Of the eight acts in the fourth semi-final (only one more to go now), no less than four were street dance acts. Back in my day we danced in nightclubs, or in front of the mirror with a hairbrush and a pair of fingerless gloves: only Mick Jagger and David Bowie were dancing in the street. Now it seems that half the nation is busting some synchronised moves with their baseball caps on backwards.
Still, we had some variety; first up were Ice – a group from Rotherham who had clearly taken advantage of a 2 for 1 deal on scarecrow hair extensions. They were followed by Tyler Patterson, a 10-year-old street dancer with plenty of ear-bling, loads of character and a real talent, like George Sampson in miniature, or the really cute kid from Diversity. Keeping the Halloween costume industry alive were Fusion, who were more theatre than street, in fairness, which has to be preferable in bad weather.
My personal favourite were Twist 'n' Pulse, who combined street dance and comedy into something refreshingly original and clever. And they're named after the operating instructions for my blender. What's not to love?
In the non-streetdance half of the show, we were treated to two singers – Emile Harris, who made the double error of both singing his own song and singing it really badly. Doing it for the more mature lady was 80-year-old Janey Cutler, whose distinctive talent was being very old, a bit of a character and yet still able to belt out a tune. She also provided a prime opportunity for Ant to ask "you've had a really good time, haven't you Janey?" in his most patronising voice – he only just stopped just short of patting her on the head and offering her a Werthers Original.
But if you can't sing and can't dance, how do you impress the BGT judges, especially when every act on the stage has to compete against Amanda Holden's cleavage? Well, you don't, it seems. One-man double act Mark James tried his best with his half Elton/half Kiki Dee novelty act, which had a great costume but was otherwise forgettable. Likewise, martial arts act Team Shaolin, who fashioned themselves into a human sandwich between knives and nails, didn't manage to blow the judges away. They only made me crave watermelon.
The winner of the public vote was Janey Cutler (who looked brilliantly stunned at the news), and the judges chose Twist 'n' Pulse over The Fusion for the second slot in Saturday's final.
Still with us? Vicky is back tomorrow night for the final semi-final, and I'll be here on Saturday to liveblog the actual final final. See you back here then.
