Britain's Got Talent: auditions reach final week!
Britain's Got Talent has unveiled its final crop of auditions, ahead of the live shows which will decide the winner of this year's series. And some of the best - and worst - were saved until last, with rock guitarist Martin Macham among the lucky ones making it through to the next round. The 37-year-old received the thumbs up from Piers and Amanda after his rendition of Queen's I Want To Break Free - but Simon was less keen, saying Martin had the capacity to "close down the show". However his biggest fan - his mother-in-law Pat - wasn't standing for that, and promptly took to the stage where she proceeded to berate Simon. "He's got very little confidence anyway," she told him, "and you have probably just belittle his confidence even more. I think you were really, really nasty." One act who caused less of a divide among the judges was belly dancer Julia Naidenko. The Latvian-born performer particularly wowed Piers and Simon with her routine. "It's two yeses from me," said a delighted Piers. "Make that five," added Simon, who said her routine was "Olympic gold medal standard." Others who impressed included street performer Nick Hell, who left the judges cringing as he lifted up a dustbin using only his ears. "That was absolutely disgusting and I loved it," Piers said. And pensioner Fred Bowers won a standing ovation from the panel with his breakdancing routine. "This is why I love doing this show, because of people like you," Simon Cowell told the 73-year-old. "Absolutely brilliant." "This show is about spirit and energy and you've got plenty of it," Amanda said. But it wasn't such a great night for all the auditionees. Singer David Watson made little impression with his offkey interpretation of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. "That was so awful it was beyond description," said Simon, while Piers told him, "You might be the worst singer in Britain."
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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.