The winner in the very first series was phone salesman turned opera singer, Paul Potts. He was just a regular chap who happens to love opera. Another standout winner was 14-year-old break dancer, George Sampson. The kid has got some great moves.

Some of the most famous contestants haven’t always been winners of the competition. Susan Boyle was an early stand out. She surprised everybody with her beautiful operatic singing despite her homely appearance. Bell Nuntrita, on Thailand’s Got Talent, seemed like a beautiful girl singing a beautiful song. But when she gets to the second part of the song, she begins to sound like a man, wowing both the judges and the audience.

Then there are those acts that win on cute alone. For example, little Connie Talbot, from Britain’s Got Talent, with her sweet 6-year-old voice and missing teeth, just captured Britain’s heart all the way to the Finals.

More recently, on Korea’s Got Talent, a young man steps up to the microphone and tells his heart wrenching story of living on the streets for 10 years. He begins to sing and the audience and judges are moved to tears.