The third series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 30 May 2009. The judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan returned from the previous series; a fourth judge, Kelly Brook, was added, but removed from the series shortly after filming began.
| Britain's Got Talent | |
|---|---|
| Series 3 | |
| Hosted by | Ant & Dec (ITV) Stephen Mulhern (ITV2) |
| Judges | Piers Morgan Amanda Holden Simon Cowell Kelly Brook (guest) |
| Winner | Diversity |
| Runner-up | Susan Boyle |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV ITV2 (BGMT) |
| Original release | 11 April – 30 May 2009 |
| Series chronology | |
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The third series was won by street dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle finishing in second place and saxophonist Julian Smith third. 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,[1] with her audition on the third series considered one of the most famous moments in the programme's history.[2] 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
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Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2009, within Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. Prior to the auditions, Kelly Brook was announced as a permanent fourth judge.[3][4] However, after six days of filming the Manchester auditions Brook was removed from the series. She was credited as a guest judge when her appearance was broadcast.[5]
The third series proved popular amongst viewers for the performances of Susan Boyle, whom deemed her their favourite amongst the participants despite becoming the runner-up in the competition. Her performances made her internationally famous, launching her career as a singer, 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.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Of the participants that took part, only forty made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals,[12] 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:
- Winner | Finalist | Runner-Up | Semi-finalist
| Participant | Age(s) 1 | Genre | Act | Semi-Final | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Grand | 76 & 12 | Singing | Singing Duo | 4 | Finalist |
| Aidan Davis | 12 | Dance | Street Dancer | 5 | Finalist |
| Ben & Becky | 18 & 16 | Dance | Dance Duo | 3 | Eliminated |
| Brit Chix | 23–26 | Singing / Music | Rock Band | 4 | Eliminated |
| Callum Francis | 12 | Singing | Singer | 4 | Eliminated |
| Darth Jackson | 37 | Dance | Dancer | 1 | Eliminated |
| DCD Seniors | 14–21 | Dance | Dance Group | 5 | Eliminated |
| Diversity | 13–25 | Dance | Street Dance Group | 1 | Winner |
| DJ Talent | 30 | Singing | Rapper | 2 | Eliminated |
| Fabia Cerra | 35 | Dance | Burlesque Dancer | 4 | Eliminated |
| Faces of Disco | 24 & 30 | Comedy / Dance | Comic Dance Duo | 1 | Eliminated |
| Flawless | 20–31 | Dance | Street Dance Group | 2 | Finalist |
| Floral High Notes | 43 & 46 | Singing / Variety | Opera Singer & Florist | 3 | Eliminated |
| Fred Bowers | 73 | Dance | Breakdancer | 4 | Eliminated |
| Gareth Oliver | 28 | Comedy | Ventriloquist | 2 | Eliminated |
| Good Evans | 6–42 | Singing | Singing Group | 5 | Eliminated |
| Greg Pritchard | 24 | Singing | Opera Singer | 5 | Eliminated |
| Harmony | 14 & 16 | Singing | Singing Duo | 3 | Eliminated |
| Hollie Steel | 10 | Singing | Singer | 5 | Finalist |
| Hot Honeyz | 16–25 | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | Eliminated |
| Jackie Prescott & Tippy Toes | 40 & 2 2 | Animals | Dog Act | 4 | Eliminated |
| Jamie Pugh | 38 | Singing | Opera Singer | 2 | Eliminated |
| Julia Naidenko | 24 | Dance | Belly Dancer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Julian Smith | 40 | Music | Saxophonist | 4 | Finalist |
| Kay Oresanya | 31 | Variety | Human Saxophonist | 3 | Eliminated |
| Luke Clements | 36 | Variety | Fruit Juggler | 5 | Eliminated |
| Martin "Gos" Matcham | 35 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | 5 | Eliminated |
| MD Showgroup | 9–17 | Dance | Dance Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| Merlin Cadogan | 35 | Danger | Escape Artist | 2 | Eliminated |
| Natalie Okri | 10 | Singing | Singer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Nick Hell | 26 | Danger | Sideshow Performer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Peter Coghlan | 48 | Dance | Drag Dancer | 2 | Eliminated |
| Shaheen Jafargholi | 12 | Singing | Singer | 3 | Finalist |
| Shaun Smith | 17 | Singing | Singer | 2 | Finalist |
| Stavros Flatley | 13 & 40 | Dance | Dance Duo | 3 | Finalist |
| Sue Son | 24 | Music | Electric Violinist | 1 | Eliminated |
| Sugar Free | 16–23 | Dance | Dance Group | 4 | Eliminated |
| Susan Boyle | 48 | Singing | Singer | 1 | Runner-Up |
| The Barrow Boys | 18–27 | Dance | Wheel Barrow Dance Trio | 3 | Eliminated |
| The Dreambears | 29–34 | Dance | Dance Trio | 5 | Eliminated |
- ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
- ^2 The latter value pertains to the age of the dog, as disclosed by its owner.
Semi-final summary
edit
Buzzed out | 
Judges' vote | Advanced - Public Vote- Advanced - Judges' Vote | Eliminated - Judges' Vote | Eliminated
Semi-final 1 (24 May)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result [13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| Diversity | 1 |  | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| Sue Son | 2 | Eliminated | |||
| Darth Jackson | 3 |  | Eliminated | ||
| Natalie Okri | 4 | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Julia Naidenko | 5 | | Eliminated | ||
| Nick Hell | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| Faces of Disco | 7 | | | Eliminated | |
| Susan Boyle | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Semi-final 2 (25 May)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result [13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| DJ Talent | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Merlin Cadogan | 2 | Eliminated | |||
| Hot Honeyz | 3 | | | Eliminated | |
| Jamie Pugh | 4 | | Eliminated | ||
| Peter Coghlan | 5 | | | Eliminated | |
| Gareth Oliver | 6 | | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | |
| Shaun Smith | 7 | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| Flawless | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Semi-final 3 (26 May)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result [13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| Harmony | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Kay Oresanya | 2 | | Eliminated | ||
| Ben & Becky | 3 | Eliminated | |||
| Shaheen Jafargholi | 4 | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| The Barrow Boys | 5 | | | Eliminated | |
| MD Showgroup | 6 | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Floral High Notes | 7 | | Eliminated | ||
| Stavros Flatley | 8 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
Semi-final 4 (28 May)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result [13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| Sugar Free | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Jackie Prescott & Tippy Toes | 2 | | Eliminated | ||
| Callum Francis | 3 | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
| Fred Bowers | 4 | Eliminated | |||
| Brit Chix | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Julian Smith | 6 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
| 2 Grand | 7 | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| Fabia Cerra | 8 | Eliminated | |||
Semi-final 5 (29 May)
edit| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' Vote | Result [13] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Holden | Morgan | |||
| The Dreambears | 1 | | Eliminated | ||
| Good Evans | 2 | | Eliminated | ||
| Luke Clements | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Hollie Steel | 4 | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Martin Matcham | 5 | | Eliminated | ||
| Aidan Davis | 6 | Advanced (Won Public Vote) | |||
| DCD Seniors | 7 | Eliminated | |||
| Greg Pritchard | 8 | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | ||
Final (30 May)
edit- Winner | Runner-up
| Finalist | Order | Result [13] |
|---|---|---|
| Flawless | 1 | 8th |
| Shaheen Jafargholi | 2 | 7th |
| Aidan Davis | 3 | 5th |
| 2 Grand | 4 | 10th |
| Hollie Steel | 5 | 6th |
| Stavros Flatley | 6 | 4th |
| Shaun Smith | 7 | 9th |
| Susan Boyle | 8 | 2nd |
| Diversity | 9 | 1st |
| Julian Smith | 10 | 3rd |
Ratings
edit| Episode | Air Date | Total Viewers (millions) [14] | ITV1 Weekly rank [14] | Viewer Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 11 April | 11.21 | 1 | 45.1% [15] |
| Auditions 2 | 18 April | 12.95 | 1 | 50.6% [16] |
| Auditions 3 | 25 April | 13.21 | 1 | 52.3% [17] |
| Auditions 4 | 2 May | 11.30 | 1 | 47.2% [18] |
| Auditions 5 | 9 May | 11.98 | 1 | 48.4% [19] |
| Auditions 6 | 16 May | 11.09 | 1 | 41.0% [20] |
| Auditions 7 | 23 May | 12.62 | 2 | 51.1% [21] |
| Semi-final 1 | 24 May | 12.93 | 1 | 49.2% [22] |
| Semi-final 2 | 25 May | 14.66 | 3 | 51.6% [23] |
| Semi-final 3 | 26 May | 13.56 | 5 | 49.9% [24] |
| Semi-final 4 | 28 May | 13.11 | 6 | 51.2% [25] |
| Semi-final 5 | 29 May | 13.84 | 4 | 57.3% [26] |
| Live final | 30 May | 16.36 | 2 | 71% [27] |
| Live final results | 18.29 | 1 | 67.6%[27] |
Criticism & incidents
editThe third series saw Britain's Got Talent face criticism for the involvement of burlesque dancer Fabia Cerra. The primary concern of the complaints that were raised were over the unsuitable nature of her performance being shown on a programme aimed at a family audience. Although Ofcom investigated the matter, ITV argued in their defence that production staff had done their utmost to edit all footage to censor all inappropriate scenes of her audition, making use of editing to avoid showing anything that would breach the regulator's broadcasting codes.[28]
However, the involvement of Susan Boyle required greater attention from the programme's staff, most particularly in the live rounds as she grew in fame with her performances. Media attention on Boyle that brought forth a number of questionable claims, forced the finalist to check into the Priory psychiatric clinic in London to recover,[29] leaving producers the task of ensuring she had privacy from the continual media intrusion into her private life. The increasing amount of attention from the general public, over her care and well being,[30][31] led to the producers asking for assistance from the Press Complaints Commission, who issued instructions to 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.[32][33]
References
edit- ^ Leigh Holmwood (14 April 2009). "Britain's got talent hits high note,'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "10 Years of BGT: Top Ten memorable moments". www.itv.com. 16 March 2019.
- ^ Moore, Matthew (14 January 2009). "Kelly Brook named Britain's Got Talent judge". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
- ^ "TV – News – Brook confirmed for 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "TV – News – Brook axed from 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "Talent show singer is online hit, BBC". BBC News. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Sadie Gray Last updated 7 January 2012 1:16 pm (29 March 2010). "Singing Talent of Susan Boyle Stuns Simon Cowell, Times of London". The Times. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "An unlikely star brings smiles to views, NBC Nightly News". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Le Monde – Susan Boyle, chanteuse en herbe et vedette sur le Web". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "L'Express – Susan Boyle, la révélation de "Britain's got talent"". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Le Figaro – La gloire surprise de Susan Boyle". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Britain's Got Talent – your 40 semi-finalists revealed | STV Entertainment". Entertainment.stv.tv. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Diversity "gobsmacked" by UK TV talent show win - Yahoo! Canada News". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ a b "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "TV – News – Huge audiences for 'Talent', 'Who'". Digital Spy. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "TV – News – 'Talent' climbs to 11.9 million". Digital Spy. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "'Talent' appeals to 12.2 million". Digital Spy. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Latest 'Talent' pulls in 10.5 million". Digital Spy. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "'Got Talent' back up to 11.1 million". Digital Spy. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "7.8 million tune in for Eurovision". Digital Spy. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "'Talent', 'Primeval' help ITV1 win Saturday". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Susan Boyle shows 13.6m she's Got Talent Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Latest 'Talent' peaks with 15.4 million". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "12.8 million tune in for third 'Talent' semi". Digital Spy. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "TV – News – 'Talent' boosts ITV News to 6.1m". Digital Spy. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "TV – News – Friday 'Talent' pulls in 13.1 million". Digital Spy. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ a b "TV – News – 'Talent' final peaks with 19.2 million". Digital Spy. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ "Britain's Got Talent burlesque stripper prompts dozens of complaints to Ofcom". The Guardian. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ "Boyle favourite for Talent finale". BBC News. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ "Talent star Boyle taken to clinic". BBC News. 1 June 2009.
- ^ Jamieson, Alastair (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle could be in Priory clinic for weeks, says doctor". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
- ^ Brook, Stephen (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle: press warned to back off Britain's Got Talent star". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Editors Code of Practice