The Jive Ages. A bunch of men dressed in bright yellow suits, all looking like bananas and singing a song from The Jungle Book... coincidence perhaps? We then saw a bunch of little school kids who go by the name of Nu Sxool. I was pleasantly surprised with this act! I'm sick of seeing dance acts but these guys actually offered something original and something visually attractive. It was then Be Minor. An amazing girl band who I saw when I was in the audience. Sadly, the didn't show the full audition as it was AMAZING! Hopefully they will do well and I really hope they make it to the final. Next up, 11 year old Molly - cue the 'aww' from the audience. A beautiful voice! But I somewhat think she's not old enough to go too far in the competition, I have doubts as to whether she will win and at a young age when they get voted out it's hard for them. But who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised!

We then see Geisha, who I have already seen on two other shows - someone's desperate for fame! I'm surprised she got through, she was a complete idiot and quite frankly needs to be put down as soon as possible. After Geisha, plenty more weird acts who thankfully didn't get through and most certainly don't deserve to. We've moved to Birmingham and our first act is a magician managed to throw the cards at the judges, predict the wrong card and fail his audition. But then 9 year old Malaki saved the day! Such a powerful voice from such a small child who tugged at the hearts of everyone watching.  We were then left on a cliffhanger as he started to cry and we went to an ad break, Twitter erupted wanting to know what happened next. One cry and a restart and we were off again. He didn't really need to restart at all, he was obviously getting four yeses because he is an amazing singer for a young boy!

Next week it's the last batch of auditions and then we see who is through to the semi finals! 

Film: Beetlejuice

I'm going to keep this post short as I am really tired and it's hard writing these blogs and finding the time to do it! Anyhow, I will try not to give too much away for those who have not seen it...

Adam and Barbara are a normal couple...who happen to be dead. They have given their precious time to decorate the house and make it their own, but unfortunately a family is moving in, and not quietly. Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but ends up becoming the main attraction to the money making family. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but Beetlejuice has more in mind than just helping. - Source: IMDB

Beetlejuice is just one of them films that you watch and then have no idea why you bothered to watch it in the first place. It's somehow managed to earn itself a 'cult' status amongst its fans and I am still wondering why. I wrote plenty of notes down during this but I would like to keep this blog a blog that kids can read to so most of my notes can't be typed up due to the swearing (sorry). The acting in this film was good, until the supporting cast appeared. Michael Keaton (Beetlegeuse) seemed to give it all his effort in this film and so did Alex Baldwin (Adam) and Geena Davis (Barbara), but when it came to the rest of the cast there was no realism - not that the film was realistic in any way. The Gothic daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), deserved to be shot repeatedly for her awful acting and dreadful delivery of lines. I genuinely hoped they died at the beginning of the film so that it would finish, to then find out they did actually die and had ruined the film by making them ghosts (yes, I know that this is the whole point of the film!). 

I feel as though they were stuck for ideas when making this film as there was far to many stupid actions from the characters. Such as when they tried things like drawing a door, you would have to be pretty idiotic to do that rather than just simply calling for Beetlegeuse, which would then mean we get more of his comedy lines that made the film worth watching. Of course, this is a film so therefore it's fantasy land where everyone is a complete idiot.  Another thing I get all picky about in films is continuity errors. For those who do not know what these are, in basic terms they are what makes the film flow so it looks as natural as possible. This film is full of them! Most of these consist of things being put in one place and then after a different camera shot they have suddenly moved to somewhere else for no apparent reason. There are far too many to talk about so if you want to read them click here. One more thing I get really stressed about is the sets. Now I know Beetleguese's home is meant to be a model, but they could of spent a bit more money on making it look somewhat realistic. The set was moving far too much when an actor did something like digging mud, which happened to be some weird cardboard stuff and the fake sponge grass they had, which for another $300 they could have got some real turf.

A few final things to wrap this up as I promised it would be short - I lied. The thing that got me, is that it is a 15 rated film but it took 45 minutes for someone to swear - and that happened to be 'f**k (sorry!). The claymation looked awful and didn't fit in with the film at all as it looked too tacky. And finally, the girl threatening to commit suicide was probably one of the most exciting parts of the film - I probably will regret saying that but sadly it's true.

Britain's Got Talent 2012 - Week 5

Our first act this weeks comes from London and it's 12 year old Lauren Thalia who has a GREAT voice! Of course she got through with each judge saying 'yes', but sadly I don't think she completely has what it takes to win the competition overall. 

Up next it's Cascade.  A French stunt team who wowed the judges with their martial art acrobatic routine. Naturally, show offs like this all need to take their shirts off for the ladies The stunt work was amazing and they sailed through to the next round with four yeses. We then meet the Lovable Rouges who are a singing trio singing a cover of Love Sick. All three were students and they were showing that teenagers do have a talent and that youth stereotypes mean nothing! With plenty of acts not getting through can someone bring it out of the bag? Well a comedy impressionist who works in a hospital sure did! One of the best female impressionists to ever appear on Britain's Got Talent, Marea Smithson impressed everyone. With impressions of Anne Robinson, Some people of Corrie (Sorry, I don't watch!) and Ann Widdecombe she powered her way through to the next round. Could this be the first impressionist to win the competition?

Lots and lots of dreadful acts waisting the judges times but we did see an awesome 12 year old playing the piano! But Ballroom and Latin dancers, Kai and Natalia, who naturally Simon enjoyed and clearly enjoyed putting them through giving Strictly Come Dancing the two fingers! Next, Karizma Krew, a dance act who didn't really offer us anything new that we haven't seen on Britain's Got Talent in the past. It's the sixth year of the show and there has been so many different dance acts, it's hard for acts to do something new and original. However, the Karizma Krew went through with Simon being the only judge to say no.

A bit of trivia for you, the Mo Better Band (pictured below) were actually stopped part way through their first attempt by Simon, until the judges and the audience convinced him to let them start again!

Sadly, it wasn't the best episode and I didn't see myself in the audience! :( But the judges as per usual were on top form! Alesha giggling away, Simon being Simon (no change), David being hilariously funny and Amanda being B-E-A-U-TIFUL!

Sorry!

Apologies for the lack of posting recently, been very busy recently so expect some more posts sooooon!

Next post will be tomorrow for episode 5 of Britain's Got Talent!

So here's a picture of a happy horse!

Britain's Got Talent 2012 - Week 4

It’s week four and we are starting the show with The Showbears or as David said, “the new One Direction.” Wow! Wasn’t that something different...? Five grown men (all very camp!) dressed in sequined sailor outfits singing. Then David decided he could be a member of the group and he fitted in perfectly! With a standing ovation from the audience, this act may just cut it well in the competition!

The next act was Face Team who wowed us by slam dunking their way through to the next stages of the competition with their unique take on acrobatics and basketball. We then visited Edinburgh next rather than Glasgow like normal to see if they can match up to Glasgow’s runner-up Susan Boyle. We’re greeted with Neil Lawson, who dressed in women’s clothes seemed to scare all of us. Congratulations to Scotland for showcasing talent we would rather be left at home! Only in Scotland can we get a bunch of guys dressed in morphsuits playing the bagpipes, which Simon likened to five jelly babies. Sorry Scotland, you haven’t got much talent to offer us. Fourteen year old Paige Turley proved us all wrong with the most beautiful rendition of ‘Skinny Love’ that I have ever heard, she showed that Scotland does have a small amount of talent and that young people have talent.

  

A final hop back to London and we are graced with United We Stand. A semi-unique dance act that wowed the judges and the audience with their moves but can they compete with the other dance acts in the competition? The best act of the evening was Strictly Wheels who proved that even if you're in a wheelchair, you can still dance. A slow dance to start off which made the act seem boring until the music kicked in and we were subjected to one of the best acts so far. They will definitely go far in the competition and the future definitely holds lots for them!