BGT’S BACK WITH A BANG!
Returns As Britain’s Got Talent night, to fire up your Saturday his co-judges Simon Cowell and warmth tell why its lightness, are just the and sheer craziness right now tonic we all need
The auditions for this year’s Britain’s Got
Talent – in all their usual kooky, crazy, can-this-act-be-forreal? glory – were held before the coronavirus took hold. Last week it was announced that the live finals will be postponed, but the auditions, guaranteed to give us all a lift, will still go out as planned.
All human emotion was there, as it always is. The child singers with soaring voices. The comedians trying to make Simon Cowell laugh (good luck with that one, guys). The bendy acrobats making the studio audience gasp.
Now that the sands have shifted though, Amanda Holden is remembering a particular sort of act. ‘The choirs are strong this year,’ she admits. ‘I thought it at the time but now... well, let’s see how this unfolds, but it would be nice to see a choir win. Choirs sum it all up, don’t they? Community, coming together, all these diverse people – different ages, types – all uniting to make something special. Maybe it’s the year for a choir.’
When I catch up with the judges, post-auditions, everything is in flux. Amanda has started presenting her radio show from home, in her PJs. Her daughters Lexi, 14, and Holly, eight, are at home, with school being closed for the foreseeable future. It’s an unsettling time, and many families have already experienced loss, of all varieties. And we are to talk about
Britain’s Got Talent, a frothy piece of entertainment?
Actually, though, it is an utter tonic because her business-asusual approach is exactly what is needed in these times. Her training as an actor gives her the ability to fix that glowing smile on her face, regardless. It’s actually quite the life-skill.
‘Obviously it’s all so worrying, terrifying really,’ she admits. ‘My friends in the business are being laid off, theatres are closing. People’s whole worlds are just collapsing, but those of us who can have to carry on doing what we do. What’s the alternative?’
She argues – and who can disagree? – that this is exactly the sort of time we need TV shows that are about pure entertainment. God knows, the power to put a smile on someone’s face at this time is immense. ‘Hopefully BGT will be a bit of medicine,’ she says. ‘I mean that. We need to just connect, to hear other people’s stories, laugh, cry, all those human things that BGT has always been about. Keeping it all going is our way of keeping the home fires burning. I mean, let’s face it, none of us are going on holiday this year. We’re going to be watching telly with our family. We need things we’re all in together.’
Simon echoes that sentiment. ‘Now more than ever BGT has to be about escapism. It has to be about lightness and warmth, and it shouldn’t take itself too seriously. To be honest with you, the contestants really define the show. You have the format, yes, but the feel comes from the contestants.
‘This year there’s a return to non-professional acts, which I like. I’m not keen on the acts who already do what they do professionally. I mean if they’re
WE WILL BE A MEDICINE FOR EVERYONE – KEEPING IT ALL GOING IS OUR WAY OF KEEPING THE HOME FIRES BURNING
fantastic that’s a whole different story, but it’s the middle ground – when they’re just OK – that then gets boring. I’d rather have someone who has a regular job but this amazing hidden talent.’ The aim is still finding another
Paul Potts or Susan Boyle then?
‘Absolutely. Those acts excite me more than the other type, because the stories behind them just draw you in.’ So which acts have made a big impression with the judges this year? All four of them have their favourites, but
Simon Cowell seems to have found the act he hates more than any before in the history of the
Got Talent franchise. Step forward Tim Patch, an artist who goes by a ruder version of Picasso’s name and whose ‘talent’ (Simon is horrified that we even consider calling it that) is painting pictures with an
unlikely part of his anatomy. The four BGT judges are often divided in their opinions of an act, but not to this extent. ‘Simon stormed off,’ admits Alesha Dixon. ‘He wasn’t having it.’
David Walliams – not a man easily shocked – is wondering whether the segment will be aired. ‘I just kept thinking, “I wonder if this is going to make it onto the TV. It is quite rude.” He’s good at what he does. I mean, it’s something different isn’t it? The audience don’t see anything, but I thought it was
quite edgy for Britain’s Got
Talent.’
And over to Simon himself. He will usually tell you that he can’t comment on whether he thinks a particular act has a chance of winning, to remain impartial. ‘But in this case I think we can safely say this one will not win. I just thought there was no need for it. I don’t want to see it.’ He didn’t take the resulting portrait – of Simon! – home then? ‘No, I absolutely did not.’
What are the other stand-outs? Both Simon and Alesha say there are some striking child acts this year. ‘The standard there is extremely high. There are a lot of children who are coming on who really seem to know what they’re doing,’ says Alesha. Amanda also highlights a unicyclist, someone who works at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital who has ‘the voice of an angel’ – oh, and a scientist who sets balls on fire.
There is also a ‘birdman’, whose act is Tommy Cooperesque. David applauds those he has seen who would come under the ‘creative’ bracket. ‘Since we started we’ve had thousands and thousands of auditions, but we’ve found something that people haven’t seen before, so I’m pleased about that.’ He says the trick is that the acts must feel
new. ‘You don’t want to think that you saw a great dance act five years ago and no one is doing it better. You want to think that things are moving on, people are being inspired by what they’ve seen and trying harder and being more imaginative, topping what’s come before.’
All four judges aren’t so much in a sombre mood today, but a thoughtful one, as the show heads into its 14th series. How many more can it do? David says it doesn’t show signs of slowing down. ‘I see no reason why it couldn’t reach series 20. I mean, it’s hard to predict, isn’t it? You don’t know what TV might be like in the future. Things will change. But probably not to the point where a show like this couldn’t exist.’
In some ways, he says, it’s exactly the sort of show we need – an event that people still watch together. ‘It’s interesting, because it’s not something people bingewatch six months later. You have to be able to watch it as it happens because everyone is talking about the acts they’ve seen, whether you love them or hate them. I think it’s sort of the Holy Grail of TV in lots of ways.’
Of course, the pressure is on. The
X Factor is on hiatus this year (‘we are taking a break, resting it for a little while,’ is how Simon puts it), so BGT is now the big Cowell platform. The problem with The X
Factor? It simply wasn’t producing enough stars, he says. ‘In my opinion every single person who makes it into the top ten should be able to get a record deal. That’s possible if you cast it well, and that just wasn’t happening. For whatever reason the casting process was wrong, and therefore the show was not doing its job. With The X Factor, the whole way that we find the contestants has to change.’
Perversely, he reckons BGT is still churning out stars. ‘I would argue that at the moment people are doing that [becoming stars] more by being on BGT than they were on The X Factor.’
In this era where we crave continuity, it’s somehow also reassuring that the judging line-up is the same. People in these TV shows often talk of being a ‘family’, and often that is complete tosh. Perhaps not here. All four have become parents in the time of
OUR SHOW IS SORT OF THE HOLY GRAIL OF TV – EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE ACTS THEY LOVE OR HATE DAVID
BGT, and their respective kids are growing up together. ‘Lexi is 14, the same age as the show,’ says Amanda. ‘She’s always come down to the shows. Holly wants to go if Eric [Simon’s six-year-old son] is going. And she’s great friends with Azura [Alesha’s sixyear-old daughter].’
We’re all homeschooling at the moment, but it seems this lot had to overcome education problems first. Earlier this year Alesha did a stint on America’s Got Talent: The Champions – a development that required her moving the family en masse to LA. Simon stepped in to help with her education conundrum. ‘Azura actually went to lessons with Eric,’ says Alesha. ‘It was lovely and they had a complete blast.’
All these kids are used to hopping on flights. Life seems very exotic. ‘Well, there’s no point me saying Azura has the sort of life I had as a child, because she doesn’t. It’s unrecognisable. But you have to take the opportunities as they come and children are very adaptable. She’s starting to understand what Mummy does though. It’s her normality. I do think it’s helpful that she doesn’t see being on the television as other-worldly, as I did.’ So she wants to be in showbiz? ‘No! I asked her the other day and she wants to be an explorer.’
Alesha says being on the American show was an ‘eye-opener for me. It’s obviously the same format, but there are different acts and (presumably) a very different audience. ‘Completely. The AGT one is very loud, very energised.
Sometimes in the British shows there is a real sense of “Think you can impress us? Go on then”. The American audiences are a bit more “Anything is possible”.’
What else has changed in their lives since we last saw them on
screen? Well, obviously we are seeing less of Simon. He’s lost 2st over the past year by following quite a strict regime that cuts out carbs and red meat, and ups his vegetable content. There have been huge benefits, he says. ‘My cholesterol looks much better. I feel great.’
He also seems happier looking at pictures of himself online (which in itself seems to be a national pastime). ‘I mean I don’t Google myself,’ he insists (we believe you, Simon), ‘but I am shown photos of myself. I saw one from two years ago. I looked pregnant! It’s been great. I mean everyone says once you hit 60, that’s it, but I honestly feel better at 60 than I did in my mid-40s. I haven’t even given in to pizza.’ What about your smoking though? ‘I’ve cut down by about 75%, so getting there.’ He certainly shows no sign of slowing down. There’s another show in the planning (‘I’m excited about this one. It’s going to be very different’). Bizarrely, he’s got a series of books coming out with Eric. He’s even considering writing a diet book. ‘People keep asking me how I’ve done it, so I might put it all down.’
It’s way too early to determine how our new reality will impact on shows like BGT, but early evidence suggests at times of crisis there is more of a collective desire to get out there (metaphorically) and show what we can do. Social media is already awash with people showing off their singing, dancing and storytelling. It’s like we all have a miniature BGT on our Twitter feed.
Will we need the real thing when we come out the other side? Amanda says yes. ‘We will need event TV more than ever,’ she insists. ‘We will want to be watching the same thing, at the same time, and to be laughing, crying, whatever, together.’
Jenny Johnston
n Britain’s Got Talent returns to Virgin Media One next Saturday at 8pm.
EVERYONE SAYS ONCE YOU HIT 60, THAT’S IT... BUT I HONESTLY FEEL BETTER THAN I DID IN MY MID-40S SIMON