Britain's Got Talent - Semi Final One

So the first semi-final of Britain's Got Talent has seen Susan Boyle emerge victorious, guaranteeing her a place in the final of the talent competition. Hardly shocking stuff considering all the recent publicity surrounding her. What was refreshing about last night's show was seeing dance act Diversity progress to the live final. Too often dance troupes don't tend to do well in the voting and I was hoping that this would be the exception because these guys are really good.

Diversity… what it's all about
Now I don't know that much about dancing (well, apart from how to have a serious, and very dodgy, boogie to some pop classics on a Friday night out on the town) but even I could see that Diversity are super-talented. To echo Amanda's point, their choreography isn't just slick, it's also really clever. They tell stories through their dance, and in the most seamless fashion. It's non-stop trick after trick and you just can't take your eyes off them. (Plus how cute is the pocket-sized dancer down the front of the group?).

Susan Boyle... let's get controversial!
Sorry folks, and I know I'm going to get lynched for this, but I'm just not feeling it for Susan any more. Don't get me wrong now, I was glad she got through last night. She deserves to be in the final but I just think that the level of fuss and hype surrounding her is out of control. Now I watched her first audition and probably felt the same thing as everybody else… I was totally impressed with her and I felt suitably guilty for presuming that she was just another delusional wannabe when she first walked out on stage. I thought 'fair play to her' because, let's face it, we all love championing an underdog.

But…. Several major US television shows later (mentions on The Simpsons, South Park… Oprah no less) I'm a bit over it all. She's a grand singer but is she world class? Would we all still think she was brilliant if she hadn't told the stories about never being kissed or been too glamorous for a make-over? I wonder. I'm thinking back to Paul Potts. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't remember there being as much fuss about him and, dare I say it, he's a better singer. It just goes to show how someone can completely capture the public imagination and go from strength to strength as a result and, for all my ranting, I wish her luck. Opportunities like that don't come along every day.

The also-rans
For me it seemed pretty obvious that most of the acts that were placed in the first semi-final alongside Susan Boyle were placed there for a reason… Is that very cynical of me? I thought that a lot of last night's acts were pretty weak to be honest. Faces of Disco, Natalie Okri and Sue Son were alright. They didn't let themselves down but all of them were better in their first auditions. As for Darth Jackson (his backing dancers were better than him), Nick Hell (what the hell?) and Julia Naidenko (well, it was hardly belly dancing, was it?)… I rest my case. It would have just been slightly embarrassing had any of those acts gone through to the next stage.

Well done the judges
It must have been hard to send Diversity through knowing that a little girl would be left in tears at the other side of the stage when the decision was announced but Simon made the right call. He wasn't nasty or personal but he had to send Diversity through. Natalie was amazing in her audition but the song didn't suit her at all last night and the styling and choreography just took away from her charm, which was in the simplicity of her initial performance. It's heartbreaking to see the little ones getting so upset on stage but it was the right result and you'd just have to hope that someone was waiting in the wings to give little Natalie a big hug when she walked off!

Linda McGee