Spelbound won Britain’s Got Talent 2010
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, June 10, 2010: The 13 strong Acrobatic Gymnastic group, Spelbound were catapulted into fame (and hopefully fortune) in Great Britain after winning the country’s top TV entertainment talent show, Britain’s Got Talent, last Saturday. The show, in its 4th season, features thousands and thousands of different acts trying to win the £100,000 first prize and the chance to perform on the Royal Variety Performance on British TV and attended by members of the Royal Family.
“Fire And Ice”
After making it through to the final stages of the competition, the group, now based at Heathrow Gymnastics Club, had to perform firstly in a show televised live to the UK on a Monday and were up against some of the other favored acts from the series. The group, coached by Neil Griffiths with assistance from Andrew Griffiths, performed a specially created routine by choreographer and ex gymnast, Nicola Yellop called ‘Fire And Ice’. The idea for the routine was that the 7 male gymnasts represented ‘fire’ and the 6 girls were ‘ice’ with the routine being an ‘acrobatic joust’ to see who would triumph in the end. The ice maidens actually win at the end of the routine!
All the costumes for this routine and the subsequent final were produced from ideas supplied by the group to Milano, the UK’s biggest gymnastic clothing manufacturer and a supporter of British Gymnastics. Milano became a key, and much valued member of the Spelbound team and the group would like to thank them for all their hard work and creative brilliance.
A huge audience!
The TV audience for the first Spelbound appearance was linked to a public holiday in the UK and had a huge 19 million people TV audience who voted in huge numbers to send Spelbound through as the first of the 10 finalists to another live show screened the following Saturday. The share of the vote was overwhelmingly in Spelbound’s favor with 64% voting for the acrobats. Their nearest competition received 18% so you can see how much the country loved seeing the stunning visual display that acrobatic gymnastics delivers.
Fine tuning for the final
With just 4 days to prepare for the final, the group worked extremely hard fine tuning a previous routine and adding some ‘very special’ moves designed especially for the show. They also had to fit in school, exams and day jobs into a very busy schedule as well as their usual training programmes as 11 of the 13 will be representing Great Britain at the forthcoming World Championships and World Age Group Competitions in Wroclaw (POL) at the various age levels. So it was a very very busy week.
By Saturday, the programme now had their 10 final acts which ranged from singers to comedians and dog acts to street dancers. A real mix of talent and Spelbound were being hailed as the favourites to win in every newspaper, TV station and radio networks plus the internet carrying a vast amount of coverage of the show.
A spectacular surprise!
For the final programme, the group decided to deliver something even more spectacular so, with the inspiration from choreographer, Nic Yellop, they started the routine with a stunning throw of Senior Men’s Pair Top, Edward Upcott, from platform over the heads of the 3 judges seated 3 metres away and onto the stage an additional 5 metres away to be caught by two colleagues. The judges were unaware that the group had planned this move so were ‘stunned’ when Edward flew over their heads as they had not seen the three guys crouched behind them in the shadows. An amazing sight for the whole audience and 20 million people watching at home and one that was played over and over again on the show afterwards.
The rest of the routine was absolutely flawless and brought the only standing ovation of the night from the three judges and ended the show on an absolute high.
There was a 30 minute wait while the telephone voting was counted and then the top three was announced. Spelbound and their supporters in the audience held their breath as first a dance act was announced before a huge sigh of relief as the Group were put through to the final 3 acts. They were joined by a teenage drummer.
A memorable end and a great boost for Acrobatic Gymnastics!
And then the moment Spelbound, and the whole of acrobatics had waited for – the final result. After what seemed like minutes and with the tension in the studio building to enormous levels, Spelbound were announced as the winners of Britain’s Got Talent 2010 and an explosion of shouting, cheering and hugging followed with the gymnasts running off the stage and into the audience to join their weeping families watching. A truly memorable end to an amazing night. And one when acrobatic gymnastics has finally been acknowledged and people can now say, ‘I do acro – like Spelbound do’ and people asking about the sport will know what they mean.
Coach Neil Griffiths thinks this is an amazing opportunity for the group but doesn’t want them to lose their focus. Neil said: 'It's quite overwhelming and fantastic that all the hard work paid off. But, for now, the team have to train for the World Championships.' He added 'When you are a non-Olympics sport, to go to the World Championships places enormous pressure on the families. I hope this will make a big difference'.
The judges’ reaction
The show’s star judge and well known entertainment impressario, Simon Cowell likened Spelbound's routine to an Olympic gold medal-winning performance and said 'it was one of the most astonishing things he had ever seen on live TV”.
Fellow judge Amanda Holden added: 'We are hosting the Olympics Games and I can only think 'what a brilliant opening act'.'
Quotes of the gymnasts
1 NICK ILLINGWORTH, 25, GRADUATE: I've been concentrating on my gymnastics career. This is a huge reward and I just hope I can pay my parents back for driving me to gym ever day for so many years.
2 ALEX UTTLEY, 25, GYMNASTICS COACH: I coach kids aged 6-12 so I'm giving back to the sport what it's given to me over the past 16 and a half years.
3 HOLLI AMWOOD, 13, STUDENT: I think that performing has been really fun.
4 ADAM BUCKINGHAM, 21, PERSONAL TRAINER: I currently work but I would really like to perform at the Olympics. That has been my dream.
5 AMY MACKENZIE, 12, STUDENT: I'm still studying at school, so the experience has been amazing.
6 DOUG FORDYCE, 20, ADMIN ASSISTANT: I want to help my family out. My mum and dad lost their business last year and they have got some debts, so I really want to help them to pay them off.
7 EDWARD UPCOTT, 18, STUDENT: I've just finished college, studying performing arts. Winning means so much to get some recognition for our sport. I want to keep on training with Spelbound and see where it takes us.
8 KATIE AXTEN, 17, STUDENT: I've got my exams in just a couple of weeks. I was going to spend the prize money on helping pay for my university fees - but I don't think I'll be going until next year now.
9 JOHN STRANKS, 15, STUDENT: I just hope winning the show can change my life. I'll remember it for ever.
10 LAUREN KEMP, 18, STUDENT: I just want to treat my parents and pay them back for everything they've done for me and the sacrifices they've made in the 14 years I've been doing gym.
11 LEIGH ANNE COWLER, 19, GYMNASTIC COACH: I've been doing gymnastics since I was just two years old. It's nice to get something out of it and get recognition for the sport.
12 ABIGAIL RALPH, 16, STUDENT: I think the opportunity this show has given me is incredible.
The coaches
Neil Griffiths, 37, COACH AT HEATHROW GYMNASTICS CLUB: My main interest for entering was to help to increase the profile of the sport. Everything else we get from here on in is a bonus for us.
Adam McASSEY, 21, COACH: This experience has been total!
The bright future
The Group’s success has brought them numerous appearances on British TV and radio and a large press conference attended by numerous journalists, photographers and camera crews which saw them featured in most of the daily newspapers and major radio stations in Great Britain.
So will Spelbound or Acrobatic Gymnastics ever grace a future Olympic Games in some way? Only time will tell but Spelbound have certainly raised the profile of acrobatic gymnastics to a huge global audience so if it does happen, everyone will know why.
Andy Mackenzie, Creative Director, Spelbound
The FIG reported on the group’s first gig in April 2010. Click here to read the article.
Moreover, an interview with Great Britain’s Men’s Pair Edward Upcott / Douglas Fordyce, who are part of the “Spelbound” group, was published in the latest World of Gymnastics magazine (no. 60). Get your own copy at the FIG Shop!
Watch the video of Spelbound’s performance in the show’s final on Youtube and read reactions in the press!
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