MSN TV does Britain's Got Talent!

There is nothing more exciting than being involved in a live TV show, so when offered the chance to sit alongside Simon Cowell and the crew (well… a mere 15 metres behind) during the last semi-final on Britain’s Got Talent, I grabbed it with both hands.

While weaving through backstage corridors at the Wembley studios, the first thing that immediately struck me was how much smaller everything is in real life.

And I don’t just mean the studio, which was filling up with a few hundred excited audience members, but the dimly lit corridors, the modest stage and even the pint-sized Geordie duo Ant and Dec (who were milling about the audience, practising their lines) were smaller than I had imagined.

A somewhat acerbic compere was brought in to warm up the audience and spent most of his time poking fun at Simon Cowell’s stunning make-up artist, telling the pretty brunette, “You’re just his type”.

Very brave!

Finally, the audience was settled, the stage was set and the judges were ready backstage. As the five second countdown began, a buzz of anticipation rippled through the audience.

The BGT theme tune blasted out, Ant and Dec danced onto the stage and the show began…

Predictably, Simon and David turned on their TV personalities, entertaining Amanda and Alesha (and us!) with their constant bickering.

Watching BGT from inside the studio, you really begin to appreciate all the work that’s involved with the smooth running of such a giant, live TV show.

From the make-up artists who run on during every spare minute to make sure the judges look fabulous, to the cameramen who clamber up precarious looking ladders to man equipment while literally hanging in the air.

Even the most stubborn anti-entertainment TV fan would be utterly consumed by the atmosphere in the studio.

Surrounded by VIPs like Larry Lamb and the ever-glamorous Denise Van Outen, the whole experience was brilliantly organised, fabulously set out and inclusive of everybody.

Contestants, judges, VIPs and audience members were all treated as one (although Simon Cowell did have a body guard - I’d given mine the night off…)

Two and a half hours later, the show was over and nine contestants had been whittled down to two.

Singer and musician Ryan O'Shaughnessy went through to the finals with the public vote for the performance of his own song, First Kiss, and synchronised swimmers Aquabatique were saved by the judges in a tense showdown.

 The distant call of “that’s a wrap” was heard from the back of the studio, the lights went up, and the judges disappeared.

We were herded like cattle out of the studios, through a bar (where the unsuccessful contestants were consoling themselves) and back onto the streets of North London and it felt like the whole experience had been a hazy dream.

Surely it wasn’t possible that I had dived head-first into the heady world of TV with Ant and Dec pottering around, Simon Cowell asserting his authority and a man with a saucepan on his head shouting “exterminate”?

I didn’t even get time to shout “hello mum” in the time-old British tradition… Oh well, there’s always next year!