Blackpool has also got a lot of people who think they've got talent but should clearly stick to their day jobs.

Anyone who attends the auditions and/or heats of those same events would know that.

In its early stages, at least, Britain's Got Talent is not a talent show, it's a freak show. Like X Factor it rejoices in taking the least talented people in the country – often verging on the mentally unstable or terminally self-deluded – and giving them their 15 seconds or sadly longer in the spotlight alongside the genuinely undiscovered.

In its later stages, it provides a valuable showcase to a raft of people who might otherwise have slipped under the entertainment radar and been banished to singing in the bathroom, performing in front of their bedroom mirror or entertaining their relatives at family parties.

But for most auditionees and early contestants, landing a spot in front of the cameras is not done to make them look good. It's done to make "good" television.

Who are you going to talk about most in your tea break – the singer who didn't hit a wrong note or the impressionist who couldn't even get his own voice right? Bring out your deadliest and the nation will watch.

The Romans didn't go to the Coliseum to see gladiators win – they wanted them to lose.

As ever, Blackpool is an easy target. Just because we were – and here I suppose I'd better argue we still are – the capital of light entertainment doesn't mean that by opening the doors to any Tom, Dick and head case, we are going to see the nation's brightest hopes troop on to the Opera House stage at the drop of an invitation.

For starters, Blackpool's most talented performers were probably working when the auditions were being held.

One of them – Jodie Prenger – was already bracing herself for a successful run on rival talent show I'd Do Anything, having previously failed to get on X Factor, not because of any vocal deficiency but because she was felt to be too fat to fit their requirements.

A veteran of Blackpool's talent show circuit, I tipped her years ago as ideal for a West End role. Long before she needed television's help.

Then there's the little question of how many of the acts actually came from Blackpool. Big city auditions attract acts from all over the country and nobody dubs the areas in question as devoid of talent, yet once the tv team arrive here, it's Blackpool being rubbished because of what's just arrived off the train.

I can't say I've ever seen Captain Cowell and one Piers Morgan at any Blackpool talent show final – and I've been writing about them for more than 30 years.

I can't say I've seen them at any showcase by the extremely talented youngsters from Phil Winston's Theatreworks on the promenade or any of the impressive productions staged by performing arts students of Blackpool and the Fylde College (and the many stage schools and dance academies the area boasts).

Blackpool has got talent. You've just got to get off your multi-millionaire backsides to find it.