A Bookie-Busting Arrangement
Britain’s Got Talent hasn’t yet thrown up any one act that screams ‘winner’, and at this stage it looks extremely open.
The 7-2 favourite, gymnastic dance troupe Spellbound, might have peaked too early and it is difficult to see how they can improve the ‘wow’ factor of their first audition.
If there’s a dance collective that could win, at the current odds we much prefer Myztical who were in the process of a great audition up until the Wonderwall segment. They have an edge in combining dance with song, and knowing how these shows work, this is surely teed up for the classic redemption/journey scenario when they perform again. They scrambled through and we reckon they’ll be much improved next time around and could have a lot more to offer. So at 50-1 to win with Ladbrokes and Betfred, and 33-1 each-way with Coral and BlueSq, they are worth a speculative win and each-way wager.
Among the other front runners Olivia Archbold has a great voice added to the cuteness factor and could be in the mix but at 7-1 she isn’t great value. Tobias Mead (16-1 with totesport) is a quirky dancer with a very original act, with the advantage of being eye candy which should secure him a strong female vote.
At the prices as of now, a speculative each-way bet has to be 80-year-old Scottish great-granny Janey Cutler at 16-1 with Coral. Her voice isn’t that good but she could win through a landslide of goodwill seeing a woman of such advancing years trying to achieve her dream. In her favour is that this series of BGT seems based on exploiting sentimentality among viewers more than ever, on the back of the SuBo effect.
Our last selection is one that has ducked under the radar so far but we like a lot. The Arrangement are a group of college friends who take classical music and cleverly mix it into a medley of pop tunes, their audition including the likes of Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ and Beyonce’s ‘If I Were A Boy’. They have a quirky edge over many of their rivals and enormous scope for improvement. They could be the sort of act that achieves some unexpected momentum come the live shows. Also in their favour is that the public might be beginning to tire of young/old solo singers and street dance crews so at 40-1 with Coral they are definitely worth an each-way bet.
Rob Furber