Britain's Got Talent 2012: is dancing dog Pudsey really better than all the rest?

During Britain's Got Talent 2012, bookmakers claimed it would be "one of the biggest shocks in TV talent show history" if Jonathan Antoine and his 16-year-old sidekick Charlotte Jaconelli didn't win.

However, on Saturday night the 17-year-old with lungs like Pavarotti had to settle for second place.

It was a finale that proved more farcical than Dennis Egel's act (he was the eccentric German with a pair of wings strapped to his back); it also served to highlight the true nature of Simon Cowell's reality circus.

Apparently unbelievable talent counts for very little when you're up against an obedient dog.

Jonathan and Charlotte will surely go on to achieve great success and make themselves (and their new boss) a few quid into the bargain.

But it boggles the mind to think the British public believed a pooch standing on its hind legs was more impressive than their wonderful version of Calon Lan.

Jonathan's performance was mature, soulful and technically stunning, while Charlotte showed she has a remarkable voice of her own. They gave us quality music belying their tender years.

Yet it seems the British public preferred to have a cute dog with a very limited act as their champion rather than a young couple with, possibly, the world at their feet.

It's akin to one of those email circulars with pictures of cute kittens all over it winning a Pulitzer.

I don't think Ashleigh and Pudsey will be recording a single any time soon so what can Simon Cowell do with the pair? Pudsey could eventually go the same way as Jai McDowall, who won last year's competition, but has been virtually forgotten since.

Not that Cowell will care of course, he'll sign Jonathan and Charlotte and he's probably delighted to hear that Saturday's BGT final attracted nearly 14 million viewers, trouncing The Voice UK in the process.

The cute factor

Reports that BBC producers were caught watching the showpiece as their results programme was being prepared will be the icing on his cake.

The winning act will also add fuel to the school of thought that says the series has become little more than a novelty show, and not a genuine hunt for talent.

This was arguably the finest crop of finalists the show has seen for several years, but the voting public and the judges (notably Simon) still placed an animal doing tricks above some fabulous musical performers.

It's bad enough that superb male voice choir Only Boys Aloud and genuinely original groups such as Loveable Rogues fell by the wayside. But to see the finest act that has ever appeared on Britain's Got Talent get pipped at the post by one that would have been more suited to Crufts is absurd.

Maybe ITV1 should just change the name of the show and have done with it. Britain's Got Cute Pets anyone?

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