It was not a sprint, but a marathon. Millions of us tuned in for nearly three hours of the finest performance talent this great isle has to offer for the BGT final – we had said goodbye to the urban dance troupes, to the wayward pigs and the ‘kindling king’ who chopped wood. Instead it was a night of Variety Performance standard – peppered with plenty of ad breaks and performances from r’n'b sensation, Usher.
Despite the ominous calls from Cowell, Holden and Morgan that tonight was a night to be proud of Britain, that they had a feeling that we would all be surprised etc etc, it was the gymnastic-cum-contortionists Spelbound who stormed to victory, with dance duo Twist and Pulse coming in a close second (which was maybe for the best – would the Queen have got the Shakira reference?) and little drummer boy Kieran Gaffney coming third.
But even before the bakers-dozen of performers have had time to rinse off the body paint and comb the gel out of their hair, industry naysayers are already suggesting that Spelbound won’t have the kind of career longevity enjoyed by previous BGT-ers such as Su-Bo and Paul Potts…But being as they’re already rumoured to be performing at the Olympics or at least that’s what Amanda said…so we imagine a knighthood isn’t far away…
Image: Ken McKay/Rex Features
