Britain's Got Talent (series 3)

The third series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, was broadcast in the UK during 2009, from 11 April to 30 May on ITV. No major changes occurred before or during production - producers originally intended to expand the judging panel to include a fourth judge, but later dropped this idea; the intended newcomer, Kelly Brook,[1][2] was credited as a guest judge for her involvement in a session of auditions.[3][4]

Britain's Got Talent
Series 3
Hosted byAnthony McPartlin (ITV)
Declan Donnelly (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
JudgesSimon Cowell
Amanda Holden
Piers Morgan
Kelly Brook (guest)
WinnerDiversity
Runner-upsSusan Boyle
Julian Smith
Release
Original networkITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release11 April –
30 May 2009 (2009-05-30)
Series chronology

The third series was won by street dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle finishing in second place, and saxophonist Julian Smith placing 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,[5] with her audition on the third series considered as one of the most famous moments in the programme's history.[6] 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
Brook was initially intended as a fourth judge, before producers relugated her to being a guest judge.

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 initially on expanding the judging panel with a fourth judge for the entire series, recruiting Kelly Brook as their choice for this role.[1] The alteration to the panel was made prior to the Manchester auditions, but after she was involved, the producers deemed the idea as an over-complication to the show's format and dropped it six days later. As a result, Brook was labelled as a guest judge when her appearance was broadcast, although still received her fee for her involvement.[3] 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.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Of the participants that took part, only forty made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals,[13] 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 |   Third place
  Semi-finalist
Participant Age(s) 1 Genre Act From Semi-Final Result
2 Grand 76, 12 Singing Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet Doncaster, South Yorkshire 4 Finalist
Aidan Davis 12 Dance Street Dancer Birmingham 5 Finalist
Ben and Becky 18, 16 Dance Ballroom Dancers Essex 3 Eliminated
Brit Chix 23–26 Music Rock Band Boston, Lincolnshire 4 Eliminated
Callum Francis 12 Music Musical Theatre Performer Hertfordshire 4 Eliminated
Darth Jackson 37 Dance Darth Vader & Michael Jackson Impersonator Birmingham 1 Eliminated
DCD Seniors 14–21 Dance Dance Troupe Cardiff 5 Eliminated
Diversity 13–25 Dance Street Dance Troupe London 1 Winner
DJ Talent 30 Singing Rapper London 2 Eliminated
Fabia Cerra 35 Dance / Variety Burlesque Dancer Oxford 4 Eliminated
Faces of Disco 24, 30 Comedy / Dance Comic Dancers London 1 Eliminated
Flawless 20–31 Dance Street Dance Troupe London 2 Finalist
Floral High Notes 43, 46 Singing / Variety Opera Singer & Flower Arranger Stockport, Greater Manchester 3 Eliminated
Fred Bowers 73 Dance Break Dancing Pensioner Loughborough, Leicestershire 4 Eliminated
Gareth Oliver 28 Comedy Ventriloquist Calderdale, West Yorkshire 2 Eliminated
Good Evans 6–42 Singing Singing Family Coventry, West Midlands 5 Eliminated
Greg Pritchard 24 Singing Countertenor & Male Soprano Usk, Monmouthshire 5 Eliminated
Harmony 14, 16 Music / Singing Musical Theatre Performers Essex 3 Eliminated
Hollie Steel 10 Singing Singer Accrington, Lancashire 5 Finalist
Hot Honeyz 16–25 Dance Dancers Maidstone, Kent 2 Eliminated
Jackie Prescott and Tippy Toes 40, 2 2 Animals / Dance Dog Dancing Act Oxford 4 Eliminated
Jamie Pugh 38 Singing Singer Cardiff 2 Eliminated
Julia Naidenko 24 Dance Belly Dancer London (originally Latvia) 1 Eliminated
Julian Smith 40 Music Saxophonist Halesowen, West Midlands 4 Third place
Kay Oresanya 31 Singing / Variety Human "Saxophonist" Glasgow (originally Nigeria) 3 Eliminated
Luke Clements 36 Variety Fruit Juggler Cornwall 5 Eliminated
Martin "Gos" Matcham 35 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist Dover, Kent 5 Eliminated
MD Showgroup 9–17 Dance Street Dance Group Liverpool 3 Eliminated
Merlin Cadogan 35 Danger Escapologist Devon 2 Eliminated
Natalie Okri 10 Singing Singer London 1 Eliminated
Nick Hell 26 Danger Freak Show Stunt Performer Sunderland, Tyne and Wear 1 Eliminated
Peter Coghlan 48 Variety Drag Act Stafford, West Midlands 2 Eliminated
Shaheen Jafargholi 12 Singing Singer Swansea 3 Finalist
Shaun Smith 17 Singing Singer Lichfield, Staffordshire 2 Finalist
Stavros Flatley 13, 40 Comedy / Dance Comic Dancers London (originally Cyprus) 3 Finalist
Sue Son 24 Music Electric Violinist London 1 Eliminated
Sugarfree 16–23 Dance Street dancers Gravesend, Kent 4 Eliminated
Susan Boyle 48 Singing Singer Blackburn, West Lothian 1 Runner-up
The Barrow Boys 18–27 Dance / Variety Wheelbarrow Dancers Devon 3 Eliminated
The Dreambears 29–34 Comedy / Dance Comic Dancers London 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
Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Advanced - Public Vote
  Advanced - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated - Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (24 May)
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [14]
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)
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [14]
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)
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [14]
Cowell Holden Morgan
Harmony 1 Eliminated
Kay Oresanya 2 Eliminated
Ben and 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)
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [14]
Cowell Holden Morgan
Sugar Free 1 Eliminated
Jackie Prescott and 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)
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [14]
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)
  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place
Finalist Order Result [14]
Flawless 1 8th
Shaheen Jafargholi 2 6th
Aidan Davis 3 5th
2 Grand 4 10th
Hollie Steel 5 7th
Stavros Flatley 6 4th
Shaun Smith 7 9th
Susan Boyle 8 2nd
Diversity 9 1st
Julian Smith 10 3rd

Ratings
Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes
Episode Air Date Total Viewers
(millions) [15]		 ITV 1
Weekly rank [15]		 Viewer Share
Auditions 1 11 April 11.21 1 45.1% [16]
Auditions 2 18 April 12.95 1 50.6% [17]
Auditions 3 25 April 13.21 1 52.3% [18]
Auditions 4 2 May 11.30 1 47.2% [19]
Auditions 5 9 May 11.98 1 48.4% [20]
Auditions 6 16 May 11.09 1 41.0% [21]
Auditions 7 23 May 12.62 2 51.1% [22]
Semi-final 1 24 May 12.93 1 49.2% [23]
Semi-final 2 25 May 14.66 3 51.6% [24]
Semi-final 3 26 May 13.56 5 49.9% [25]
Semi-final 4 28 May 13.11 6 51.2% [26]
Semi-final 5 29 May 13.84 4 57.3% [27]
Live final 30 May 16.36 2 71% [28]
Live final results 18.29 1 67.6%[28]

Criticism & incidents

The 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.[29]

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 The Priory psychiatric clinic in London to recover,[30] 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,[31][32] 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.[33][34]

References
  1. Moore, Matthew (14 January 2009). "Kelly Brook named Britain's Got Talent judge". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  2. "TV – News – Brook confirmed for 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  3. "Kelly Brook Axed From Britain's Got Talent". Daily Mirror. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  4. "TV – News – Brook axed from 'Britain's Got Talent'". Digital Spy. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  5. Leigh Holmwood (14 April 2009). "Britain's got talent hits high note,'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  6. "10 Years of BGT: Top Ten memorable moments". www.itv.com. 16 March 2019.
  7. "Talent show singer is online hit, BBC". BBC News. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  8. 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.
  9. "An unlikely star brings smiles to views, NBC Nightly News". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  10. "Le Monde – Susan Boyle, chanteuse en herbe et vedette sur le Web". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  11. "L'Express – Susan Boyle, la révélation de "Britain's got talent"". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  12. "Le Figaro – La gloire surprise de Susan Boyle". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  13. "Britain's Got Talent – your 40 semi-finalists revealed | STV Entertainment". Entertainment.stv.tv. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  16. "TV – News – Huge audiences for 'Talent', 'Who'". Digital Spy. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  17. "TV – News – 'Talent' climbs to 11.9 million". Digital Spy. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  18. "'Talent' appeals to 12.2 million". Digital Spy. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  19. "Latest 'Talent' pulls in 10.5 million". Digital Spy. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  20. "'Got Talent' back up to 11.1 million". Digital Spy. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  21. "7.8 million tune in for Eurovision". Digital Spy. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  22. "'Talent', 'Primeval' help ITV1 win Saturday". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  23. Susan Boyle shows 13.6m she's Got Talent Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  24. "Latest 'Talent' peaks with 15.4 million". Digital Spy. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  25. "12.8 million tune in for third 'Talent' semi". Digital Spy. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  26. "TV – News – 'Talent' boosts ITV News to 6.1m". Digital Spy. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  27. "TV – News – Friday 'Talent' pulls in 13.1 million". Digital Spy. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  28. "TV – News – 'Talent' final peaks with 19.2 million". Digital Spy. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  29. "Britain's Got Talent burlesque stripper prompts dozens of complaints to Ofcom". The Guardian. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  30. "Boyle favourite for Talent finale". BBC News. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  31. "Talent star Boyle taken to clinic". BBC News. 1 June 2009.
  32. Jamieson, Alastair (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle could be in Priory clinic for weeks, says doctor". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  33. Brook, Stephen (3 June 2009). "Susan Boyle: press warned to back off Britain's Got Talent star". The Guardian. London.
  34. Editors Code of Practice
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