Britain's Got Talent - the joke must end

There are so many things that Britain's Got Talent should rightly be criticised for: the taunting and mocking of people with learning difficulties; the way it monopolises ITV's schedule for weeks on end; the public humiliation and destruction of hopes; and now we can include animal cruelty.



On Saturday evening, a dancing dog called Pudsey won this year's BGT. An absolute outrage, made all the worse by the fact the British public voted for it.

After this it would be wrong to ever call it the GREAT Vritish public. There is nothing great about making animals perform for human entertainment. It is cruel and abusive. If it had bee an elephant in a circus there would probably have been a public outcry.

But, for some reason that's beyond me, the public, lead by Simon Cowell's enthusiasm for dog acts, think that making a smelly shit machine walk on its hind legs to music is both entertaining and talented.

It is not.

Simon Cowell, the show's prodigal guru, identified the problem and said that it would be wrong for anyone to say a dancing dog act was animal cruelty.

Why did he feel the need to say that?

Because he knows that it is animal abuse.

Some say it's cute. It's not. Some say it's funny. It's not. Some say there's no harm, which is a lie.

The show must be stopped. Paying someone half a million pounds to publicly abuse an animal is just wrong. It should be criminal.

COMMENT: More variety, fewer contests

For the past decade primetime TV schedules have been dominated by celebrities doing things out of their natural comfort zone and non-entities competing in talent shows.

I guess, if that's what the public want, then why not...

Except, where are the opportunities for all those who are successful in talent shows to pursue their career?

Back in the 70s, when I was a kid, there were talent shows like Opportunity Knocks and New Faces, in the same way that today we have X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, but there were also shows on which the more successful acts could continue and develop their career.

1970s style Variety shows and comedy shows might seem rather dated now, but surely there's a place for a modern version? Surely the investment initially put into lots of performers via talent shows warrants a place where they can continue to work as an artist?

Wouldn't it be good to have a prime time show, maybe like Sunday Night at the London Palladium where we were entertained by good and experienced acts rather than having to suffer so many no-hopers for the sake of the occasional success?