Would you let your child have a day off school to audition for Britain's Got Talent?

[brassick]

DD2 (11, year 7) has been asked to join a group of her friends and audition for Britain's Got Talent next Monday.

One one hand I'm quite excited about it - they are all very talented, and it is one of those things that you don't get to do very often (and yes, I'm aware that the initial round does not feature Simon Cowell et al).

On the other hand, she will need a day off school, which I'm not convinced they will give permission for, and I'm not 100% sure I think it's right to take a day off for this.

WWYD?

Yes, let her off. It's just one day and if she won't be upset not to go any further, then why not?

I don't know why my opinion changes when it's an organised choir rather than 5 mates, but it does..
Ask the school and speak to the choir leader about it. Maybe ask why they aren't entering young choir competitions instead though?

She has been asked as they need a strong alto & they know she can do ir.

Am a bit annoyed about it all tho, as the parent organising it is not giving me the info I need & as someone pointed out, if she wasn't on the application I dont even know if they will let her take part...

Luckily dd2 is very chilled & I know that if she can't do it, she won't be distraught (& tbh neither will I-all feels like a load of hassle with everything else we have going on right now...)

They do loads of choir competitions, believe me...my life is organised around this choir.

This is just something a few of them fancied doing.

Competitions like National Music for Youth Festival & Llangollen International Eisteddfod, by the way, so "proper" choir competitions.

I wouldn't, it is a cattle market. I wouldn't let my child do anything that involved Simon Cowell.

I wouldn't let any kid of mine anywhere near Britain's got Talent. Judging by some of what appears on there, Britian most definitely has not got talen.

absolutely not. three auditions to get to the judges so they can pick out the sob stories/the humilliation fodder.

Any child of mine would be auditioning for a show like that over my dead body.

And are you prepared for your private life to come out in the press if they get anywhere - if they're too young to exploit they'll pick on the families instead.

If they audition for proper choir competitions etc let them stick with that.

Why are they even bothering with BGT then?
If the school allow it and the others are doing it and it's not too much hassle then do it. Luckily they're unlikely to win as no matter how great a choir is I'm not convinced the voting public would go for them.

Proper choir competetions - great! Let the concentrate on that, and good luck to them

the initial stages have ony just been given out so she's not making up numbers. We only found out Saturday that some girls from ds's dance school had got auditions so all very regular.

Lots of groups doing rounds at mo, Got to dance, so you think etc are all doing auditions now

Out crowd going Weds.

What a fun experience, though. To be involved in one of the most awful reality shows of her childhood. That would make a v good anecdote and I am a firm believer of doing things for the sake of a damn good anecdote.

'My mum was a prune-faced moo' does not make for such a good anecdote.

Yes. I did that kind of thing as a child (choir stuff and musical theatre) and still hold a (slight) grudge that my parents wouldn't let me perform at the Edinburgh festival on the grounds that I was too young.

If you think she can handle potential rejection, then why not - it will be a brilliant experience for her.

Yes I think proper choir competitions are a much better bet.

No, I wouldn't let my child go on Britain's Got Talent at all (it's quite nasty and exploitative in many ways). Other choir stuff I'd probably let her have a day off for.