Being in the audience for Britain’s Got Talent requires more staying power than I bargained for. It’s not like you just walk in and enjoy the show! First you need to get the tickets, which is almost like winning the lottery. When you’ve won, one of the prizes is waiting in the cold for hours just to get into the London Palladium. And even then you might not – they always overbook to be sure of a full house.
I got lucky – I got a ticket and I got in, eventually. Although the show doesn’t start until 8pm, my ‘night’ began around 3pm because you need to get there really early if you want to secure good seats. Some people were waiting from noon!
After we finally obtained seat numbers to go with our tickets they said we should come back at 6.30pm. From 6.30pm we spent another 45 minutes outside in Ramillies Street. Squashed together like mashed potatoes, the crowd did as much as it could to entertain itself – singing, cheering and of course taking lots of photos and videos.
I couldn’t believe it when we finally made it past the door. It was such a suprise to feel your frozen fingers again. Luckily we had really great seats close to the stage; unluckily there were some really big guys sitting right in front of us.
Security guards and cameras were the first things I noticed – they were all over the place. For instance, one camera was above, another was in front of me, also to my left and to my right, and another flying in the air. My seat was also close to the speakers which were really loud. Luckily all the reflecting lights were pointed directly at the stage so at least I wasn’t about to damage my eyesight.
Finally, some entertainment arrived in the form of a comedian named Andy Collins. Andy was there to entertain us before and during the show breaks. Also, he was there to encourage us to be really cheerful and happy so that we would look like we were having the best day of our lives. His patter included just about everything, including flavoured condoms – not quite the thing for the 12-year-old kid he called up from the audience. I couldn’t tell if he was upset that the child got a bigger round of applause than he did.
With the song “24K Magic” we welcomed onto the stage Ant and Dec. But this didn’t last long because just moments later the famous judges started arriving. First David Walliams came on to the tune of “I am what I am”. Afterwards came Alesha Dixon: she seemed quite shy so her intro was soon over. Unlike Amanda Holden who took her time, waving to the audience like she was a queen in her enormous puffed gown. And last but not least Simon Cowell walked in wearing a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans – his signature, low key outfit.
And so the auditions finally began. They ranged from very odd to absolutely stunning. Between each audition, there was a break and a chance for Andy Collins to win or lose the audience all over again. Meanwhile David Walliams kept walking around and talking to the audience. He seemed to want all the attention he could get.
The buzzers were awfully loud, especially when they hit all four. Every time that happened I lost a little of my hearing. But there was also a particularly bright moment when two sisters won over the judges and the audience with their beautiful performance. The girls told the judges how their mother didn’t know anything about them being in the audition, so Simon suggested they call their mom and surprise her. Sounds like a set-up, I know. But the first time it didn’t work out, so they tried again after about ten minutes.
It was impossible to keep 3700 people still while Simon and the girls were talking on the phone. But of course they will montage it all together and make it look like it all happened at once and maybe also put some funny looking faces from another show in it.
Perfection is what counts even if the show wasn’t perfect. It had a lot of ups and downs. There were some really boring performers but you mustn’t even think of looking at your phone while they’re on. A toilet break would have been nice!
It’s the audience that counts in the end, they say. We are there to help the judges bring in the right decisions. Without the audience, the show wouldn’t be complete. It was nice to hear that we are so important, even it didn’t felt that way when we were waiting out in the cold.
Simon said at the end that this was one of the craziest, strangest auditions ever. Well, yes the audience was kinda crazy. But crazy is good. Crazy means they will take our faces and add them to another show because it will make it more interesting!
