Ever wondered what it really takes for a topic to trend on Twitter? Lots and lots of folks have to tweet about it of course, but what are the actual numbers? And who are the tweeps driving it?

We took to Albatrosa’s Twitter probe tool and one of the UK’s favourite sofalising* seasons: the run up to Britain’s Got Talent finale.

No surprises there, although BGT related topics got a few hundred mentions during the day, they started trending on Twitter UK as the show went live, peeking at around 55 thousand per minute and proving yet again that social media has made television watching a much less isolated activity than it’s ever been.

Her Twajesty (Twitter Majesty) @Queen_UK, the fictional monarch and queen of all Elizabeth II wannabes on Twitter, lead the pack with 473 of her tweets being re-tweeted.

And we got the answer to the ever important question: Do Twitter mentions actually get you voted as the most talented act in Britain? Apparently not because runner up Ronan was tweeted much more than winner Jai, with 24,830 tweets for Ronan vs. 13,670 for Jai.

*The term “sofalising” was coined in 2010. It refers to the act of communicating with friends online while lounging on the sofa rather than going out.