Britain’s Got Talent 2012 Final

Plus, BGT tour axed this year, and Ashleigh Butler will insure Pudsey for £1million

Tonight is of course the big night; the final of BGT, and irrespective of whether Jonathan Antoine and his partner Charlotte Jaconelli win or not, Simon Cowell says he intends to make Jonathan the next Susan Boyle.

The Sun reports that Simon has already drawn up a record deal for Jonathan that’s worth around £1million, and the paper adds that Rob Stringer, who’s one of the biggest bigwigs at Sony, is jetting to the UK today to watch Jonathan and Charlotte perform tonight.

A source close to the show said last night, “Simon knows they will sell a huge number of records.

“They could even go on to beat Susan Boyle — and she’s sold millions.”

And a fried of Simon’s added, “This time last year he was faced with the not-particularly exciting prospect of having to sell Jai McDowall records. He was in a funk.

“But this year his excitement levels are off the scale. He’s watched as Jonathan and Charlotte have taken the country by storm.

“He knows that opera is a big seller, especially if people like the person singing it.”

Former BGT winner Paul Potts – who reckons the duo are set for a very bright future in opera singing – added, “I’m not sure anything will ever be as big as Susan but I certainly believe an American audience will like them both.”

It seems that the UKs bookies are backing Jonathan and Charlotte to win tonight too, with Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge saying, “It will be one of the biggest shocks in TV talent show history if they don’t win.”

And talking of shocks, the paper also reports that there will be no BGT tour this year, after last year’s tour – headed up by winner Jai McDowall – was something of a flop.

A BGT source said, “It costs £140 for a family of four without the booking fee, refreshments and travel. In the current climate, no one can afford it.

“It doesn’t help that the last couple of series have been a bit lacklustre. No one wanted to risk empty seats again.”

That’s sure to be a disappointment to this year’s finalists who could’ve banked on earning money while on the tour.

Talking of money, BGT star Ashleigh Butler is set to insure her amazing – and let’s face it, just plain adorable – dog Pudsey for £1million if she and her pooch pal win tonight.

But even if Ashleigh and Pudsey don’t win, it seems they’ll have no shortage of work as companies have “bombarded” Ashleigh with offers worth thousands to have Pudsey endorsing their products.

A BGT insider said, “Pudsey is set to earn an absolute fortune. Dog food companies, film studios and agents have all been in touch.

“There is big money on the table. Pudsey will make Ashleigh a teenage millionairess.”

Of insuring Pudsey, Ashleigh said, “I insured Pudsey before the contest in case of accidents or something.

“Now he’s been on TV, this might have to go up to a million — you could call him the million-pound dog. But he’s priceless to me.”

So, finally today, we’ll just sum up what odds Ladbrokes are giving on tonight’s acts…

Jonathan and Charlotte 5-6

Ashley and Pudsey 5-2

Ryan O’Shaughnessy 6-1

Loveable Rogues 12-1

Only Boys Aloud 25-1

Sam Kelly and Molly Rainford 66-1

Aquabatique, Kai and Natalia and Nu Skool 100-1

I think I’m still backing Ryan to win, but whether he does or not, the young girl who’s inspired him to write such moving songs, Katie Lucia Keegan, will be at the final tonight to cheer him on!

Bless.

I’m off on my hols later today so I won’t be around for a week, and by the time I’m back, I’m sure it’ll be all about this year’s Big Brother, and I’ll bring you all the news in the run up to launch night!

Have a great week!

Plus, my prediction for who’ll be in the top three on BGT final night!

We’ll begin today’s foray into the world of reality TV with the report from today’s Daily Mirror that Big Brother’s Bit on the Side journo Jamie East has been doing a spot of top secret filming with some of this year’s housemates…

And by the look of the picture above, there’s a child involved! So are BB about to make history by putting a kid into the house?

Well, we’ll find out in June when it all kicks off, but with regard to what Jamie et al were up to yesterday, he told the paper, “I can tell you that I’ve been filming something for the past four months for something which has NEVER been done before in the history of Big Brother.

“Our dressing rooms are being hoovered as we speak [and] Brian has been spray-tanned to within an inch of his life.”

And yesterday, Jamie tweeted, “Today is a MASSIVE day for #bbuk filming. It’s tense as anything here.”

The paper’s photographers took the snaps outside London’s Café De Paris, and the show’s production team made sure everyone was well and truly under wraps.

But apropos of housemates, this year, we viewers will be able to choose one Wild Card housemate to go in.

A show insider told the Daily Star, “For years, fans have said that they want to choose housemates for the show and now they’ve got their chance.

“The wild cards will be characters who will stir things up and set the sparks flying.

“The lucky few will be brought out and do a Vote For Me piece to camera to explain why they should be chosen.

“Then it’s down to the public. This lucky person stands a good chance of possibly winning.

“If viewers have picked them and they live up to expectations then they should be favourites to win.”

O man, I cannot wait for BB this year! Let’s have a quick reminder of the ‘eye flash’ ad that aired earlier this week…

Bring. It. On.

Finally today, as I’m off on my jollies on Saturday night, I won’t be around to give my opinion of the Britain’s Got Talent final, or who ultimately wins it, so I figured instead, I’d tell you who I think will be in the top three finalists, and who I think – and hope – will win!

And I’ve thought long and hard about this – because I have no life – and for the top three, I reckon it’ll be Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Sam Kelly and The Loveable Rogues.

However, that said, Jonathan and Charlotte are also in with a very good chance, and even though there are of course lots of variety acts in this year’s final, I think it’ll be singers who make it to the bitter end.

But as to who I’d like to see winning, it’s got to be Ryan…

And that’s been a tough call for me because I love Sam Kelly’s voice – it’s really beautiful – and I’m equally fond of cheeky lads The Loveable Rogues and in terms of vocal abilities, Jonathan and Charlotte are veritably oozing the stuff.

So why do I want Ryan to win? Well, the fact is, though I’m old enough to his *cough* big sister, I fell a little bit in love with him when he sang No Name for his audition, and a little bit more when he sang in the semi-finals last night.

I was the same with Chris Rene when he sang his own song, Young Homie, on X Factor USA.

And just like Chris, Ryan’s voice is so stunningly captivating, and his words are so deep and meaningful without being pretentious and self-indulgent, it’s hard not to give a piece of your heart to someone so evidently talented, and in Ryan’s case, someone so unashamedly romantic.

Here’s a reminder of Chris singing Young Homie, followed by Ryan’s BGT performances…

So, what are your predictions for who’s going to win the show? Let us know!