Weird, wonderful and downright wacky: Britain's Got Talent gets off to a roaring start with nine-year-old comedian, male 'Susan Boyle' and odd-ball bellringers

By Jody Thompson
Last updated at 12:32 AM on 17th April 2011
David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre made their debut as judges on Britain's Got Talent last night and, alongside old hand Amanda Holden, were blown away by a comedian - aged just nine years old.
A host of weird, wonderful and wacky acts emerged on the return of the show, hoping to become the next Paul Potts, George Sampson, Diversity, Spelbound or Susan Boyle.
Schoolboy David Knight blew them away with his assured delivery - although he had got off to a sticky start when he said that his favourite comedian was Harry Hill.
Scroll down to see breathtaking singer Michael Collings perform Hallelujah backstage after last night's show...

Big laughs: Nine-year-old schoolboy David Knight was unanimously voted through with his hilarious stand-up comedy routine on the first night of Britain's Got Talent 2011

Instant hit: Show hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly laugh in the wings with David's mother and father

Made it through: The youngster, seen here going through his lines backstage, seems destined to see his name up in lights

With mock affrontery, comedian Michael, 35, earned boos from the crowd after jokingly buzzing the youngster off before he had even started and quickly had to apologise: 'I'm joking, I'm joking. It's a joke. It wasn't one of my best.'

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David carried on unfazed, opening with the gag: 'I went to an open day at a fire station lately, a fireman he held a smoke detector and said, "does anyone know what it's for?" and I said, "it's what my dad uses to tell that the dinner's ready".'
He had the audience at the Birmingham auditions in stitches, before he finished, saying: 'I'll leave you with this: What if the hokey cokey is what it's all about?'

Brave: The tiny nine-year-old performed in front of a huge audience last night

Three 'yesThree 'yeses': New judges Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff were blown away by David Knight's precocious young talent es': New judges Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff were blown away by David Knight's precocious young talent

Michael was clearly impressed, telling the youngster: 'You are very very very talented, I know what it's like having to remember all those jokes and get genuine laughs. With Harry Hill, I hope we can go to the very top of comedy.'
Chuffed David said afterwards: 'That was the best moment of my life!' as he put himself clearly in the frame as a favourite to win the £100,000 prize money and the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
As Michael and fellow judges Amanda, 40, and David, 58, settled into their seats, other surprise hits on the night included Michael Collings, an 19-year-old IT consultant who lives with his mother and father on a caravan park near Plymouth.

Unassuming: Neither judges nor audience were expecting much from Michael Collings when he took to the stage

Truly talented: Michael, who lives in a caravan park with his mother and father, blew everyone away with his cover of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car - and was voted through

He had brought his pregnant fiancée along for support, but both the judges and the audience appeared unimpressed when he took to the stage dressed down in an orange hoody.
Amanda whispered to Michael dismissively: 'He looks like he's on a longhaul flight.'
To which Michael giggled: 'On Easyjet!' as members of the audience grimaced.
But as soon as he launched into an impassioned version of Tracy Chapman's hit Fast Car accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, the atmosphere changed - and the crowd realised they had something of a Susan Boyle moment on their hands.

Bonkers: The show opened with Mary Sumah-Keh, who bounced around the stage blasting tunelessly on her harmonica

Eccentrics: There was also a hula girl, who got through to the next round, and a man who painted himself blue and pretended to be a dolphin, who didn't

The camera showed clearly astonished show hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly watching in the wings, with Ant exclaiming: 'He's brilliant!' with Dec almost lost for words, and only being able to utter: 'Wow!'
His performance earned a standing ovation from the crowd and with David exclaiming: 'That's the best reaction we've had all day. You sang it with heart and did a beautiful job.
Amanda confessed: 'I don't know what I expected but I didn't expect much from you to be honest, but you've got an interesting quality to your voice and really delivered.'
Michael gushed: 'You've got a great voice that instantly connected with the audience' to which David added: 'Michael, Britain's Got Talent and you are it, that's three yeses!'
Afterwards, a gobsmacked Michael said: 'Best experience of my life, I've never played in front of that many people. It's like being slapped in the face basically.'

Got the moves: Another surprise of the night was mild-mannered, middle-aged Steven Hall, who did a dance megamix and wowed the crowd

Class act: His brilliantly eccentric performance included moves from Riverdance and Flashdance

There was another standing ovation at the Liverpool auditions for 53-year-old telecommunications engineer Steven Hall from Kendal.
He drew smirks from the crowd as he appeared on stage as a straight-laced middle-aged man, but then launched into a brilliant megamix of the most famous dances of all time, ranging from Michael Jackson's thriller through to Flashdance with some Riverdance inbetween, knocking the judges and the crowd for six.
He got an immediate standing ovation and even got the Hoff on his feet.
A smiling Amanda enthused: 'Thank you for the surprise! That was brilliantly entertaining and we all loved you!'
And Michael said: 'You were born to dance! I don't know if telecommunications is where you should be. Liverpool loves you!'

Doggone: Grandmother Donelda Guy impressed dancing with her two sheepdogs Mega and Biba and ended her act with a canine conga

Amanda however seemed to pick out 66-year-old Donelda Guy and her two sheepdogs Mega and Biba as her favourite act of the night.
Donelda also got a standing ovation and three resounding 'yes' votes from the judges after her dance with her dogs, which culminated in a canine conga.
Amanda was watching the show at home and Tweeting live and said of the dog trainer's freestyle act: 'I love this woman! The Mrs (Bucket) bouquet of the dog training world!'
One of the most oddball acts of the night were husband and wife handbell-ringing duo Gay and Alan Cooper, who were in the best tradition of the British eccentrics that Britain's Got Talent manages to bring out of the woodwork.
A discovery at the Birmingham auditions, they also drew guffaws from the crowd when they emerged from the wings - but got the audience waving their arms in the air and singing along to their rendition of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go.

Ring any bells? Oddball husband and wife duo Gay and Alan Cooper had the audience smirking before their performance

Surprise: However, the pair's handbell-ringing routine to the tune of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On soon had Ant and Dec acting out Titanic

The Hoff enthused: 'You certainly have the audiences approval, that was breathtaking' before putting them through to the next round with three 'yeses'.
However, the 'talent' aspect of the show was something of a misnomer for many of the entrants, and David appeared slightly baffled by many of the contestants.
Opening the show however was Mary Sumah-Kay, who was in the show's grand tradition of completely bonkers auditions.
The 45-year-old jumped up and down while blasting on a harmonica before doing a weird chicken dance by flapping her arms. She was buzzed off with three nos.