BGT judges turn away Roman soldier

The Britain's Got Talent judges gave the thumbs down to one would-be star when he turned up on stage dressed as a Roman soldier.

The 57-year-old retired HGV driver, who told the panel he was called Maximus, was the first act on stage at the Manchester audition and recited a scene from the hit Russell Crowe film Gladiator.

However he did not impress show supremo Simon Cowell who said it was a "horrible, horrible start" to the new series.

In contrast, student Sam Kelly arrived on stage with his guitar and brought the house down.

The 19-year-old from Norfolk told the panel he was "pretty much useless at everything but music" before silencing the crowd with his performance.

Britain's Got Talent will go head-to-head with the BBC's talent show, The Voice for viewers.

The two shows overlap by 20 minutes, and it has caused tension since it emerged both channel were launching their shows on the same night.

BBC bosses accused ITV of trying to sabotage the debut of their new series as BGT normally launched around three weeks later in the year.

However ITV claimed a clash was foreseeable if the BBC opted to launch a Saturday evening series in the spring.

The departure of Alesha Dixon from the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing to join the BGT panel alongside Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and David Walliams, did not improve relations and neither did the suggestion by The Voice's co-host Reggie Yates that his show was "more credible" than other talent shows.