Cowell: 'Talent' hopefuls were terrible

Simon Cowell has said viewers can look forward to some "really terrible" acts in the auditions for this year's Britain's Got Talent.

The judge said the general standard of hopefuls was worse than last year, although a few showed "unexpected potential".

Fellow panelist Amanda Holden confirmed that Cowell had been unimpressed with the new batch of contestants, saying: "I'll be honest with you, [he] was in a right grump after our first round of auditions in Blackpool as he didn’t think we’d find any talent. I’ve never seen him so moody, it wasn’t good….It took us longer to find talent this year and we had to look harder."

But she added: "I can confidently say I think we’ve upped the standard level - we did have to look in the dark corners of Great Britain to get there, though."

Piers Morgan disagreed with Cowell's assessment, insisting that the overall standard was "much higher" than the first series.

He said: "I think the field is wide open this time. I can think of at least four or five acts who stand a very good chance of winning depending on how they get on in the live shows, and at least one of those is not human!"

Opera singer Paul Potts triumphed in last year's competition, winning a record deal and a chance to sing at the Royal Variety Performance.

Britain's Got Talent returns Saturday at 7:45pm on ITV1.

> In Pictures: 'Britain's Got Talent' Auditions