Britain's Got Talent 2011 Winner Jai McDowall

Well what can we say about Jai really, an unassuming guy 24 years old from the Ayeshire village of Tarbolton.  Jai has never received any professional training or lessons in singing he only knows that when he sings it make him feel good.

Oh yeah ladies, Jai is single and up until his appearance on Britain's Got Talent he has been a care worker.

We first met Jai in the auditions when he performed "Anthem" for the judges, in the pre interview he admitted that he was nervous having never done anything like this before but, he did not let that stop him and sailed through to the semi finals.

As we know Jai performed in the semi's and sang Evenesance "Bring Me To Life", a big rock song.  He toned it down and done a beautiful version with his big powerful voice.  Up against Edward Reid the nursery rhyme singer and Steven Hall the dancer Jai won the public vote on the night securing his place in last nights final.


He has not been in the press at all really, and not a great deal has been said about him.  All of the hype was going to Ronan Parke and he was hot favourite to take the show on the night.  The press have really put him through it the last couple of days though since the story broke on Thursday about the blogger who claimed that Ronan had been secretly managed by Cowell for two years and the show was set up for him to win.  We know that is of course not true even more so now that on the night Jai took the prize with a fantastic performance of Josh Grobans song "To Where You are".  Enjoy.

So that is it for Britain's Got Talent for another year, what are we all going to do until the X Factor comes back to our screens?  I have and idea on something you can watch and you can read about it here on Tuesday, just be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and come back then.  I will be back Monday with the weekly music post as there are two new posts today for you, so catch you then.

Britain's Got Talent Final 2011

So here we are the final of BGT 2011, we have been here for the last two and a half months giving you the lowdown on every show and most of the acts.  As you know some have been good, some have been bad, and some have been truly awful.  The show as always has been a massive hit with the public but for me this year I found it a bit boring, not because of the acts (well some of them) but just due to the fact that it has been on for two hours every night, I think they over played it a little.

So to last nights show the finalists were, Michael Collings, Les Gibson, James Hobley, Ronan Parke, Jean Martyn, Jai McDowall, Razy Gogonea and New Bounce.

First up then Michael Collings, a guy who has majorly impressed in this competition, and Simon Cowell loved him in the semi final.  A great performance from Michael in the final, he sang Driving in My Car again by Tracy Chapman, unfortunately it was not good enough on the night though.

Les Gibson now, you know the guy who does the impressions.  My favourite act if I'm honest.  A really likable guy and I hope he goes on to do really well out of his performances on the show.  Hilarious last night and topped it off with impressions of all the judges apart from Amanda Holden.

James Hobley, I really thought this kid would have done better than what he did, I think the Queen would probably love this type of act.  He is a ballet dancer and a pretty awesome one at that especially for an 11 year old.  A great job last night and he should do well following the show.

Now Paul Gbegbaje the pianist, everyone has been impressed with this guy and I was looking forward to see what he could do in the final.  Again another act that was very impressive on the night and a shame he had big voices to compete against.

Onto Ronan Parke now the favourite to win the final this year.  Remember yesterday in the press it came out that a blogger had published something about this kid being coached by Cowell for the last two years, yeah.  That was not me.  The blog has now been taken down, and it's not true.  There were a couple of moments when I thought his voice was going to go last night but, he pulled it back and gave an incredible performance.

To Jean Martyn now you know the lady who plays keyboard and organ, with a massive cheesy grin on her face, it may not be your favourite act but you can't help but like this lady.  Last night she was full of smiles as always but, it wasn't for me.

Razy now, the Matrix dancer guy who saw off the challenge from French dancer Michael Moral in the semi final after Simon Cowell brought him back.  This guy is an amazing dancer no doubt but, can he step it up in the final.  He was very impressive last night especially with the fire.

New Bounce now the boy band who really stepped it up in the semi final and were tipped to win by a couple of the judges.  Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone is a pretty big song to pull off especially for a bunch of teenagers.

I know you have noticed that I have not mentioned this years winner Jai McDowall yet, well that's because I thought you could go check him out on his very own post here and find a little more out about the guy.  Go to the home page and you will find it there.

Thanks for dropping by, and sticking with me on what has been a massive week for this blog.  Views have gone through the roof here in the last week with all the BGT and Geordie Shore readers, so thank you again.  Remember I report on all things entertainment so be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and keep dropping by to leave your comments.  Cheers.

Britain's Got Talent Semi Final 5

As you know I missed BGT again last night, like the night before I think I enjoyed it more watching the videos on itv.com following the show. 

Last Night's acts were Michael Collings, Razy Gogonea, Pip & Puppy, Michael Moral, Antonio Popeye, Follow The Right Path, Mr & Mrs, The Celtic Colleens and Marawa.  Yeah don't worry I don't remember some of those either.

Follow The Right Path, the rappers from the auditions.  They sang the same song as the auditions with a little extra added on the end, not to much to add to that really.

I don't even remember these guys from the auditions Mr & Mrs are a singing act, yeah they are ok but nothing to impressive, It did not take Simon long to buzz.

Popeye!

 Onto Antonio Popeye now, is popping your eyes out of your head even a talent.  Literally that is all he does stands there and sticks out his eyes.  He ends up looking like that little guy Alec Baldwin sits next to in Beetlejuice.  Not entertaining at all and the first person to get four buzzes and cut his act short.

Celtic Colleens, I really could not remember who they were until they came out.  I have to be honest here this was pretty impressive.  The girls are an Irish dancing group with a twist check out the video below.

As you know I really don't like dog acts, go to Crufts already.  I did not have high hopes for Pip and her opera singing dog tonight.  Well actually he can't sing he just howls along conveniently at the same time as Pip is singing.  That's about all their is to say really.

Now to French dancer Michael Moral, the guy who did not make it to this stage initially but he was invited back by Simon to give Razy a little healthy competition. His dancing on the night was good but for me not as good as Razy, get on France's Got Talent.

Now the second place act of the night Michael Collings, this is the guy who sang the Tracy Chapman song Driving In My Car at the audition, he was amazing bit of a Susan Boyle moment really.  Last night was no different, as the judges said when you have got it, you've got it and you don't need all the fancy dancers and backing singers to prove it.

Razy Gogonea now, last night's semi final winner, again here he done the same dance as the auditions.  Yeah he is very good at it but it would be nice to see what else he can do.

So nearly there now, all the 10 acts through to Saturday nights final have been chosen and the public will decide who will be crowned champion of BGT 2011.  I will review the final of course and then back to normal Sunday with the music post and some great news on a British drama returning to our screens in a weeks time, in the mean time;

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Britain's Got Talent Semi Final 4

Your AWESOME man I love you.  Sorry sorry, Hasselhoff is starting to rub off on me again.  The fourth semi final of BGT last night and guess what, I enjoyed this one more than the other three, why?  Because I didn't watch it.  Seems to have done the trick to, as you know I have been getting bored with the show, not because it's bad, it's just on to long and to often.


Tonight I'm actually at work, and managed to log onto itv.com to check out the videos from the show, that way I don't have to see all the ads or listen to them rambling on.  Never mind on with the post.

Tonight saw Edward Reid, Steven Hall, Jai McDowall, Nathan Wyburn, Out Of The Blue, Mexican Mayhem, Jessica Hobson and Dance Angels.  Now that is a pretty impressive line up for the night, three or four of those would be in with a shout of reaching the final.


First up it's Nathan Wyburn, remember the guy who painted Michael McIntyre's face using toast and Marmalade.  Tonight he done three pieces of art work again not with paint brush's or pen and paper.  One with fire one which looked like glitter and one with candles, I have to be honest I was bored 2 minutes into this video.


Out of the Blue, you know the guys from Oxford and Cambridge university, no.  Ok the clever guys who put an awesome spin on a Lady GaGa track in the auditions, this week they done Jump.  I don't know who sang it but it was in the movie Love Actually, the bit where Hugh Grant is dancing through 10 Downing Street.  The performance was ok but I enjoyed the first one better.

Mexican Mayhem, well it was mayhem nothing mis advertised there, this is another dog act.  Well more a lady with two dogs who stare at her as if to say no "I'm not doing that".  Then she goes to give the dogs some Tequila, I'm pretty sure the RSPCA would have something to say about that.


Jessica Hobson, she is a singer.  At least that is what her act is, the audition was not that bad from what I can remember but last night she was terrible.  That is pretty much all their is to say.


Edward Reid now, the guy who came third surprisingly.  He is the guy who takes nursery rhymes and sings them with the backing track of a more modern song, when he starts you kind of think what the!  But then you realise how good he is and it is pretty iimpressive.

Steven Hall, the telecommunications engineer from Cumbria.  I enjoyed his first audition he done a mad mixture of dances, it was very enjoyable and last night was no different.  I would still go back to what Ruben my regular commenter said though, It does look very similar to the Evolution of Dance video on YouTube.

The winner of the night now Jai McDowall, in the auditions this guy was amazing really powerful voice and a nice guy to.  Last night even more amazing when he sang an opera version of Evanesance Bring Me To Life, check the video below, amazing.

So that's it for another night of semi finalists.  Steven Hall and Jai McDowall through to the final, I'll be doing the same tomorrow night and watching the video's online after the show and will be back on Saturday morning with the review of the 5th Semi.  Cant wait till then?

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Britain's Got Talent Semi Final 3

So on we go with the BGT over kill for the week, is anybody else getting bored?  No, maybe it's just me.  I know it's a talent show but why did they put so many talentless people through, I don't think Simon Cowell is very impressed.

Last night saw a couple of good acts one which could win and another that won't up last night were, Les Gibson, Wachinraporn Tirpack, Gay and Alan, Abyss, Angela and Teddy, The Circus of Horrors, Jay Worley and James Hobley.

I'll start with Wachinraporn, or watchingporn as she is referred to by some of the judges, this is what I'm referring to when I say why do they put through talentless people, she does an act if that's what you want to call it, no one actually knows what the act is she just comes on dressed as various characters and prances around the stage, granted she is pretty attractive but that's as far as it goes really, she has no talent.

The Circus of Horrors, you may remember me mentioning them a while back.  I enjoyed their first audition although it's not something I would go and see I thought they were pretty good at what they do last night though, I was was not impressed.  It was in fact what they say Horrors, not good and very boring, again maybe it's just me let me know.

Angela and Teddy now, and I don't need to tell you again that I don't like dog acts, if you want to see a dog act then watch Cruffs on TV, that would be my advice.  On BGT they all seem to do the same thing.  Angela is an older lady and very nice with it, unfortunately for her Teddy the dog is pretty old to and can't really be bothered to do tricks in front of millions of people.

Now to Jay Worley, a singer who to be honest should probably be on the X Factor rather than this show,  He is ok last night he decided to sing Use Somebody by Kings Of Leon, a great song I'm sure you'll agree.  He did an ok job not as good as his audition and he did not make the final three on the night.

Gay and Alan, they are a couple who do a bell ringing act, I talked about these guys in the audition if I remember rightly.  I thought they were going to be terrible but, they proved me wrong and where actually pretty impressive at what they do, last night again they where good and managed to get into the top three, It's not something I would pay to go and see and you do get a little bored but at least It's original and they have mastered it.

To really impressive now James Hobley was awesome in the auditions he is a Ballet dancer, and at 11 years old he is very impressive, again I have to be honest It's not something I would go and see but you have to admire the dedication it takes to be that good, last night he done a dance to a Leona Lewis song and rightly so he is through to the final at the weekend.

The winner last night Les Gibson, this guy was fantastic in the auditions with his impressions of Kevin Webster, Ross Kemp and his hilarious take on Dec the co host of the show , last night he was equally impressive adding in Alan Sugar and Gordon Ramsey, he had them off to a tee and won the public vote taking him through to the final.

I start late shift at work tonight so won't catch the show, what am I going to do?  I'll watch it on YouTube probably about midnight at work type tomorrows post before I leave work and post when I get up tomorrow, you see the dedication here.  Speaking of dedication I watched Geordie Shore last night as promised and have the review ready to come out later today, don't want to miss it then make sure you subscribe.

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I know you were expecting  a review of the second episode of Geordie Shore this morning but, I did not get time to watch that last night mainly due to the fact that BGT is on for two hours by the time we get the results, I had to catch up with the last episode of the Event also which will be reviewed some time this week.  I will watch Geordie Shore tonight and report tomorrow, promise.

I don't know if this is just me but I feel like BGT is just on TV to much now and I'm getting bored, maybe it was just last night did not really entertain me that much who knows?

Up last night were New Bounce, Jean Martyn, David and Karen, Enchantment, Lorna Bliss, Herbie Armstrong, Up and Over and Two and a half Men.

Remember Lorna?

I'll start with Lorna Bliss the girl who has devoted her life to looking like Britney Spears, why?  Well that's what I thought, she did not even get through to the semi's originally straight No's from all the judges.  Then Hasselhoff goes and argues her case and they bring her back, again why?  Other than the fact she wore no clothes in the first audition she was not impressive.  Last night she managed to get two buzzers and really bad comments from the judges, note to self Lorna wear less clothes next time.

Herbie Armstrong was quite good last night, I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it that much.  You would expect him to be good as he was a set musician for years before he ran pubs, last night he sang Mandy, it was ok but it is not good enough to beat either Ronan Parke or New Bounce.  Herbie did not get through to the final.

Two and a half Men now, they were quite good their dancing act told a real story kind of like watching an old Laurel and Hardy sketch, enjoyable to a point but I got a bit bored of it half way through.  Up and Over also featured last night, they are Irish dancers formally part of Riverdance, they do Irish dancing with their hands.  Simon Cowell was not impressed and neither was I to be honest, they are out to.

David and Karen are the magic act who do some great illusions, the one they done last night was pretty impressive and I have no idea how it's done, unfortunately they did not make the cut last night.  They got into the top 3 but where pipped to the post by Jean Martyn.

Jean now, she is the 59 year old retired school teacher, my wife and I were sitting talking about her.  You would want this lady to be your kids school teacher, it would be the best class in school I'm sure.  I said last time that at times she looks like she is not playing the keyboard and is simply pressing pre set buttons.  She did prove last night that was not the case and she does in fact play, it was great and she was in the last two winning the judges vote against the magicians.

Now to the winners of the night New Bounce, I was not to impressed with them in the first audition.  They made no real impact for me, their performance last night was by far and away the best they won the public vote, and they are now favourites to take the competition.

That's the latest, hope you enjoyed the post.  Don't forget I'm here everyday this week giving you the low down on each of the semis and then the final, want to read more then why not subscribe to the RSS feed the button is on the top right, or follow me on Twitter and Facebook, thanks for dropping by, whilst you are here why not check out the first semi final.

Britain's Got Talent Semi Final 1

Britain's Got Talent Live Semi Final 1

I'm a little late on this one been busy this morning, sorry.  The first semi final of Britain's Got Talent 2011 saw the return of Simon Cowell, he came in to the Superman music putting in his best effort not to be topped by any of the acts that where to follow.  It did not take long for Ant and Dec to knock him down a peg or two either, when Dec asked him if he could understand their accents ok.  It was probably the funniest moment of the night and only Ant and Dec would get away with that.

Now this week saw Donelda, the Arnie guy, Paul Gbegbaje, Ronan Parke, Joe Oakley and Girls Roc. 

Simon had not met Girls Roc yet and as thought he was impressed.  They came on once again with little to no clothes on, not that I'm complaining.  I mean they can't dance that great but, who cares as Simon said, are you really watching the dancing anyways.  The girls did not get into the top three on the night, and went home with no place in the final.  Maybe Simon will book them for his birthday party.

Now the Arnie guy, Stuart Arnold is the Entertainanator, or at least that is what he calls himself.  It was entertaining to the point I nearly fast forwarded it.  Maybe it's just me but where is the entertainment in a guy putting on an Arnold Schwarzenegger mask and then doing impressions of other people, he said I'll be back.  Ergh no Stu you won't bye.

I have mentioned already in last weeks post that I don't like dog acts.  Not that I don't like dogs.  I just don't find it entertaining to watch them doing tricks, they are clever no doubt but just not for me.  Donelda came on with her two dogs last night and really done nothing more impressive than what she had done in the first round of the competition.

Now Joe Oakley was also back last night to show us some more tricks on his stunt trial bike, no doubt this guy is good but other than jumping off higher platforms there is no where else balancing on one wheel can really go, so yeah pretty impressive and excellent balance but no place in the final for Joe, he did make it to the last three but went out on the public vote.

Paul Gbegbaje will be back in the final this weekend, I mentioned him in the last post also.  He has only been playing the piano for 5 years and man can he play it, I think his performance in the semi's went through about 5 songs all equally impressive.

Now to the winner of the night.  Ronan Parke wowed the judges in the first round with his rendition of Feeling Good.  He came back in the semi final with Adele's song Make You Feel My Love, I love this song and am impressed that some one as young as Adele has a voice that powerful never mind a 12 year old, the song was certainly not let down by Ronan who sang it beautifully.

That is all the latest from the show, hope you enjoyed it.  Want to stick around then why not go and check out some of the other BGT posts and don't forget leave your comments in the section below.  I'll be back tomorrow reporting on the latest from the 2nd semi final.

Britain's Got Talent Auditons - Episode 7

YOU ROCK, sorry, sorry.  I was having a bit of a Hasselhoff moment there, back to the auditions, not that many to tell you about today plus I'm still a little hungover from the Bank Holiday weekend festivities, be expecting a short post. 

First up this week is Joe Oakley, a trial bike stunt rider.  I'm a big fan of cycling and don't get out quite as often as I should, this guy was great, balance, technique everything and whats more it is the first time I have ever seen anyone do bike tricks on BGT. 

This week I'm taking you from the good to the bad and then back to the good again.  Hendrick Huelsman is a German Navy Commander currently stationed in Plymouth, UK.  I have to be honest here I thought this guy was going to be quite good, I mean he has a pretty important job and you would think he would not want to make to much of a joke of himself on TV, turns out he does.  Hendrick has even performed for his crew.  I think they may have been winding him up, well either that or he was doing this for a bet.



Now back to the good as promised.  Jean Martyn is a 59 year old retired music teacher, again you are thinking she is not going to make a joke of herself on TV.  Unlike Hendrick she didn't make a joke of herself, she plays the organ and piano, and man can she play them.  There were a couple of moments when I thought is she playing or just pressing pre set buttons but, no she is actually playing when you watch close enough. and it was a lot of fun.

So that is all the latest, pretty much.  Last night also saw the judges whittle down the 270 acts put through initially to just 40 to perform every night this week on the live semi finals, a couple of surprises.  First up Grils Roc got through, a little surprising yeah they could move a bit but they are not going to win the show.  The fact they wear very little clothing may be helping their cause.  Next surprise of the night was a battle between Razy Gogonea and Michael Moral, both great dancers who I expected to get through.  Of course one had to go home and it ended up being Michael, never mind give it a week, or maybe just a day and you probably won't remember anyway.

Ok thanks for dropping by for the latest on Britain's got talent, and oh yeah do I have to keep reminding you.  Get subscribing to the RSS, follow me on Twitter and like the Facebook page, rant over.  Want to stick around then why not check out this weeks music post or take a look at the earlier BGT post's.  I'll be back tomorrow reporting on the first live semi final.

Britain's Got Talent Auditions - Episode 6

Back again this week with all the latest from Britain's biggest show, it was a bit of a boring one actually not that much to report on.  I did realise something this week, I hate dog acts.  No I don't hate dogs I just hate their acts.  We have known for long enough that dogs are intelligent and can be trained to a pretty high standard.  Last year Simon Cowell said he would like to find a dog act to perform at the Royal Variety performance, this year the flood gates seem to have opened and there are loads of them.  Fair enough if that is what you are into but I just don't find it entertaining, nuff said on with the show.

Now from dog acts to magic acts, these guys have had no luck at all in this show as Mr Cowell hates magic acts.  I have to admit I really don't find them to impressive myself but, if they are good then I don't mind. Que David and Karen.  David works full time as a magician and illusionist and Karen is a dance teacher.  They came on and performed an illusion first done by Houdini, how they do this amazes me and I thought it was a great act that even kept you entertained.

A couple of rappers for you now who to be honest I thought, oh here we go this is going to be terrible Eminem wannabes, I thought it even more when they said they were singing their own song.  I often get proved wrong when I think like this and this occasion was no different these two kids were really good and they gave a great tribute to their Grandfather.  Their act is called Follow The Right Path, they weren't bigging it up about how hard they are or how G.A.N.G.S.T.A they were and I enjoyed it.

Sine we are on the subject of music I will go on to mention this guy Paul Gbegbaje a Pianist.  As soon as I saw this guy in his pre performance interview I said he is going to be good, again I often get proved wrong here and they go on to be terrible.  Not this time this guy was great and he can certainly play the Piano and, oh yeah he has only been playing for five years

Last one to mention now Robbie Firmin is a little crooner, it's difficult to say anything bad about him as he is only 7 years old, so in that case I won't.  He came on in his little suit and top hat to sing Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way, I will let you make up your own mind on what you think, don't forget to leave your comments below.

That's it for this week, I will be back next Sunday for the next episode.  Make note that is Sunday it will be late at night as BGT is not on Saturday next week.  It is the start of the semi finals so it will be on every night of the week giving me plenty of material .  In the mean time if you get bored I will be back tomorrow with the weekly music post (that has been moved to Monday this week) I also have a couple of movie reviews lined up for "The Mechanic" and "Just Go With It" midweek, now why not check out some other BGT posts (links below).

Week 1 auditions
Week 2 auditions
Week 3 auditions
Week 4 auditions
Week 5 auditions

Now the readers are growing on this blog and the subscribers to the feed are growing, be sure to subscribe and keep coming back for all the latest news reviews and gossip from the world of entertainment, remember the new Facebook page also click to like and don't forget to leave your comments I respond to them all, cheers see you tomorrow.