ITV takes ratings crown with Britain's Got Talent

LONDON - 'Britain's Got Talent' proved to be a ratings winner again for ITV as the talent show's final pulled in a peak audience of 14.4m, giving it the biggest entertainment show audience of the year.

Viewers tuned in to watch 14-year-old dancer George Sampson, from Warrington, win the show. He performed to 'Singing in the Rain', while runner-up group Signature danced to 'Billie Jean'.

Sampson, who made it through to the semi-finals last year, won the £100,000 prize and a date with the Royal Variety Performance.

He put his win down to a key last minute change of musical routine. He had been planning to perform to a Bee Gees track before switching to the Gene Kelly classic, which was used in an ad by Volkswagen for the Volkswagen Golf GTI in 2005.

Sampson said: "I wasn't sure about the choice of song and, about an hour beforehand, we changed it.

"I probably wouldn't have won if I'd done the Bee Gees."

'Britain's Got Talent' trounced BBC One's rival talent show competition 'I'll Do Anything', which pulled in a peak audience of 7.3m. On the BBC, actress Jodie Prenger won the role of Nancy in the West End musical production of 'Oliver!'.

The ratings success brought 'Britain's Got Talent' in just short of the its Champion's League final -- Manchester United's win over Chelsea scored a peak audience of 14.6m viewers, giving ITV1 the most watched television moment of the year.

However, ITV will be feeling very pleased with its renewed ability to pull in such a large primetime audience on a Saturday night.

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