| | Britain's Got Talent (2007) The series made its début soon after the conclusion of its U.S. counterpart, America's Got Talent, and is the creation of The X Factor and Pop Idol/American Idol mastermind Simon Cowell who has created a Got Talent series across the globe. On 12 February 2007 it was announced by ITV the judges would be Cowell, Piers Morgan (who had also judged America's Got Talent), and Amanda Holden (a late replacement for Cheryl Cole). In a similar fashion to The X Factor, the show has an ITV2 counterpart called Britain's Got More Talent, presented by magician and former CITV presenter, Stephen Mulhern. The show was originally planned to air much earlier (before America's Got Talent) and be presented by Paul O'Grady. However, after O'Grady's defection to Channel 4 from ITV for The Paul O'Grady Show, O'Grady refused to appear in another ITV show, so the series was put on hold after just one rehearsal show. The audition process is similar to The Gong Show but with the judges pressing buzzers instead of banging a gong. The buzzers can only be pressed once if the judge has seen enough, and when all three are pressed the act must stop. The auditions also include the added twist of having to perform in front of a studio audience alongside the judges. Once the act finishes or is stopped, judges express their opinions and decide whether they would like to see them in the semi-finals, with acts needing to receive a majority vote to go through. The audience is invited to express their views (often boos or cheers) which may have a positive or negative impact on a judge's decision, should the judge be unsure on whether to put the act through.
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