Britain's Got Talent series 2
The second series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 31 May 2008. Following the success of its first series, ITV commissioned the programme for additional episodes, with more venues used for auditions than in the previous series, and the number of semi-finalists, semi-final rounds, and finalists increased by production staff. Both the judges from the first series – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan – and Ant & Dec returned to co-host the second series, along with Stephen Mulhern returning to front the second series of Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.
The second series was won by street dancer George Sampson, with dance duo Signature finishing in second place and opera singer Andrew Johnston third. During its broadcast, the series proved to be a greater ratings success, averaging 10.2 million viewers. ITV was forced to defend the programme during its second series, after viewers criticised the involvement of a professional group in the contest.
Series overview
Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judge's Auditions took place early in 2008, within London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Blackpool. With the success of the previous series, the production team decided to expand the show's filming schedule to include more episodes. This led to the addition of two more episodes for auditions and two more live episodes for semi-finals, in turn leading to a direct increase in the number of semi-finalists that the judges could move beyond the auditions stage of the competition. Both the judges and the presenters who took part in the first series agreed to return for the second series, leading to no significant changes in the panel or hosts.Of the participants that took part, only forty made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals, with eight appearing in each one, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
Key: | | |
| Participant | Age | Genre | Performance Type | Semi-Final | Result |
| Andrew Johnston | 13 | Singing | Boy Soprano | 2 | Third Place |
| Andrew Muir | 24 | Singing | Singer | 4 | ' |
| Anya Sparks | 42 | Dance | Dancer | 5 | |
| Bang On! | 34 & 27 | Music | Percussion Duo | 2 | |
| Boogie Babes | 8–12 | Dance | Dance Group | 4 | |
| Boogie Wonderland | 12–21 | Dance | Dance Group | 1 | |
| Caburlesque | 22-26 | Dance | Cabaret & Burlesque Dance Group | 5 | |
| Charlie Green | 10 | Singing | Singer | 3 | |
| Charlie Wernham | 13 | Comedy | Stand Up Comedian | 4 | |
| Cheeky Monkeys | 8 & 9 | Dance | Junior Dance Duo | 2 | ' |
| Craig Harper | 35 | Singing / Comedy | Vocal Impressionist | 5 | |
| Dean Wilson | 18 | Singing | Musical Theatre Singer | 1 | |
| Deans of Magic | 46 & 38 | Magic | Erotic Magic Duo | 3 | |
| Diva Las Vegas | 20-48 | Singing / Dance | Singer & Dance Group | 5 | |
| Escala | 23–26 | Music | String Quartet | 5 | ' |
| Faryl Smith | 12 | Singing | Singer | 4 | ' |
| Flava | 17–28 | Dance | Hip Hop Dance Group | 2 | |
| George Sampson | 14 | Dance | Breakdancer | 3 | ' |
| Harlequin Stage School | 8–13 | Dance | Irish Dance Group | 4 | |
| Hoop La La | 22, 23 & 24 | Variety | Hula Hoop Trio | 3 | |
| Iona Luvsandorj | 27 | Acrobatics | Contortionist | 2 | |
| Irresistible | 21–23 | Singing | Singing Trio | 3 | |
| James Stone | 52 | Singing | Singer | 4 | |
| Jeremy Lynch | 20 | Variety | Football Freestyler | 4 | |
| Kate & Gin | 16 & 6 | Animals | Dog Act | 1 | ' |
| Kay & Harvey | 56 & 71 | Singing / Music | Singer & Keyboardist | 2 | |
| Madonna Decena | 32 | Singing | Singer | 5 | |
| Mandy Ellen Dancers | 10–24 | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | |
| Mary Halford March | 6–9 | Dance | Dance Group | 3 | |
| Michael Machell | 57 | Music | Keyboardist | 1 | |
| Nemesis | 18–22 | Dance | Hip Hop Dance Group | 5 | ' |
| Per Diem | 24 & 23 | Singing / Music | Singing & Guitarist Duo | 5 | |
| Phil Blackmore | 34 | Danger | Balancer & Juggler | 1 | |
| Sauris Nandi | 64 | Magic | Magician | 2 | |
| Signature | 29 & 34 | Dance | Bhangra Dance Duo | 1 | ' |
| Sophie Mei | 20 | Dance | Belly Dancer | 1 | |
| Strike | 22 & 19 | Variety | Martial Arts Duo | 3 | |
| Tracey Lee Collins | 44 | Singing | Drag Singer | 1 | |
| Urban Gypsies | 35–50 | Dance | Belly Dance Group | 3 | |
| Vizage | 34 & 30 | Singing / Magic | Singer & Quick Change Duo | 4 |
- Ages denoted for a participant, pertain to their final performance for this series.
- The latter value pertains to the age of the dog, as disclosed by its owner.
Semi-final summary
Semi-final 4 (29 May)
- Cowell pressed Holden's buzzer during Vizage's performance.
Final (31 May)
| Finalist | Order | Performance Type | Finished |
| Cheeky Monkeys | 1 | Dance Duo | Finalist |
| Andrew Muir | 2 | Singer | Finalist |
| Kate & Gin | 3 | Dog Act | Finalist |
| Nemesis | 4 | Hip Hop Dance Group | Finalist |
| Strike | 5 | Martial Arts Duo | Finalist |
| Andrew Johnston | 6 | Boy Soprano | 3rd |
| George Sampson | 7 | Breakdancer | 1st |
| Faryl Smith | 8 | Singer | Finalist |
| Escala | 9 | String Quartet | Finalist |
| Signature | 10 | Bhangra Dance Duo | 2nd |
- The results did not declare any other position than that of the winner, 2nd place, and 3rd place.
Ratings
| Episode | Air Date | Total Viewers | ITV 1 Weekly rank | Viewer Share |
| Auditions 1 | 12 April | 9.44 | 6 | 37.0% |
| Auditions 2 | 19 April | 10.96 | 1 | 43.3% |
| Auditions 3 | 26 April | 9.86 | 3 | 41.3% |
| Auditions 4 | 3 May | 9.12 | 5 | 39.1% |
| Auditions 5 | 10 May | 8.17 | 6 | 37.9% |
| Auditions 6 | 17 May | 9.11 | 2 | 37.5% |
| Auditions 7 | 24 May | 8.27 | 5 | 37.2% |
| Semi-final 1 | 26 May | 11.33 | 4 | 42.0% |
| Semi-final 2 | 27 May | 9.29 | 9 | 35.3% |
| Semi-final 3 | 28 May | 10.03 | 6 | 35.9% |
| Semi-final 4 | 29 May | 10.13 | 5 | 41.9% |
| Semi-final 5 | 30 May | 11.86 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Live final | 31 May | 11.52 | 3 | 51.1% |
| Live final results | 31 May | 13.88 | 1 | 55.1% |