who won the first ever series of britains got talent
opera singer Paul Potts
title: Britain's Got Talent (series 1) text: original plans for the programme before O'Grady's departure. The hosts selected for the series were Ant & Dec, while a spin-off show on ITV2, entitled "Britain's Got More Talent" would be hosted by Stephen Mulhern. The first series was won by opera singer Paul Potts. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 8.4 million viewers. After Simon Cowell pitched to ITV his plans for a televised talent competition, production was green-lighted for a full series after a pilot episode was created in mid-2005. A dispute between Paul O'Grady, the original choice as host for the programme, and the broadcaster, led title: Britain's Got Talent text: Cardiff, between January and February earlier that year. The series had 3 live semi-finals, featuring a total of 24 semi-finalists, all of whom were vying for a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance, as well as claiming a £100,000 cash prize. The series was won by opera singer Paul Potts; the results of the other finalists were not announced. The second series was aired during 2008, between 12 April to 31 May, and featured notable differences. Not only did the series run for much longer, auditions took place in Blackpool and Glasgow, the latter following complaints that Scotland title: Britain's Got Talent text: the rest of the panel, while Louis Walsh returned as a guest judge for the London auditions when Hasselhoff couldn't attend due to other commitments at the time. The series was won by singer Jai McDowall, with singer Ronan Parke coming in second, and boyband New Bounce placing third. The sixth series was aired during 2012, between 24 March and 12 May. For this series, the cash prize was increased from £100,000 to £500,000, and a new feature was introduced called the "Wildcard", in which the judges could select one of the acts eliminated in the semi-finals, to return and title: Britain's Got Talent text: were held within Manchester, Blackpool and London, with two of these cities holding open auditions in 2017, alongside a number of locations within the United Kingdom and Ireland, including Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dublin, and Inverness. The series was won by stand-up comedian Lost Voice Guy, with comedy singer/pianist Robert White coming second, and singer Donchez Dacres placing third. Britain's Got More Talent is a companion sister show that is broadcast on ITV2, and is aired after each episode of "Britain's Got Talent" since the main show began in June 2007. Hosted by Stephen Mulhern (with occasional appearances by title: Britain's Got Talent text: with all three holding open auditions in late 2015 along with Cardiff, Glasgow, and Manchester. It was the last series to hold live episodes within The Fountain Studios, before its closure at the end of the year. The series was won by magician Richard Jones, with singer Wayne Woodward coming in second, and dance group Boogie Storm placing third. The eleventh series was aired during 2017, between 15 April to 3 June; the final was originally planned for 4 June, but this was moved forward to avoid it clashing with the One Love Manchester benefit concert that day. The series