I was intending to write about the auditions weekly, but after the first week I found the rest of the auditions mainly disappointing. It was as if the fireworks that started the series off fizzled out. So I’m going to summarise the final week and make my predictions for the final.

Some acts were dire, such as the guy breaking wind and the fool hanging things from his ears, some stood out for me and they included dance groups Flawless and Diversity, the singer Susan Boyle and Saxophonist Julian Smith. Now we are at the end of the semi final week and the voting went mostly as I expected. The biggest drama was young Hollie Steel breaking down in tears on the stage, but she was given a second chance and came back and wowed everybody while winning herself a place in the final.

Apart from the saxophonist the finalists are all dance or singing acts, variety lost on the way to more popular forms of entertainment. Except for one act I think that the final will be spectacular. The line up is:

Aiden Davis – Dancer
Diversity – Street Dancers
Flawless – Street Dancers
Hollie Steel – Singer
Julian Smith – Saxophonist
Shaheen Jafargholi – Singer
Shaun Smith – Singer
Stavros Flatly – Comedy Dancers
Susan Boyle – Singer
Two Grand – Singers

Although Susan Boyle has been the favourite from week one and there has been a lot of publicity surrounding her I don’t necessarily think that she will win. She has an amazing voice but if I’m going to make any predictions I would base them on who I prefer and who I would pay to see. My top 3 are:

1. Flawless – Street Dancers
2. Diversity – Street Dancers
3. Julian Smith – Saxophonist

The one to watch out for in the future Shaun Smith – Singer
Funniest act of 2009 Stavros Flatly – Comedy Dancers

Yes I’ve totally missed out the youngsters and Susan Boyle. Good though they were they just weren’t my cup of tea.

Update – 2 out of 3 aint bad

What an amazing final, the best one so far. I enjoyed every minute of the show. There were so many memorable performances that until the winners Diversity appeared there were several acts who could have won. I put Diversity in second place behind Flawless before the final, and until then they were. Then they put together an astonishing routine and blew the rest of the competition out of the water.

Flawless were great, but when it came down to it Diversity were better on the night. I’m glad that it was one of the street dancing acts that won and that there are 11 happy winners rather than just one.

At least I got third place right. I’ve always had a soft spot for the saxophone and Julian Smith played it magnificently sending shivers down my spine. What a cool guy and what a great talent.

My fourth favourite was Shaun Smith. This guy has one of those voices that I could listen to all night. I said previously that he is the one to watch out for and I think that even more after his final performance. He is only 17, can sing really well and has the looks too. If he doesn’t get a record contract I will be very surprised.

I wonder what 2010 will bring along!