The Final of the ninth series of Britain's Got Talent airs tonight. Of the 45 acts who made the live shows, only twelve will be competing for the £250,000 prize and opportunity to perform at December's Royal Variety Show. The 45 Semifinalists included three magicians, Michael Late, Jamie Raven and Chloe-Louise Crawford, plus "Magical Entertainer" Jeffrey Drayton. How did they fare, and which, if any, of them made the Final?
Semi Final 2 - Michael Late
Austrian magician Michael Late was the first to perform in the Live Shows. In his audition (Above), he performed a set of tricks that, beneath the "Oktoberfest" theme and loud Germanic music, were actually pretty strong, including appearing from a levitating barrel and being squeezed in a device modelled after an accordion. For his semi-final performance (Below), he provided a spin on the Spirit Pyramid illusion with an Alpine theme. He put on a fake beard and hat, then produced four figures from beneath tablecloths. He then went into an box modelled after a shed, as three of the "Spirits" revealed themselves as Michael's assistants. The box was opened to reveal that Michael had vanished, and was now under the fourth tablecloth. The presentation was incredibly over-the-top and ridiculous, with men playing alpine horns and a pair of legs pushing a table across the stage, but it was fun to watch and I appreciated Michael's creativity, although he made a few minor mistakes (I could see his legs under the fourth tablecloth). The judges liked Michael's performance, with Alesha Dixon calling it "random" but "entertaining" and Simon Cowell calling it "fantastically nuts", but he only finished in seventh place in his heat.
Semi Final 3 - Jamie Raven
Out of all the magic acts, Jamie Raven was the most likely of making the final. Though the money magic and card tricks of his audition (Above) were pretty conventional, he performed them with the showmanship needed to make them seem impressive. However, for his Semifinal performance (Below), he chose to add one very expensive prop to his close-up routine. Jamie began by making a deck of cards appear in an empty box. These cards were not conventional ones, but instead had a wide range of items written on them. The judges were instructed to each choose a card at random and read out the item written on it, and Jamie made the chosen items appear. He began by making a goldfish (Chosen by David Walliams) appear in a glass of water,then turned fire into a block of ice for Alesha, made his right shoe vanish and reappear in his pocket for Simon, before finishing by making Amanda Holden's chosen item, a helicopter, appear on stage. I liked the decision to use the spectacular helicopter production as the climax of a larger routine with smaller items, instead of making it the only trick in the performance, and the presentation was engaging. However, Jamie made a number of minor slip-ups, such as calling Alesha "Sir". Furthermore, it is possible to pick up the secret of the shoe trick if you watch closely. As was the case with a similar routine performed by Ben Hart on Killer Magic, the shoe vanished a long time before the reveal, and the key test for a magician is keeping the audience focused on the performance long enough for them not to notice this, which is a lot easier to do live than it is on a TV show. In spite of these problems, Jamie impressed the audience and the judges, with Simon calling him "incredible". As a result, he made it though to the Final as the winner of his heat.
Semi Final 4 - Jeffrey Drayton
Although he was more of a comedic novelty act than a magician, Jeffrey Drayton made heavy use of magic tricks in his act, so he warrants a mention on this blog. His audition (Above) had seen him do a card trick in which he fired his puppet Chantel from a cannon at two packs of half-cards thrown by hosts Ant and Dec, and made their chosen card appear in the puppet's mouth. Although Jeffrey's performance was incredibly amateurish (he was a poor ventriloquist, and the cannon failed to fire at the first attempt), it was entertaining enough for the judges to choose him as a semifinalist. In the Live Shows (Below), he did a routine in which he went into a specially-built rocket with Chantel, and the two eventually landed on Mars. Jeffrey then finished with a trick in which he put Chantel into a cage and turned her into a real human child. Given the overlong set-up and silly nature of the performance, it was a surprisingly solid illusion, but it was trivial compared to the elaborate tricks done by the other magicians. Simon gave the routine an X (Jeffrey was the only Magician in the Semifinals to receive one) and called it "the worst act we've ever had on the Live Shows", though the other judges enjoyed it far more. In the end, Jeffrey finished eighth in his heat.
Semi Final 5 - Chloe-Louse Crawford
Chloe-Louise Crawford was the first female illusionist to make the Live Shows in Britain's Got Talent history, due to a spectacular audition (Above), which climaxed with her vanishing with a motorbike in midair, before appearing on the theatre balcony with it. For her Semifinal performance (Below), she did another big illusion in which she made a male assistant levitate high into the air, then flew to his height as well. Chloe-Louise performed the trick well, with no visible mistakes, but it represented a slower, less energetic style of magic, especially when compared to her flashy audition. Furthermore, she wasted time at the beginning with a dance routine that did little to set up the rest of the performance. Amanda and Alesha both felt that the routine was not as impressive as Chloe's audition, but Simon, noted for his hatred of magic acts in the early seasons, enjoyed the performance most,calling it incredible. However, his endorsement was not enough, and Chloe only finished eighth in a very competitive heat.
The Grand Final
Jamie Raven will compete in the Final against eleven other acts, two of whom are Wildcards whose identity will be revealed during the show. The other nine are:
- Choir Cor Glanaethwy
- Dance Troupe Entity Allstars
- Dog Act Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse
- Comedic Dance Troupe Old Men Grooving
- Glow-In-The-Dark Dance Troupe UDI
- Teenage Singer and Pianist Issac Waddington
- Musical Quartet The Neales
- Singer Calum Scott
- Impressionist and Comedian Danny Posthill
Visit this blog tomorrow in order to find out how well Jamie did.
