Got Talent

Got Talent is a talent show television format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. A pilot was made in the United Kingdom in 2005, hosted by Paul O'Grady, but after O'Grady's split with ITV, the series was postponed, resulting in America's Got Talent – the first full series of the format.

It has spawned spin-offs in over 58 countries (as of April 2014), in what is now referred to as the Got Talent format, similar to that described by FremantleMedia of the Idol and The X Factor formats. In April 2014, the format was named the world's most successful reality TV format ever by the Guinness World Records.

History

Got Talent was an invention by The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, with comedian and talk show host Paul O'Grady producing a pilot for ITV in 2005 under the provisional title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. O'Grady left the network after disputes with ITV, resulting in Cowell moving the concept to the United States while he and ITV searched for a new show host.

Due to these issues, the Got Talent franchise ended up debuting first as America's Got Talent on NBC on 21 June 2006, with judges David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan. The show's original series was hosted by Regis Philbin. In 2016, the judging panel consisted of Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Melanie Brown, and Simon Cowell, and hosted by Nick Cannon, who has been the presenter since 2009. The grand prize on America's Got Talent is $1 million, and, since season 3, a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. America's Got Talent proved extremely successful for NBC, pulling in high ratings in both total viewers and the younger 18-49 demographic. The show's initial success in America is credited with the eventual launch of the British series, and the overall global launch of the Got Talent franchise.

Britain's Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent (often shortened to BGT) is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent franchise. The show is a Thames production (formerly Talkback Thames) distributed by FremantleMedia and is produced in association with Syco TV. The show is broadcast on ITV and its sister show Britain's Got More Talent is broadcast on ITV2. Anyone of any age with some sort of talent can audition for the show. Acts compete against each other in order to gain the audience support while trying to win the title of "The winner of Britain's Got Talent''. The original judging panel consisted of the show's creator Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. Kelly Brook was brought in as a fourth judge in series 3, but was axed after one audition site. Morgan did not return for series 5 and Cowell was only present during the live shows, while David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre joined the panel. Alesha Dixon and David Walliams joined the panel in series 6 as replacements for McIntyre and Hasselhoff.

Pudsey

Coordinates: 53°47′49″N 1°39′47″W / 53.797°N 1.663°W / 53.797; -1.663

Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once independent, it was incorporated into the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in 1974. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 22,408.

The borough of Pudsey consists only of addresses with an LS28 postcode, specifically Calverley, Farsley, Pudsey and Stanningley. Addresses with an LS28 postcode use the Leeds 0113 telephone prefix. It also lends its name to the local parliamentary constituency of Pudsey, of which it is a part.

History

The place-name Pudsey is first recorded in the Domesday Book as Podechesaie and Podechesai, in 1086. Its etymology is rather uncertain: it seems most likely to derive from a putative personal name *Pudoc and the word ēg meaning 'island' but here presumably referring metaphorically to an 'island' of good ground in moorland. Thus the name would mean 'Pudoc's island'. Other possibilities have been suggested, however. In the early sixth century the district was in the Kingdom of Elmet, which seems to have retained its Celtic character for perhaps as many as two centuries after other neighbouring kingdoms had adopted the cultural identity of the Angles.

Ashleigh and Pudsey

Ashleigh and Pudsey are a British dog trick act, comprising trainer Ashleigh Jade Butler (born 7 February 1995) and Pudsey (born 28 December 2005). Pudsey is a Border Collie, Bichon Frise and Chinese Crested powderpuff cross. They first achieved prominence as contestants in the sixth series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent, which they won on 12 May 2012, becoming the first ever dog trick act to win the competition.

Career

Britain's Got Talent

Ashleigh and Pudsey were part of the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent. Their audition was held in Cardiff and aired on 7 April 2012. They danced to The Flintstones soundtrack. Although in 2012, four judges were introduced on the panel, on the day of recording Amanda Holden was not able to attend, therefore they performed to the remaining three. With a standing ovation from the audience and all three judges, they were put through to the next round. Simon Cowell said "Pudsey is one of the best dancing dogs I've ever seen".

Britain's Got Talent (series 6)

The sixth series of Britain's Got Talent began airing on ITV on 24 March 2012 and ended on 12 May 2012. Ant & Dec returned to present the main show on ITV, while Stephen Mulhern returned to present spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2. Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden returned as judges. Alesha Dixon and David Walliams joined the judging panel, replacing Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff. Carmen Electra served as a guest judge for the London auditions in Holden's absence. The series was won by dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey, with opera duo Jonathan and Charlotte coming second. Welsh choir Only Boys Aloud came third. This was the first series since series 4 where Cowell was present at the auditions after only being present at the live shows in series 5.

From this series onwards, the winner's cash prize was increased from £100,000 to £500,000, and the number of judges was increased from three to four. The series was supposed to premiere on 14 April, as mid-April is when each series usually begins, but it was brought forward three weeks to premiere on 24 March – the same night as the launch of The Voice UK on BBC One. Many media outlets saw this move as a deliberate attempt by ITV to create a "TV ratings war" with the BBC.