Broadcast from 12 April – 31 May 2008 Co-presenter(s) Stephen Mulhern (ITV2) | Presenter(s) Ant & Dec (ITV) Origin Warrington, England | |
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Judges Simon Cowell
Amanda Holden
Piers Morgan Broadcaster ITV
ITV2 (Britain's Got More Talent) | ||
The second series of Britain's Got Talent was broadcast from 12 April 2008 and ended on 31 May 2008. Notable differences from the first series included the fact that auditions were held for the first time in Scotland and that there were 40 acts in the live semi-finals, compared to 24 the previous year. This series also ran for longer, this time airing seven weeks instead of one. Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan returned as judges. Ant & Dec returned as hosts with Stephen Mulhern coming back to present Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2. Auditions took place in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Blackpool. It was the first time that auditions were held in Glasgow and Blackpool.
Contents
- Judges
- Semi finalists
- Semi final summary
- Semi final 4 29 May
- Ratings
- Andrew Johnston
- Michael Machell
- Andrew Muir
- Escala
- Faryl Smith
- Voting
- References
The series was won by street dancer George Sampson, with dance duo Signature coming in second and singer Andrew Johnston in third.
Judges
It was announced that Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan would return as judges for the second series of Britain's Got Talent.
Semi-finalists
On 24 May 2008, the judges announced the 40 acts that have made it through to the live semi-finals. A total of 10 acts made the grand final on 31 May 2008.
fThe winner was George Sampson, who was invited to perform an encore of his 'Singin' in the Rain' routine.
Semi-final summary
The "Order" columns lists the order of appearance each act made for every episode.
Semi-final 4 (29 May)
Ratings
The second series of Britain's Got Talent was a huge ratings success, officially averaging 10.2m for the entire series.
The Final Results episode was the third most watched programme of 2008, officially averaging 13.88m. The moment when George Sampson was announced winner, in front of 14.4 million viewers, was the 4th most watched moment of 2008.
This series of Britain's Got Talent had the third highest series average out of any talent show this century.
Andrew Johnston
In an article on 18 April 2008 by British newspaper the Daily Mail, the mother of young contestant Andrew Johnston admitted that their story had been "over-egged" and the truth in the reality is, they do not live in a stereotypical council estate – like he had claimed during a previous interview for the talent show. He pulled on even more heartstrings when he claimed he was bullied but in fact, the bullying he allegedly sustained was early on in his life, and it was not a recent and regular occurrence. The show's producers were accused of misleading the viewers and enhancing a "sob story".
Michael Machell
The first live show attracted considerable complaint due to the treatment of keyboardist Michael Machell, whose appearance was greeted with open mockery and hostility by the crowd and judging panel, with claims that the show's producers encouraged the audience to boo and deride the performer from the beginning of his appearance. Michael was visibly upset immediately afterwards, and also later that evening in his appearance in Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2. In his first audition, he was buzzed by Simon who then pressed the buzzers of Amanda and Piers, in the semi-final he buzzed again but did not press any other buzzer.
Andrew Muir
Having made it to the final, Muir sang Imagine by John Lennon, and was heavily criticised after his performance for a bad choice of song. In both the main show, and the later ITV2 show, Muir stated that the choice of song had been made by producers, and that he had been given no choice but to accept. On both shows, the hosts were seen by viewers to swiftly change the subject or speak to other contestants rather than allow this point to be made further.
Escala
"Scala" (now Escala) also attracted attention from the press as the four members of the band are professional musicians who played for McFly as part of a large orchestra on their UK tour in 2005. They are signed to an entertainment agency, and were invited to audition for Britain's Got Talent by Simon Cowell after they played at The X Factor wrap party in late 2007. An ITV1 spokesman refused claims this was unfair, stating "Scala went through the same application and audition process as everyone else. Britain's Got Talent is open to any performer be it professional or amateur, with any talent." Two of the four members of Escala were part of a similar five-piece classical group called Wild, who were signed to EMI and released an album with the label in 2005. The quartet were then required to change their name from Scala to Escala. According to a report published in the Daily Mirror. "Scala were forced to change their name because it belongs to a female voice choir in Belgium. The girls changed to Escala after EMI threatened to sue, despite having used it for two years."
Faryl Smith
The Sunday Mirror and Digital Spy both reported that Simon Cowell arranged for free singing lessons to be delivered by X Factor vocal coach Yvie Burnett to 12-year-old vocalist Faryl Smith. Burnett previously coached 2007 Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts and 2006 The X Factor winner Leona Lewis.
Voting
Britain's Got Talent bosses were accused of fixing the show by manipulating the viewers’ vote, by the fans. In all five semi-finals of series 2, the semi-finalist performing last won the public vote and made it through to the final. The same thing happened in the first series, with the last performer receiving the top acclaim, including in the final. Readers of the Daily Star say complaints have been flooding in, but bosses have denied all allegations. A spokeswoman for the hit TV show claimed that the pattern noticed by viewers was "nothing more than a coincidence". She also added: "The judges have no say over the running order on the show." This pattern also continued in the first three semi-finals of series 3, but was broken by saxophanist Julian Smith, who won the public vote in semi-final 4 as act number six out of eight.