Aidan, Hollie are final Talent finalists
Street dancer Aidan Davis and 10-year-old singer Hollie Steel have become the last two acts to make the Britain's Got Talent final. Aidan, 11, won the public vote in Friday's semi-final after performing a routine to Britain's Got Talent's Rock Your Body which wowed both judges and audience. Hollie, meanwhile, won the judges' vote over male soprano Greg Pritchard after a dramatic evening which saw her given a second chance to perform after forgetting the words to her song. She was performing the classic Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music but midway through the performance stumbled and burst into tears. Her mother, Amanda Holden and Ant and Dec went to comfort her as she pleaded for another chance to perform - only to break down further when the producer said no. However Simon Cowell reversed the decision. "I don't care how we find it, but we will find the time somewhere," he told her. And Hollie's repeat performance went off without a hitch, leaving the panel stunned. "That was one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen in my life," Piers Morgan said. "I couldn't have done that, you should be very proud of yourself." And when it came to choosing between her and Greg - who used his huge vocal range to do a solo performance of the Freddie Mercury/Montserrat Caballe duet Barcelona - the judges were unanimous. "What happened to Hollie tonight was nerve-wracking, draining, inspiring, it was amazing," Piers Morgan said. "It moved me to tears." And Amanda Holden agreed. "It wasn't just that she came back, she gave the better performance vocally." Show winner Aidan was also overcome with emotion after learning of his victory, and was too excited to speak. Simon Cowell told him he had "total confidence, total charisma, great face, great routine". Piers added, "I never saw Justin Timberlake dance when he was your age but I bet it was never like that." Others who took part in Friday's show included camp dance trio Dreambears, female dance troupe DCD Seniors, juggler Luke Clements, guitarist Martin Matcham and family singing group Good Evans. The final begins on ITV1 on Saturday evening at 6.45pm.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.