Talent's boyband give Amanda 'goosebumps'
A teenage boyband and offbeat magic act are among the highlights of Britain's Got Talent as the series continues on Saturday. This week's show sees auditions take place in Newcastle for the first time in the history of the series, and the judges are particularly impressed by teenagers Connected, who perform the Backstreet Boys hit I Want It That Way. Amanda Holden admitted that the band - consisting of 13-year-old twins Conor and Miles, 12-year-old Matt, 13-year-old Harry and Max, 15 - gave her "goosebumps. I think you have a big future ahead of you," she tells them. Piers Morgan is also impressed by the quintet, saying "I was the official biographer for Take That so I'm an expert in first stages of boyband and I think we've got something quite good here." Other acts to watch out for include Flute Magic, which sees flautist Claire perform music while her husband Clive does a magic act. And teenage singer Olivia wows Simon Cowell with her rendition of the Sarah McLachlan song Angel - so much so that insiders are tipping him to sign her up whether she wins the series or not. "It felt like an X Factor audition to him - and someone he could see in the final 12," a source said of the shy 14-year-old. "She's got a great voice - she doesn't sound like a little girl. Everyone was saying she could be the new Charlotte Church. She has the same girl next door appeal." Olivia tells Ant and Dec on the show that she thinks of little else but singing. "I walk downstairs singing, maybe sometimes daydream while in maths class," she admits. Catch the action on ITV1 from 8pm.
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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.