The Last Semi Final
May 29, 2009
Welcome along - we here at officialpiersmorgan.com are going to be keeping you up to date with all the action from tonight’s Britain’s Got Talent. Remember to refresh the page every couple of minutes to get the latest on what’s happening on the show if you can’t be near a TV and don’t forget to keep your comments coming in.
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22.00 So that is that we have our 10 finalists: Diversity, Flawless, 2 Grand, Stavros Flately, Shaheen, Shaun Smith, Julian Smith, Hollie Steel, Aidan Davis and someone called Susan Boyle. Join us tomorrow on Twitter and right here for more live blogging.
21.56 The two to face the judges are Hollie Steel and Greg Pritchard and Piers kick off the decision process and hands it straight to Hollie, Amanda is up next and preferred Hollie’s vocal performance and Simon pitches in with a yes and that it that
Hollie Steel is in the finals.
21.54 Aidan Davis does the business and gets through and his cockiness gives way to tears of joy. Bless him
21.52 After a performance from Paul Potts - Ant & Dec bring the last 8 competitors back to the stage and it must be a very very tight count tonight. Who will get the popular vote?
21.40 So for the final time tonight let’s check in with the humorists over at the iViva Twitter and see what their oneword descriptions were for our final acts. DCD Seniors got called sparkly by @AttiBRUTAL and for Greg Carcrash from @kjbufc, and the inspired Eldelnice from @jvanderfey for the courageous Hollie. So that ends the game by keep checking in with the iViva twitter to keep up to date with tonight’s show and regular celebrity updates by clicking here.
21.34 The impossibly high pitched voice of Greg Pritchard is our last contestant of the night, with a cape that covers the entire stage he stands elevated singing Barcelona. The final notes are a huge climax but before that Simon had already buzzed. Greg sneaks in a hand as phone sign quickly as Dec opens the lines to vote.
Get voting people the world is most definitely watching.
Piers really enjoyed and Amanda is still shocked by the two voices ability of Greg, yet Simon thought it was more horror movie than hit single. Greg’s fate is in your hands.
21.28 DCD Seniors fill the stage with their 21 strong members, it’s a dazzling array of colours and movement and the 20 girls and 1 guy are very impressive. Ant & Dec salute the sole male member and hand over to the judges - Simon likes it as does Piers but both doubt whether they can match Flawless and Diversity. Amanda champions the girls and says of course they can! Time will tell.
21.24 Attempt 2 for Hollie Steel and she is a lot more confident as Amanda wills her on with every word. Great great news that she got to have another go. Simon calls her the bravest girl in the world, Piers describes her as gutsy and Amanda carries on the theme and as a proud mother collects her daughter from the stage. That’s why this show is great!
21.19 Ant delivers the news Hollie will be singing again! Right let’s check in with Twitter land. Over at the iViva page we are asking for one word descriptions of the act. GuitarlegEND from @lozakasuperman and as for Aidan Davis @youelsie went for bodypoptastic . Can’t argue with them two hilarious can you do better - join in here.
21.14 Aidan Davis gets his chance to follow in (the impressive) dance steps of George Sampson as his breakdancing is mirrored in the background giving an amazing visual. Charismatic is not the word and the final cheeky smile rounds off a great performance. The studio audience are blown away. Amanda is speechless and the noise levels on set are massive, Simon simply says Aidan you have ‘IT’ and Piers closes it off by comparing him to Justin Timberlake. Have we just seen a finalist?
21.08 The man with a guitar bright enough to rival Fabia’s bra Martin Machum looks the part as he performs Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love. Simon buzzes as soon as Martin starts his guitar solo as if he was waiting! He definitely has fans in the crowd including his mother in law who gave Simon a piece of her mind last time their paths crossed. Piers is enraptured by the whole thing and Amanda has spotted a new bit of sex appeal. Simon hated his voice and the guitar playing - he really isn’t pulling any punches on that one.
21.04 Back to the iViva Twitter and their one word descriptions Luke Clements gets called Firedampner from @nnurse and there are no words for Hollie as it is all to sad let’s hope she gets another go! Get involved by clicking here.
20.59 Hollie Steel is our fourth act on this the last semi final. Amanda is on the brink of tears and the occasion gets too much for Hollie as she has a small wobble and looks like she might lose and her mum and Amanda run to comfort her. Ant & Dec are very sweet to her and Simon promises the time for her to redo it. NOT A DRY EYE IN THE HOUSE.
20.56 Luke Clements the juggler gets buzzed before he has even got started and it isn’t long before Amanda and Piers follow suit. It’s game over for Luke and that is probably that for him. All of them are pretty damning at the lack of progress but Luke takes it in his stride and pulls off the hand phone signal that seems very popular although not massively successful!
20.52 Over on the iViva Twitter they are asking for your one word reviews - the best two from this round are: Dream Bears - Camporama from @shelleywellywoo Good Evans - Familycrisis from @wiitte Join in the fun by clicking here.
20.46 Straight out of Coventry it’s Good Evans, family acts have done really well so far with both Stavros and 2 Grand going through. Piers buzzes before the chorus but the performance gets stronger. Piers likes Elliot but doesn’t rate the family and the audience aren’t impressed with him. Amanda is full of praise but Simon rounds off the judges by saying they won’t win… ouch.
20.40 The dreaded first spot goes to the Dream Bears who camp it up to It’s Raining Men. Dressed in Union Jack waistcoats and very very little shorts they get the first buzzer of the night from Simon. Simon is in a good mood and is cracking jokes but calls it clumsy (he’s not wrong), Piers describes them as a guilty pleasure and Amanda hails it as credit crunch camp.
20.30 Here’s Ant & Dec looking very very sharp with dark ties and suits as they run through the contestants for tonight. It’s a very mixed group of performances and at this stage it is anyone’s guess who will be the top two tonight. Our hosts welcome the judges to the show and Amanda’s outfits never let her down! Simon thinks he knows who is going through already he must be psychic…
17.30 The week has flown by and we are gearing up for the last semi final of Britain’s Got Talent 2009. The last 8 vying for a place in the final are:
Aidan Davis
DCD Seniors
Good Evans
Greg Pritchard
Hollie Steel
Luke Clements
Martin Machum
The Dream Bears
If you want some extra special content make sure that you are following www.twitter.com/iviva and www.twitter.com/jennifalconer, they will both be tweeting throughout the show tonight.
May 29, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Helen says
Wow can’t wait to see Aidan and them of course the final!! I am from South Africa, so thank you for the updating on the blog and then the clips on the ITV’s website. Love the show! Good luck to all the contestants and like the rest of the world I am really hoping that everyrhing will be wonderful for Susan
May 29, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Jo says
Great comments on Radio 5 at lunch time, nice to hear you sticking up for Susan like you did, keep sorting out Mr Cowell, he’s really met his match !!
May 29, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Tim says
I’m hoping for Greg and my dad loves Hollie.
Those are my two hopes for the finals.
May 29, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Cathy says
From USA, Waiting to hear Greg. My thoughts are with Susan today. Hope she is resting for tomorrow.
May 29, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Nelly Parker says
Every Scotsman & most of us fellow Brits, Geordies & all are hoping that wonderful lady with the most phoenominal voice of the 20th & 21st century combined is going to teach most if not all of ridiculing Britain and its pathetic media, How to really SUCK eggs!!! England, Grate Britain, United Kinkdom or whatever those islands that once one were home are called now, Give the one true Scottish person a chance to outshine the rest of Britain.
Personally, I would’nt come back to England, even if you paid me! Scotland?, maybe, I’ve never been there. However as most of Scotland seems to be here I & my fellow Scottish friends wish Susan Boyle every success in the world - She deserves it! You’ve eaten what often sticks to a blanket before, I hope she sings “Don’t Cry for me Argentina” She’d blow away Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman & Madonna with her awesome voice! And she’d probably tee off the Royal Family & the British Government too, not a bad idea - both are a waste of space & share 0% of Susan’s talent!
May 29, 2009 at 8:27 pm
ejane says
Hollie should not have been given a second chance. It is NOT fair to the other contestants. That’s why children should not be allowed to enter these competitions; their egos are too fragile; their parents too pushy.
SoCal here. Just my opinion.
May 29, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Cathy says
ejane, I agree completely with you. I think being judges would be very very hard when it comes to children. I blame the parents for this. They enter them into competitions where they know full well they will be up against grown adults and then want their child to receive special treatment just because they are a child. It puts the judges in a very bad spot. They cannot be mean to a child or the whole world would be on them. I bet they sometimes despise having the child acts for these reasons.
May 29, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Judi says
Greg was robbed because no-one would dare get rid of a crying kid! Great for a school play but the other kids showed what real talent is. She wasn’t even close to Shaheen & Aiden.
May 29, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Donna says
Hollie isn’t quite ready for the stage. She’s still a baby.
Also, I don’t think you would let anyone else start again.
Very unfair to others.
May 29, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Tim says
I think Greg messed up in some parts of his act and that kind of screwed him. Hollie was given a second chance and the sympathy vote, which would be OK for a small time competition but not for something this big.
May 29, 2009 at 9:31 pm
michele says
they need to have a separate category for the children 14 and under. That way they can allow redo’s if they get nervous and choke, all the kids get that chance.
I do agree it should not have been allowed here unless they allowed everyone else who choked, be it jamie pugh or susan wobbling at the start (even though she very professionally picked herself up and soared).
Who might have gone through or been up against Greg if they hadn’t given Hollie the extra chance..someone’s dream got shattered tonight and not because they weren’t good enough but because a little girl cried and got a second chance.
Now my favorite is Susan so its not even a question of who will win, but it does mean someone lost their chance in the final and were not given a second chance.
May 29, 2009 at 9:36 pm
D'Artanian says
Piers, You’ve done yourself proud! Good for you, taking the stage to defend Susan. She must be a wreck about now, as anyone in her shoes would be.
No matter the outcome of the show, Susan has won the hearts of people from every corner of the globe…yes, every corner. Your English tabloids, and any tabloid for that matter, should be careful of what they print. Criticizing Susan is not a smart idea.
May 29, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Voracious Violinist says
The previous posters have all made very valid and fair points about the unfortunate turn of events tonight.
One can understand the pressure that the production team and judges were under when Hollie was hysterically sobbing and begging for a second chance… and from a performer’s perspective - the best thing you can do if you dry up mid performance is go back and start it again. But, having said that - to then allow her to go through to the final on the basis of that 2nd attempt was extremely unfair to everyone else on the show, especially Greg.
Yes, her 2nd performance was much better, but no-one else in the semis has been given a second chance to improve their act, if they’ve made a mistake, they have had to live with it. Additionally, I may be wrong, but didn’t she only sing part of the song the 2nd time around as well?
It is a difficult situation and if I was Hollie’s mum, I’d pull her out of the final and allow Greg to take her place. Hollie didn’t look happy on stage at all tonight and it seems irresponsible for any parent to put her under that kind of intense pressure all over again less than 24 hours later. She’s not ready for it.
I hope Piers will share his thoughts on this: Piers - what would you do if it was your child?
May 29, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Steve says
Piers, what are you going to do next season, change the lineup format a bit to allow the kids their own night to qualify? Add some professional handlers to assist the contestants if needed such as in the case of Ms Boyles?
I really enjoy the acts and the judges all seem genuine nice people, good folks.
May 30, 2009 at 12:55 am
Hazel says
Good comment, Voracious Violinist.
I agree I don’t believe Hollie is ready for this kind of intensity. She looked absolutely distraught…and she is so innocent, tiny slip ups like that could turn into very painful memories… However, she could be spectacular. I can see why the judges put her through. I only hope she manages to calm down tomorrow night and turn this into a positive experience.
I am more and more concerned about how ‘big’ the competition has got this year and how popular it is. In some respects, I know this is brilliant, especially for the judges, the producers and distant audiences. but I do feel it implies a change of format for next year, and I am afraid it may lose some of its quirks…
I sincerely hope we see more of Greg Pritchard as it felt like he came and went too quickly. I am sad his performance wasn’t nearly as good as it could have been. He has a great image, sparkly eyes and, when his voice is clear and confident, is such a remarkable mysterious beauty. Contrary to what the judges say, I don’t actually think he is weird or unique, just not mainstream. He could be the English Vitas (which would be fantastic as sometimes it’s nice to understand the lyrics). But with a voice like his, he needs to be virtually flawless every time or else it doesn’t work.
Luke Clements was VERY disappointing. I know it’s not good to take things too seriously but he just didn’t seem to be taking it seriously at all. Unfortunately I find myself wishing he hadn’t been put through in the first place. But his audition was so funny, I guess it’s hard to predict these things.
LOVED the mirror effect thing in Aidan’s act! Although I spent most of the time wondering how it was done rather than watching the dancing…I think he was very good! Have to give kudos to George Sampson for being the first, though.
May 30, 2009 at 1:27 am
cimberly says
piers hello ! martin macham,dream bears,fabia,and the wheel barrows should all light up and with DJ TALENT,the drummer boy and and MD it could be a wicked opening performance.extemely elaborate,but the potential,its there.always love your thoughts.great acts.hey really,jamie was way to early on.if he had a few more days to be around the set.he’ll be back.maybe pritchard and pugh could perform with the flower arrangement act.my mind is flipping out with fun thoughts.have a blessed day you all.well done at hosing down the media .they can run off there own garbage,and fall in there own cruel traps.eventually if you don’t give in the pengulum will swing the other way. enjoy. cimberly
May 30, 2009 at 2:31 am
rainbow says
Crying kid gets a second chance??i bet if Greg did that then there won’t b second chance.. so hollie got chosen into the final because she was brave? wat the hell???? she don’t have any chance of winning in the final..shaheen is way better.
May 30, 2009 at 3:58 am
Julie says
Frankly if one of your favorite pipssqueaks wins you should take them to the talk shows to advertise America’s Got Talent and stop name dropping Susan’s name every five minutes.
Personally is Susan loses to a kid I will NOT be watching Americans Got Talent.
May 30, 2009 at 6:11 am
Alan says
Piers. Would have hoped for some common sense last night but no, you denied the guy with the voice for the tearful kid who should be home playing at growing up.
A disasterous week, like watching a psychiatric ward on party night. You have no star this year. (Or last year, if you think about it.)
May 30, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Leita says
I think that this situ over Hollie is deplorable. I agree that she should not have been given a second chance. As for Greg. Last night was not as good for him as it could have been but loved the whole set up for him, just a shame that that cape wasn’t attached correctly for him as that was distracting him really. Very few semi final singers have had a flawless go either. However, he IS unique being a Sopranist (what is he, one of only 8 world wide?) & never attended stage school etc as child. Taught himself the piano to help with his singing and has had no actual training as they couldn’t find a vocal coach who knew what to do with his voice. Being not the mainstream style singer, he NEEDED to win this show to afford the coaching needed to develop this truly wonderful voice he has. I hope someone finds him the help he needs to become a world wide performer. He already has global fans eager to see & hear more from him. Simon has come across as an ignorant twerp regarding Greg. Shame! You can probably guess, I am one of the majority who believe he should be in tonights finals and so what if “time” has to be found to accomodate him. It was found last night for the crocodile!!!
May 30, 2009 at 2:10 pm
mie says
Piers you’re really cool especially with Air-O-Smith and I hope Susan wins the whole thing. Yesterday the whole show changed from fantastic to a total disaster. I hope the production team will do the right thing.
May 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Trinity in Canada says
Compliments - to the ITV webteam, the Official sites team, even Piers for continuing to post on this website when you are ridiculously busy as judge and White Knight - you are all doing a superb job at keeping websites and blogs up to the second with news, photos and video, plus writing snippets and background articles amazingly quickly. I’m sure you’ve never had this pressure before the world discovered and is not only following BGT (thank you Susan!) but throwing roses and bricks by the million[s]. [Plus putting up with rude and inappropriate postings.] So thanks for all of your extraordinary work, especially for we international viewers. Trinity in Canada. [p.s. ITV/Syco et al. - come up with bonuses - well deserved!]
May 30, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Katherine Perry says
Piers, You potentially have the heart of a dear lady in your hands. Tred carefully. If your intentions are not sincere, please back off. A friendship can be had or the future of your lives be gifted with a love you will find no where else. Take care. God be with you both.
May 30, 2009 at 4:32 pm
ellen wilkerson says
Hi. here i am again with my opinion of last night’s disaster.
Hollie should not have been given a second chance but kids are hard to turn down. If her mother had not interfered i would not have objected. Let’s face it Greg is just not that good and Hollie is.
I am for Susan all the way and for the 2 grands.
I too agree that you do an excellent job keeping us informed. I had never heard of BGT, you or this web site until Susan.
Now I am hooked. Check your web site everyday.
Good luck tonight as it should be a blockbuster. I just wish we in states could watch.
Thank you. Ellen
May 31, 2009 at 2:10 am
frances garrett says
if any of you had bothered to look up counter tenors, youd have realised Greg Pritchard is probably the most exciting and rarest musical discovery of the last few years. But you threw it away for a silly spoilt child having a temper tantrum . I think the three of you owe the contestants an appology since any one of them was a better contestant then she was.
June 3, 2009 at 4:01 am
heather dimond says
greg pritchard has outstanding talent. Simon is always bleating about finding something unique, but when it is right in front of him he does not recognise it. Hollie should NOT have taken Greg’s place in the final, but having allowed her a second chance they could not very well turn around and put her out. I hope Greg Pritchard gets his chance at a professional career
June 15, 2009 at 3:06 am
Haselmaus from Germany Reutlingen says
Dear Piers, 14./15.06.2009
about in youtube Hollie Songs I founded finelly here in this site. Just I wanted see, whom are you, cause:
I hear each days since I found your BGT Show, some of the shows and allways I begin and end with the 3 Songs from Hollie.
I read now just the comments here. Why can they writers not understand what happens, where is the sympathetic, that this show is not (allways) a sport, or game and if you found a talent, all rules are’nt interest.
And so I want to say thankyou THANKYOU thankyou , GottseiDank, that you have given Hollie them sweet Honey girl, the second chance, because she is one who has TALENT, and like Heintje and Jantje Smit, from Neatherland, she will make her way, and makes plenty people in the world happy. I also have never heard a better singing from a solo girl.
Also the first part of the Edelweiss Song was very nice and there felt not much from the words in the Song, it was almost completly.
And I understand, Simons Entscheidung, let her start again wasn’t because she begged it but because you wanted enjoy again her.
Hollie HAS TALENT!
Sincerely Haselmaus