Norton feeling confident over 'Talent' battle

Graham Norton has insisted that he is unconcerned about the ratings battle between I'd Do Anything and Britain's Got Talent.

BBC One's search for Oliver and Nancy, which is fronted by Graham, will go head-to-head with Simon Cowell's Talent for the first time tonight.

Cowell and ITV1 lost out in the ratings last year when Grease Is The Word was put up against Any Dream Will Do, another West End talent search hosted by Norton. The victory has left Graham feeling confident about tonight's battle.

"You can't worry what you're up against," Norton told The Mirror. "Britain's Got Talent can only be stronger than Grease. Do you know what I mean? If they put on an hour of ads it would be stronger."

Continuing his criticism of Grease, he said: "It was a bad idea because it was a bad version of our show. Why would you pick the inferior version?"

Graham also mocked the use of "sob stories" on Britain's Got Talent, citing 13-year-old opera singer Andrew Johnston, who was bullied at school, as one example.

Norton joked: "Is that his trick, that he was bullied at school? What do you do? 'I'm going to be bullied'. Well done."