Britain’s Got Talent 2010
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 30, 2010: A group of thirteen acrobats from Spelthorne Gymnastics Club, located in central Ashford, south-west of London (GBR), impressed the jury of “Britain’s Got Talent” and millions of television viewers with a spectacular performance last Saturday.
Gymnasts came to showcase the skills required for their particular sport to a wider audience, and it’s fair to say they succeeded! A huge Saturday night TV audience was treated to a visual display that has taken the country by storm, resulting in a huge wave of publicity and media interest in these gymnasts, and Acrobatic Gymnastics in general.
Among the performers were Adam Mcassey, Adam Buckingham, Alexander Uttley and Jonathan Stranks, who make up the one and the same Men’s Group that won Silver at last year’s World Games in Kaohsiung (TPE).
The show
Britain’s Got Talent is a British television show presenting singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts and other performers who compete against each other for audience support. The winner of each series receives £100,000 and is given the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance before members of the Royal Family, including the Queen. Having kicked off in 2007, this year’s series, which was launched on April 17, marks the series’ fourth edition.
The club
Spelthorne Gymnastics Club was formed in 1986 by Bob Cooper, when he retired from competitive Acrobatic Gymnastics (Mixed Pairs). The club currently embraces a range of gymnastic disciplines and has consistently produced World, European and British Champions in Acrobatic Gymnastics at the Senior and Junior levels, as well as numerous International and National Champions in the other disciplines.
The club maintains its position at the forefront of British acrobatics by sticking to an ethos of high standard coaching and training that allow their gymnasts to reach their true potential in competitions of a Regional Grade to Senior World level Championships.
The project
The Club made contact with Britain’s Got Talent and decided to enter a small group of thirteen acrobats selected from their elite group. A routine was choreographed by Simon Horrill, an ex-Royal Ballet dancer from London who is now based at London Studios, using high-powered music and spectacular acrobatic balances and dynamic elements. The Head Acrobatics Coach at the Club is Neil Griffiths.
“The Spelbound Group” was then invited to the first stage of the auditions in November 2009.
The first gig
At the first stage, Spelbound was selected from among thousands of other acts to move on to the second stage and perform in front of the TV judges as part of a competition process. This was on Saturday April 24, 2010, at the world famous Hammersmith Apollo with 5,000 people watching. The acrobats were the only act that day to receive a standing ovation from the audience and the ‘buzz’ afterwards did not remain unnoticed by the judges. Simon Cowell said, “I have never seen anything like that in my life,” while Amanda Holden commented, “it was absolutely faultless …. outstanding ….absolutely incredible … incredible“.
The TV audience for that show was 12.2 million people.
To be continued …
Even though all three judges gave Spelbound thumbs up for their performance, the group still has to wait and see if it gets selected to go through to the next round. The next round is a ‘live’ TV performance and the timing of the acts is reduced from 2.5 mins to 1.5 mins. This part of the competition is one of the largest TV shows in the UK, last year attracting something like 20 million viewers.
The participants in this stage will not be revealed by Britain’s Got Talent until May 29, 2010.
We can’t wait and will stay tuned!
Watch a video of Spelbound’s performance online and read reactions in the press!
Telegraph
Metro
Digital Spy
Unreality TV
Bob Cooper, Director of Spelthorne Gymnastics Club, contributed to this article.
