And they called it puppy love? Ashleigh and Pudsey
The Background
Dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey have won the Britain’s Got Talent final, bagging £500,000 and a slot at the Royal Variety Show. Seventeen-year-old Ashleigh Butler guided her furry dance partner through an elaborate Mission Impossible-themed routine to see off competition from opera-singing teenagers Jonathan and Charlotte, and Welsh choir Only Boys Aloud.
But commentators agree the real winner was BGT itself: The Guardian reported that the show pulled in more than twice as many viewers as rival BBC talent contest The Voice. Indeed, apparently even The Voice’s producers were glued to the ITV final. According to The Sun, host Holly Willoughby caught the backstage crew watching the BGT results while filming their own show.
Britain loves dogs
Teenagers Jonathan and Charlotte put in a fantastic performance, wrote Michael Hogan in The Telegraph: “They would have romped to victory were we not a nation of pet fanatics.” Pudsey’s victory is a triumph for variety: “It’s the first time in six years that the winner has been anything but a song or dance act. A true variety show at last,” Hogan said.
“My life’s work is now complete,” said judge Simon Cowell after the result was announced.
Dogs have a short shelf life
Not everyone was pleased about Ashleigh and Pudsey’s dance to victory. “When it comes to talent with a much longer shelf-life than a dog who can dance, Only Boys Aloud were so much more deserving of the big prize,” wrote Carolyn Hitt at Wales Online – not least because the prize money would have secured the choir’s financial future.
A return to form for BGT
This was a vintage year for Britain’s Got Talent, said Jain Moir in The Daily Mail: “In every way, it was a proper, old-fashioned variety show, proving that there is still a spark of life left in innocent, wholesome Saturday night entertainment.” After a dire couple of series, the format has returned to greatness, partly because of the return of Cowell but also due to new judge Walliams: “In a new twist to the usual practices, the comedian was always polite to the contestants, but mercilessly teased ‘my Simon’ Cowell at every opportunity.”
Watch Ashleigh and Pudsey’s winning routine below.
