[MrGaryy]

Tapdancing grannies, breakdancing toddlers ... Who would have thought an old-school talent show could be such a hit for ITV?

As Peter Fincham waits in the wings before joining ITV on May 12, he will surely be keenly watching the progress of Britain's Got Talent, the variety show that was the surprise hit of 2007, bulldozing Big Brother into oblivion.

In fact, the UK pilot was recorded nearly three years ago - with Paul O'Grady as host and Fern Britton as a judge. The show faltered when the ITV entertainment controller Claudia Rosencrantz was replaced, and then languished further when O'Grady jumped ship to Channel 4.

So when the programme demonstrated that a format aimed at a broad audience - with contestants ranging from an octogenarian tap dancer to the Bar Wizard jugglers - could succeed where Celebrity Love Island failed, it must have come as a nice surprise for ITV. Half of all 16-34 year olds watched the final, not to mention their grannies, as Paul Potts was crowned winner. Ratings climbed to 11.6 million.

But success has now tempted ITV into making Britain's Got Talent the tent pole of its Saturday nights - even though, at almost £1m an episode (Ant & Dec, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan apparently don't come cheap), it is one of the network's most expensive productions. The run has been extended, with a week of live contests, preceded by a seven-week run of audition shows, which began quietly on Saturday, chronicling the search.

There was, and is, some resistance to Britain's Got Talent from ITV business execs, who study return on investment. The cost is high for a spring/summer show, as audiences and income from advertising tend to dip, compared with the autumn/winter season when The X Factor runs. But its value in demolishing the threat of Big Brother and making ITV a big network outweigh that in the current climate.

The challenge for its producers - now it no longer has novelty on its side - is to keep it fresh and, well, eccentric. Last time, when contestants arrived, many didn't even expect to perform in front of an audience. This time around, entries have doubled to 48,000.

There is more comfort for Fincham in the production team. Richard Holloway and Andrew Llinares, the executive producers working with Simon Cowell's operation, Syco at Talkback Thames, are his former trusted colleagues.

Holloway occupied the office next door to Fincham until the Talkback boss left for the BBC, and Llinares, picked out as a rising star after training at Granada, has been at the helm of The X Factor for the last two series.

The pair say three things surprise them about Britain's Got Talent. First, for contestants, the prospect of appearing on the Royal Variety Show and meeting the royals seems more attractive than winning the cash prize of £100,000.

Second, unlike in The X Factor, there is the power of a fourth judge. All the variety acts filtered through to audition appear on stage in front of real audiences. Their response sways the judges.

Third, they found that the auditions out of London, especially in Manchester and Birmingham, were the most successful. It's a classic northern show at heart. "The audiences in Manchester and Birmingham were fantastic, incredibly warm and supportive," says Llinares.

In London, by contrast, there were fights and boos at the Hackney Empire. "Instead of having the classic warm-up man, we had to calm them down ... they were out for blood, if they don't like you, they shout, 'get off'."

Another key factor in giving Britain's Got Talent its tone is that the panel get on - unlike the X Factor judges.

Holloway says that Morgan is a dream to handle. "He hasn't been on camera for very long, if you give Piers a note about how he's delivering something, he really appreciates it. No tantrums. And he's always on time. Simon is always late."

They have made other adjustments to this year's event, including adding more back story about the contestants."You need to fall in love with the characters, make the effort," says Llinares.

Do the producers fix who is going to win? They reply, good troupers that they are, that there are people who should go a long way but only two go through every night during the live auditions.

In the foyer of Talkback Thames, I walk past a huddle of nondescript men, only to find out they are some of the semifinalists.

It is hard to imagine millions of Britons will watch them compete.

Nevertheless, due to hopefuls like them, Channel 4 is expected to move the start of Big Brother 9 - out of the way of that bulldozer.

Source, The Guardian