You Cowell that talent?

Si axes first TEN acts

SIMON COWELL was ruthless as Britain’s Got Talent auditions kicked off – dismissing the first TEN acts.

The mogul was back to his nasty best as the search for BGT wannabes resumed in Cardiff yesterday.

And while he was at it, he orchestrated a major shake-up of X Factor, too.

After jetting back to the UK this week following an extended New Year Caribbean break, Simon appeared to have fully recharged his batteries.

He warned the hopefuls that he would need to be seriously impressed for ANYONE to get through to the next stage of BGT.

Mean ... Simon Cowell arrives for auditions

Wenn

Simon’s hard line came after he had spent the previous day berating X Factor bosses over last year’s lacklustre series — and having crisis talks on how to stop ratings tumbling further.

Last night a source told TV Biz: “With X Factor on the wane, it’s doubly important for Simon to make Britain’s Got Talent a success. He believes the only way to do that is with the best acts.

“He’s shaking up X Factor and that’s spilling over into BGT.

“Simon is happy to show the rubbish acts getting a pasting in the audition rounds. But for the live finals he’s looking for the seriously unique and astonishing.

“Yesterday’s first auditions show saw him take a very no-nonsense approach.

“He’s going back to basics — rubbish acts are buzzed off and good acts put through.”

There was one person raising a smile from Simon yesterday, though — fellow judge David Walliams.

Guide dog ... with David Walliams

On the red carpet outside Cardiff’s Millennium Centre, David teased fans by claiming he and Simon had interconnecting rooms in their hotel.

And he claimed he’d secretly been on holiday with his boss on his yacht in St Barts — along with Simon’s exes Mezhgan Hussainy and Sinitta, saying: “He kept me tied up in his cabin.”

Earlier on Twitter, he tried to embarrass Simon by writing: “@SimonCowell I am going to wear the sparkly red dress for the BGT Cardiff auditions today. You always said I look beautiful in that.”

And the previous night he tweeted: “@SimonCowell I checked into the hotel in Cardiff for BGT, they have given us a lovely room. Just running you a bath... ”

He later told the ITV2 spin-off Britain’s Got More Talent that Simon had bought him citrus bath milk for Christmas.

Last week he wrote: “@SimonCowell Just one week until I am back in your arms... x” But Simon embarrassed David in return by giving him a welcome back gift of nose wax — to remove nasal hair.

New look ... Amanda Holden reveals darker hair-do

Splash

Simon also teased Amanda Holden during the auditions, claiming there was a sexy buzzing coming from her direction when microphones picked up some interference.

He joked: “The buzz is coming from under your chair, Amanda.” But the quick-thinking actress retorted: “You gave it to me for Christmas, Simon.”

Amanda and fellow judge Alesha Dixon showed off new looks on the red carpet where they spent an hour signing autographs.

Faux pas ... Ant's shoes, circled, alongside Dec

Despite the icy weather, Amanda brought a splash of sunshine to the Welsh capital in a skimpy yellow Versace dress with an Aspinal clutch bag and snakeskin heels. Alesha showed off a sleek new look in a tight black ensemble.

She went one better than the current red carpet trend of leg-bombing — by putting both her pins through thigh-high splits.

There was one wardrobe malfunction, though — Ant’s shoes didn’t match. Dec sniggered: “Ant packed odd shoes.”

Earlier the judges had petted a trainee guide dog called Travis outside their Cardiff hotel.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/britain_got_talent/4748383/Simon-Cowell-kicks-off-first-ten-acts-he-sees-when-Britains-Got-Talent-auditions-started-in-Cardiff.html#ixzz2I6Fci4RX