Now that the BGT auditions are over, tonight the real competition began with the first of the live shows.

MD Productions

When you consider how much money Jacko spent on the Thriller video, these kids had the zombie look locked down, despite their slightly more modest budget! This troupe of Scouse dancers were fantastic – energetic and entertaining. Shame they went out of the competition tonight.

Damon Scott, Puppeteer

Damon bravely tried a new twist to his act tonight, and while it wasn’t just as entertaining as his first audition, it was nice to see him trying something new. Unfortunately the judges panned him for it. On the plus side, Damon criticised Simon’s comments by saying that if he’d kept the act the same, they’d have called him a one-trick pony. Damon’s through to the final after having been saved by Piers Morgan’s casting vote.

Mel’s Clever Canines – Doggy Line Dancing

A bad idea at audition turned into a bad idea on the live show. Line dancing with dogs? Come on! Fortunately the judges saw sense, though Simon’s comments about their dress sense were ironic – Mel’s crew had been dressed that night by the ITV wardrobe department!A nice bunch, but they didn’t deserve to get through to the live shows.

Dominic Smith, Singer

No offense to Dominic, but who’s suffering from a lack of imagination here? A young black male singing an early Michael Jackson song. Specifically I’ll Be There. Talk about stereotyping. And what a nice kid he was, bubbly and full of personality. I just found the contrived song choice terrible.

Luke & Charlotte, Dancers

I was so hoping these kids would get through tonight. Charlotte was such a cute wee girl, and Luke was all shining teeth and razzle-dazzle. Like Simon said, I should have hated their performance, but was amazed at their polished performance – they had more stage presence than most of last year’s X Factor contestants!

Caroline Boyes, erm Strange Dancing?

Caroline got through to this show on freak appeal alone. She scrubbed up a lot better than in the first auditions, but her performance simply sucked ass. Did I just say ‘sucked ass’? Well it did. The key word here is Talent, and as Simon said, Caroline didn’t have it.

Free Runners, Parkour

Parkour is the word for what these guys do, or free running. Of all the acts, this should have been more exciting. Unfortunately, they were completely hampered by the awful stage design where they barely had room to move, and the act suffered as a result. Perhaps this mostly outdoor sport doesn’t translate well to variety stages?

Paul Potts

Ah, Mr Potts! We know him better around here as Pavvi, but we had no idea how talented he was! Paul blew the judges away at his first audition and again tonight. I thought Amanda’s comment about her grandfather was particularly touching (her grandfather died earlier this week, and she said he would definitely have voted for Paul). Paul sailed through on the public vote, demonstrating the strength of support for our boy! Vote for Paul Potts!

Tell us what you thought of the first night of live performances in the comments!