Kate’s dog act tipped for top

A talented teenager from the Shropshire border and her dancing dog have been tipped as one of the favourites to win tonight’s Britain’s Got Talent final.

Sixteen-year-old Kate Nicholas, from Norbury, near Whitchurch, is set to perform with her dog Gin in the live final of the ITV competition.

Check out our photo gallery here

Judge Simon Cowell said today his five favourites to won the competition were Kate and Gin, 12-year-old opera singer Faryl Smith, 13-year-old singer Andrew Johnston, 14-year-old dancer George Sampson and dance act Signature.

He said he thought it would be “unbelievably close”.

The public will decide who triumphs in the final at 6.50pm on ITV1 tonight, with the results at 9.30pm.

Kate and collie Gin have wowed the judges and won the hearts of the audience throughout the competition.

They were tipped as the red hot favourite to win by Simon Cowell when they first strutted their stuff on the show last month.

There have been reports the family has stepped up security around the dog amid fears someone might poison or steal her.

Kate has said that if she wins the competition, she plans to use the £100,000 prize money to open a dog training school.

The five favourite acts are up against classical music babes Escala, from London; five-piece hip hop dance crew Nemesis, from Milton Keynes; Scottish plumber and singer Andrew Muir, 24; Rock ‘n’ roll dancers Cheeky Monkeys and extreme martial arts duo Strike.

And a Shropshire strongman who was chucked off the competition is set to make a comeback during tonight’s live final.

Stuart “Goldcrusher” Goldsmith, a Shrewsbury-based nightclub doorman, failed to impress the celebrity judges with his strongman act earlier this month.

Simon Cowell even labelled the performance as embarrassing and claimed the 38-year-old’s grunting and groaning while lifting boulders was off-putting.

“After I was voted off I went to see the executive producer and gave him a bit of background about my club which has raised more than £158,000 for charity, and showed him the letters from Prince Charles and Prince Phillip.

“They asked me could I come back on the live show to carry Ant and Dec onto the studio.”

But Mr Goldsmith said he had been asked back especially by ITV bosses to again lift presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly into the studio during the live final.

Meanwhile, Kate and Gin are set to take to the stage as part of a special live tour.

The pair were one of the first acts to be unveiled for the Britain’s Got Talent UK Tour, which includes Birmingham NIA on June 16.

The tour will kick off in London next week and Kate and Gin and other acts from the competition will visit 13 cities including audition hotspots Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Other acts so far confirmed for the tour are Signature, Andrew Johnston, George Sampson, Strike and Cheeky Monkeys.

They will each perform their acts live on stage in UK arenas when the tour starts on June 6 at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

All acts will perform for the duration of the tour, which takes place throughout the month of June.

Stephen Mulhern, presenter of ITV2’s behind-the-scenes show Britain’s Got More Talent, will host the live show.

A spokesman for the tour organisers said: “With acts decided this week by the British public, the tour promises to be a wonderful night out for all the family with acts varying from musicians, acrobatics, dance troupes, magicians, comedians and a spectacular animal act.

“Tickets are already in massive demand - an amazing average of 11 million viewers have tuned in each night this week so far to watch the semi finals.”

Tickets are on sale now and are priced from £29.50 to £32.50.

To book tickets call 08700 11 26 26 or log on to www.ticketzone.co.uk

By Deborah Collins