TV Talent Shows Pave the Way for this Year’s Britain’s Got Talent

12 Mar 2010

Times have changed since Pop Idol, when the TV talent show was still an interesting, original idea. Since then we’ve had numerous attempts to reinvigorate and reinvent the wheel, with X Factor the modern equivalent and all kinds of variations on offer, from Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice incorporating washed out celebrities to So You Think You Can Dance changing the focus of the talent from singing to dancing. Britain’s Got Talent could be said to be the conqueror of them all, incorporating dance, song and all kinds of wacky and weird talents into the mix. And soon it will return to our screens.

So far three series of the talent show have run in the UK, with series four set to return with familiar judges Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan. The first series was won by surprise opera sensation Paul Potts, sparking complaints that the talent show was not going to work effectively as the singers seemed to be taking centre stage. However, in 2008 young street dancer George Samson stole the show, followed in 2009 in a shockingly unexpected result when dance troupe Diversity stole the win from odds-on favourite Susan Boyle, who became an internet sensation following her audition singing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.

So far all of the winners of the show have been male. This raises the question not only what gender but what talent this year’s successful will prove to be; BlueSQ and 888Sport are currently offering a market on whether the winning act will be all male, all female or mixed, with male only the favourite at 5/6 from both bookies. An all female act has odds of 5/4, with a mixed group at 15/2. They are also offering odds on what type of winner this series will produce, with a solo singer the favourite at 7/4 with a dance troupe close behind at 7/2. The more interesting and some might say ridiculous acts we have seen in the past have more extreme odds; Opera Singing with Flower Arranging, for example, has the widest odds at 200/1. 

All odds correct at time of writing and are subject to change