| Talent shows attract 20m viewers |
| Sunday, 18 December 2005 09:55 | |||
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An estimated 20 million people watched the final of either BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing or ITV1's The X Factor.
Five million viewers voted during the BBC talent show's live final, raising £1.5m for Children In Need, while 10.8 million X Factor votes were cast. Cricketer Darren Gough beat TV presenter Zoe Ball and former athlete Colin Jackson to win Strictly Come Dancing. Shayne Ward won The X Factor. Bookmakers said they expected about £3m to have been gambled on the outcomes. Ward beat Andy Abraham and brothers Journey South in the X Factor final. "I cannot believe it," said Ward, 21, from Manchester. 'Amazing journey' Yorkshire sportsman Gough, who plays for Essex and England, won Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Lilia Kopylova. Gough, 35, said: "I thought I would be saying this 10 weeks ago but it has been an amazing journey for a guy who has never danced." Referring to Kopylova, he said: "She has turned me into some sort of dancer. I cannot believe I had the confidence to do that tonight." Before Saturday's final, bookmakers had tipped former Olympic hurdler Jackson to win the third series of the celebrity show. Jackson, Gough and TV presenter Ball each performed a Viennese waltz, a ballroom and Latin dance. Twelve celebrities had originally taken part in the series, including ex-EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer, snooker player Dennis Taylor and BBC journalist Bill Turnbull Christmas single The Strictly Come Dancing final coincided with the X Factor final on ITV1. In the first part of the X Factor final, Ward sang Over the Rainbow, When a Child is Born and Daniel Bedingfield's hit If You're Not the One. He dedicated his victory to his mother Philomena, saying: "This is for you mum, this is for you." Ward has recorded a song entitled That's My Goal, which will be released as a single next week. Retailers have already pre-ordered 750,000 copies of the single and predict it will become this year's Christmas number one. The X Factor winner will also receive a £1m recording contract. Ward said his success was "not about the money". "It's about making my mum happy and making my family proud," he said. He said hoped to emulate the career of singer Robbie Williams. "Robbie is all about entertaining people and that's what I want to do." Last year's Strictly Come Dancing final attracted 10.6 million viewers, nearly one million more than The X Factor. The BBC series won seven million viewers on its launch in October, when The X Factor drew an average of 7.5 million viewers. Source
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