YOUTH MATTERS Lizzie Annett...Is Britain's Got Talent family fare?

I, like the next person, enjoy pretending that the small pink cushion on the sofa is a cringe inducing buzzer but this one particular episode of Britain’s Got Talent left me with a rather nasty aftertaste.

Beatrix Von Bourbon sailed through to the next round of the talent show after her burlesque strip tease routine.

Interestingly-placed yellow stars covered up what was left of the dancers dignity but there was no hiding Simon Cowell’s beaming smile and the shiny white crosses.

In my opinion the dancing was average, this lady got through on the merits of her nipple tassels. Britain’s Got Talent is aired at 8pm on a Saturday evening – do we really want to promote to the nation’s youth that taking your clothes of is a creditable talent? Or am I being backwards in not appreciating burlesque as an art form?

Of course there is the argument that why should women not use their sexuality to their advantage?

My brothers and dad both brushed of my moaning with claims that they were admiring the female form and that she was genuinely a talented artist.

In response to this I ask why the group of topless men prancing round to It’s Raining Men didn’t get through?

They were no worse dancers than Miss Bourbon but the guise of nudity as talent clearly has a pronounced gender bias.

On the flip side we have programmes such as The Voice. I applaud the show for taking image and sob stories out of the question in order to focus purely on the contestant’s talent.

During one song Jessie J was actually questioning whether the contender was a boy or a girl, taking gender completely out of the question.

Yet I return to myself sat on the sofa on a Saturday night and I am ashamed to admit that despite disagreeing with dance acts such as Beatrix Von Bourbon, Britain’s Got Talent is still the first programme I tuned in to.

It was Britain’s Got Talent that my family debated about for half an hour and it is Britain’s Got Talent I find myself writing about now.

Unfortunately there is still no denying that sex, controversy and a good old tear-jerker remain the winning formula for Saturday night TV.