Britain's Got Talent 2009

[postscript]

For my six pennywoth it ended up very well balanced and a very good evening. Simon reckoned 5 or 6 acts were the tops and I agree. I could not make up my own mind but finally decided I would go with Julian the saxophonist.

1. different type of act
2. he's a good player
3. its time we balanced the string bias.

I also felt that Diversity did have the edge on the earlier dance group who's name escapes me because I cannot read my own writing [Flawless]. Susan second then Julian. So the bookies lost a fortune Hi hip hooray!

Peter S.

[Elliot Kane]

I'm completely stunned that anyone overturned the bandwagon, honestly. Diversity were really good and deserved to win, though, I have to say.

Julian Smith was really good, too. I don't think I've ever heard a saxophonist play with such feeling. He's really talented and I suspect he has a bright future.

I think Susan's magnanimity in defeat speaks incredibly well of her, though. I thought she'd won it after her performance (Which once again started with a lot of nerves, but ye gods she finished well!)

[martindn]

I thought Susan's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" tonight was much better than her earlier performance of the same song. Somebody seems to have helped her sort out her pitch control problems. I have to grudgingly admit that I thought she was the best of the four singers in the final.
I loved little Hollie's performance, that was the one that brought a tear to my eye. But I think she is too young. Perhaps in three or four years she will be really something! I found myself comparing her "Wishing you were somehow here again" with Hayleys version aged 12, and TBH, I could imagine Hollie sounding very similar in a few years.
I'm not into dancing really, so I can't really comment, except that Stavros was brilliant with the Riverdance style dancers.
My own favourite was the sax player, but I didn't really expect him to win.

Martin

[I-H-F]

May 30, 2009 18:45:05 GMT Dave said:

That was apparently very upsetting but on watching the replay just now, there were definitely no actual tears visible even on close up, when she was crying. Call me an old cynic if you like but this is a Simon Cowell show so hmmm......

Yes I agree. There have been lots of sob stories and clever editing on this show, so anything is possible.

[stevemacdonald]

This is bordering on hilarious! How on earth did "Diversity" get chosen over real talent?? Susan Boyle singlehandedly put BGT on the map. More people in America know exactly who she is than can name our own vice-president. Folks around the planet were pulling for her -- an overnight global household name if there ever was one! Hollie Steel sang her little heart out, forgot her lyrics and bravely recovered. Pound for pound there was no one in her league as far as vocal beauty was concerned, regardless of how (seemingly) innocent she was. People will have forgotten about Diversity by this time next week -- I can assure you of that. Agents and label executives will be clamoring to sign Ms Boyle and Miss Steel well before the ink is dry on this post. Silly stuff, isn't it? Methinks Simon Cowell is all too aware that the non-winners in these high-stakes contests are far more marketable in the long run. His American Idol non-winners have outshone the actual winners in career success overall. With this in mind, look for Hollie to compete with Faryl in the Christmas CD category later this year. Hollie will score big, very big.

[Richard]

Interesting thoughts, Steve!

I bet we won't see Diversity again after the Royal Variety Performance, but we haven't heard the last from the other finalists.

Richard

[nicola]

Diversity were real talent, Steve. Susan Boyle was not as good a singer as Diversity were dancers and choreographers. Diversity have been consistant with good performances and even more amazing moves that oozed creativity and wit. It's not enough that everyone knows who Susan is. It shouldn't matter in the first place. You are also wrong that they will be forgotten. George Sampson, last years dancer is still going strong and if you looked away from the hype and tabloids (though I understand you are in the US - perhaps then consider that your media and press have only focused on Susan Boyle, and overly so) you may have noticed that people were willing Diversity or Flawless on from the very beginning. They are a bunch of youths that have got themselves off the streets, worked immensely hard and deserved to win.

I was hoping Susan wasn't going to win, hoping that people could make up their own minds away from the press (I say that, because her performance of 'Memory' was not good), it's a universal issue that society depend to headlines to form opinions and I always hope that society prevails, but this was a half victory, as the press decided to turn on her in the last week. I don't know why they did, just saw a advert for coming news show where the headline was 'Susan Boyle Backlash'. Maybe the media saw sense and printed the story on how bad her performance of 'Memory' was. It's not that I hate her or have anything against her, I just think that she's not that good, and got hype from the show's clever editing.

I couldn't be happier with the result, though I was hoping Julian Smith would at least be runner-up. I think many of us know, after listening to Tyler Rix's album how beautiful a Sax album can be, I only hope that Cowell knows how to handle such an instrument.

Also, Holly Steel shouldn't have been in the final in the first place. Talented she is, ready she isn't. I would much prefer if she were left alone to train professionally and return when she is an adult. What a performer she will be!

[Elliot Kane]

Hollie Steele is nowhere close to ready yet, IMO. Her performance veered between normal 'kid singing' (IE rubbish) and unbelievably sweet (The long, high notes) but she had no consistency to her performance. One for the future, more than likely, but nowhere near Faryl level. Hollie needs at least a few years to grow into her voice.

I think one of the hardest things for anyone watching this type of show is to judge between the various types of talent on display. It is literally impossible to say whether a dancer is better at dancing than a singer is at singing, because it's worse than comparing apples and oranges - there's just no point of similarity.

I liked Diversity. i thought they did well and were worthy winners. But I'll probably not see anything else they're ever in as my only real interest in BGT is the singers. Signature were something else, granted - I love those guys - but in general unless it warbles tunefully, any act can go howl from my POV.

Long term, the real 'winners' of these shows, as Steve has said, are not necessarily the ones that win the actual contest. It was true with Faryl, I suspect it will be true with Susan, too. At least, I hope so. She can really sing after all and it would be nice to see her do well.

[Dave]

The voting percentages (confirmed at BBC) seem to have been:

Diversity = 24.9%
Susan Boyle = 20.2%
Julian Smith = 16.4%

So it was a clear win for Diversity.

Hollie's upset (or tantrums) seem to have backfired, although it got her into the final, in the end the public doesn't seem to have been taken in by what I think was a prearranged bit of "sympathy vote" acting. Watch out for her popping up as a child character in some film before too long! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Oh, the final had the biggest TV audience in the UK for 5 years!

Cheers, Dave

[postscript]

May 31, 2009 12:18:24 GMT Dave said:

The voting percentages (confirmed at BBC) seem to have been:

Diversity = 24.9%
Susan Boyle = 20.2%
Julian Smith = 16.4%

So it was a clear win for Diversity.

Hollie's upset (or tantrums) seem to have backfired, although it got her into the final, in the end the public doesn't seem to have been taken in by what I think was a prearranged bit of "sympathy vote" acting. Watch out for her popping up as a child character in some film before too long! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Oh, the final had the biggest TV audience in the UK for 5 years!

Cheers, Dave

I temper your cynicism by asking, would the mother agree to that and if true won't it all come out in the wash? If Hollie really does love singing (as opposed to passing through a phase) then I am sure she will come through as an artist when she is older. However, allowing for the fact she is three years younger, she seems to lack the 'maturity beyond her years' of Faryl. I don't think she has the temperament to withstand the stress so maybe professional solo singing is not for her.

Peter S.

[stephen]

Hi all,
Following the voting and other scandels on tv shows over recent years you have to say I wondered here what was genuine or not.The episode with Holly was a perfect example of this.Also Peter has already mentioned that he tried in the semi's to vote for Gareth Oliver and Pavapotts without success.This simply means if there were not enough lines to cope with the number of calls then the results given could not have been genuine and hence the entire show becomes a sham. Also compare the voting time given in the final to that in the semi's.If voting could be correctly collated that quickly in the semi's then why not the final?

My winner Gareth Oliver and Pavapotts and second Holly.

Stephen.

[nicola]

I think the whole 'failed to get through the phoneline' is brought up every single time. It's not just certain acts where people have trouble, it's all. I know team Rhydian complained on the X-Factor that people couldn't get through on his line, but why would the show set him up to lose when Leon was next to useless, and everyone knew it? It doesn't make sense.

Not that I trust shows like these, hence why I have never picked up the phone myself.

[enzian]

Here is a great video of Susan's performance plus the announcement of the winner when it was down to the last two - it is in super HQ, the picture is actually better than my TV!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vkCPf4tRjo

I was hoping Susan would win but, on reflection and having read some pretty nasty posts on UK forums today, it is better she came second. It was a very respectable result, she got the second highest public vote, which should boost her confidence after her dreadful week, and she showed everyone what a gracious loser she is. The pressure will also be less than it would have been for her as a winner.

I was saddened by the fact that a part of the live audience booed on Friday when Piers said he thought she would win and in the final when he said he wanted her to win. That was unnecessary. He has anyway always supported her right from the beginning with both written and spoken words and gave her a thumbs up after her performance. It was clear he would want her to win.

But I think she will do well out of it and will no longer feel as worthless as she has done in her life to date. And whatever happens, she will get her album, it is already in the planning stage, she will go to the States where she seems to be more appreciated and later will be able to work as a singer in some form. In other words, her dreams will come true.

I think Destiny will do well too. For dancers it is more difficult. I haven't heard much of George Samson apart from his not that infrequent comments criticising some singer or other artist. Not that he has done that lately.

[martindn]

May 31, 2009 16:36:46 GMT postscript said:

. I don't think she has the temperament to withstand the stress so maybe professional solo singing is not for her.

Peter S.

Yes Peter, that thought occurred to me too. When she broke down in the semifinal, she looked a bit too fragile to stand up to it. Can you imagine Hayley, for instance, ever doing anything like that when things go wrong n stage? I don't think so. Hayley describes just such a disaster in her autobiography, and she was distraught afterwards, when she got home, but not during the performance.
That is the difference I think. Hollie is amazing for sure, she has the talent to be a fine singer one day I don't doubt, but you need to be tough as well to make it. I hope she can develop that, since I loved her voice, but I fear she might not.

Martin

[postscript]

May 31, 2009 22:22:34 GMT martindn said:

May 31, 2009 16:36:46 GMT postscript said:

. I don't think she has the temperament to withstand the stress so maybe professional solo singing is not for her.

Peter S.

Yes Peter, that thought occurred to me too. When she broke down in the semifinal, she looked a bit too fragile to stand up to it. Can you imagine Hayley, for instance, ever doing anything like that when things go wrong on stage? I don't think so. Hayley describes just such a disaster in her autobiography, and she was distraught afterwards, when she got home, but not during the performance.
That is the difference I think. Hollie is amazing for sure, she has the talent to be a fine singer one day I don't doubt, but you need to be tough as well to make it. I hope she can develop that, since I loved her voice, but I fear she might not.

Martin

Picking up on your point Martin, as I quoted in a thread some while ago, relating to early experiences with Hayley, when she was on the Pure tour with her siblings at The London Palladium, she told us she had done her last O' level exam that morning, was in the theatre for a rehearsal that after-noon and then doing the show that evening. That's pressure.

Then, in the second half someone came on just as she turned to the band to start her next song. In that second she knew what was wrong, unhesitatingly, she said 'Oh hang on guys, she's forgotten her radio mike,' turned to the wings and asked, 'could someone bring her her radio mike, please?' and a stage hand came on stage to give it to her. That was the moment I chose to follow her, found HWI on my journey etc. I said to myself, 'Lady, you are not just good, you are very good'.

Let us look at that in the context of Faryl and Hollie. Hayley, 16/17; Faryl, 13; Hollie, 10.
Hayley, extensive experience; Faryl, ditto since 8 and may be 6 in competitions with choirs; Hollie, in so far as I am aware a total novice.

It is only with experience that you can cope with the diverse pressures of the moment. It is why I have always maintained that experience on stage through drama, or at least public-speaking, is essential groundwork for business training. As Grant has hinted in one of his posts and I certainly have experienced, in my case being on stage and suddenly a mental black out unable to think not only what I am supposed to say next, but unable to remember which of the two plays we were alternating that week, I was in at that moment is a fascinating experience. You are suddenly hyper-aware of everything going on around you and the attention of the whole world on you as it seems, while you have to maintain your cool, over-ride the panic and get yourself out of the mess you just got yourself into.

It stands you in good stead for when business negotiations suddenly go haywire. To be able to command a stage and the audience watching, you must first be in total command of your art. Only through that can you command the stage and then the audience. To have that command is one of the highest exhilarations you can experience and ego won't give it to you, it is humility, seeking to do the best you can for your art that gives you the ability to command a stage and then its audience. That is why the best do it and why, when you have the best, the audience feel and know they have seen the best there is, as we always feel is the case with Hayley. That is why she does it and why we are there.

Peter S.

[NB} The latest news as at 13:00 on my online news gathering service (just missed any regular news broadcast) is that Susan Boyle is suffering stress-related health problems.