Hassaan

Ah, so he's just playing to Middle England now. I'm autistic so I would be medically withdrawn anyway (:D) but yeah. I don't think he's even trying to win, there's not that many people who are actually in favour of this IMO. It's just a noisy minority, most of which are probably too pissed off with the Tories now to even give them a shot.

It's interesting that we've only had one solo child winner, and that was back in 2008. No solo female winner either, they've either been part of a group or accompanied by a dog. I'd welcome a good magician winning. It's interesting with Richard Jones because I think he is a good magician but the routine in the final was his weakest. I wouldn't mind if a really good singer won. I don't think a danger act will ever win because they can be very "seen it once, seen it all". Tonight was good, I did like the GB act. I thought they were too similar to Billy and Emily until the sparks came on. As for Ace, I think his voice is very much an acquired taste though he is likeable. I think if he was in the live shows, he'd be swallowed up by the bigger vocalists already through. The returning magicians at the end - I'm not sure what went on there. It was a bizarrely sudden ending which makes me think that they're not actually competing.

When was the last time a band got a top 10 single? Probably going back to Little Mix in 2021, but for a boyband, you're probably going back to 2016 (One Direction). Westlife nearly did in 2019 (#13), and Take That nearly did in 2017 (also #13). It probably is cyclical but the only active bands seem to be the "legacy" (not keen on that word) ones, and new ones aren't really pushed forward in the same way as solo acts.

Yet somehow I feel the Tories could sneak it if they tap into the right demographic. I.e. go even nastier. Also, "a goodwill gesture"? What's even the point?

Hilariously throwing their toys out of the pram. I am worried that the non Tory parties may split the vote.

Loving the Benny Hill theme tune being played in the background on BBC News right now.

To echo myself from earlier, July 4th is such a random time to do it. Maybe they're hoping to piggyback on football fever or something.

I mean I'd love it, but mid way through the Euros? They seem like the sort of people who would want to avoid that.

I was going for the most unlikely, at least in terms of lyrics. :D Any thoughts on who we could see winning? Of the sixteen winners: 4 comedy acts 4 singing acts 2 dog acts 2 dance acts 1 magician 1 musician 1 shadow theatre group 1 gymnastics troupe You could argue that we had 5 singing acts if you wish to include Jon Courtenay, but yeah. Standard of act is more important to me than variety, but it's interesting that of the last five winners, four have been comedy acts. It wasn't until series 4 that a comedy act made the final, and series 7 until one made the top 3. I'd be open to someone like Innocent Masuku or Sydnie Christmas winning, if the public decides that they'd like a singer this year.

We've had a few "cliffhangers" this series. Pretty sure they had that last year too, with a team that was very far behind.

Or the Harry Potter music like they seemed to do for a while. :D

I mean, I probably wouldn't expect the likes of WAP or Unholy to be used as backing music. :D

Good episode. I liked the comedian and the magic act. The opera singer, I just knew would be a bit bonkers. I struggle to connect emotionally with dance acts but I knew Bruno would go for that. They're good at what they do.

The most recent public vote was in 2019 when we sent Michael Rice. Your overarching point (something which didn't do well in the vote) still stands though.

The national selection was rather hit and miss. From 2016-19, we only got one decent result (Lucie). I think the UK's expectations are (hopefully) higher after Sam, but it depends on what the choices are. I thought Asanda (Legends) would have been a better choice for us in 2018 but the performance wasn't good enough.

I don't see why they'd keep it a secret. The only reason he's stepped back, from what we've heard, is that he's been unwell. There's been no indication of anything else.

If we're going by this, it seems like he missed the high note:

Sorry, when I say it's odd, I mean when shows do "final ever" shows but then return a few years later. I was unclear, apologies. I don't think G&S ever did that necessarily, unless they did.

Bit of a mix tonight. I just knew that GB would get complaints from people who take the show too seriously with the "waste of a Golden Buzzer" thing, but he was fun. The couple who closed the show would have been my pick though.

Unfortunately that doesn't prevent the song being unpopular across the rest of the world. The 2016-19 selection shows didn't produce particularly good results, apart from Lucie perhaps.

I do often think they should send X Factor winners. There are some you probably wouldn't go near (Steve Brookstein) but there's others where you feel the person could, with the right song, make a real impact.

Wait, didn't he get zero points too?

I think the choreography affected his vocals a bit too but maybe the rest of the world just didn't like the song.

Yep! They've used Take That's Greatest Day for the golden buzzer moment three times. Ain't No Mountain High Enough three times, Fix You (Coldplay) twice, You Are the Reason twice etc.

I didn't say they were bad, or that they needed to be perfect, but it sounded a bit shaky.