Britain's Got Talent series 12

Last updated

Britain's Got Talent
Series 12
Presented by Ant McPartlin (ITV; auditions)
Dec Donnelly (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Judges David Walliams
Alesha Dixon
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell
Winner Lost Voice Guy
Runner-upRobert White
Release
Original network ITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release14 April (2018-04-14) 
3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)
Series chronology
 Previous
Series 11
Next 
Series 13
List of episodes
Judges and Presenter(s) for Britain's Got Talent Series 12

The twelfth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 14 April to 3 June 2018. For this series, the live episodes were broadcast from Hammersmith Apollo, and presented by Dec Donnelly only; while Ant McPartlin suspended his TV commitments on 19 March 2018, he still appeared in the audition episodes as these had already been filmed in January and February earlier that year. [1] Compared to previous years, this series featured a higher number of participants for the judges to select semi-finalists from, not counting those who received the Golden Buzzer, and saw the return of the Judges' Vote to the show's format.

Contents

The twelfth series was won by stand-up comedian Lost Voice Guy, with comic singer & pianist Robert White finishing in second place and singer Donchez Dacres third. During its broadcast, the series averaged 8.34 million viewers.

Series overview

Open auditions were held the previous year between October and December, before the Judges' auditions took place between January and February 2018, within the cities of Blackpool, London and Manchester. [2] This series is notable for the absence of Anthony McPartlin in the live episodes, after he stepped down from his TV commitments in the aftermath of a traffic accident on 18 March 2018 that he was involved in. While McPartlin still appeared during audition episodes on both Britain's Got Talent and Britain's Got More Talent, as these had already been filmed prior to the start of the series' broadcast, his colleague Declan Donnelly chose to present the live episodes without him, in the wake of his colleague's decision. [1]

This series saw a far higher number of participants making it through the first stage of auditions, than had been recorded in previous years - in addition to those receiving the Golden Buzzer, around 182 acts successfully reached the second stage. [3] Following the eleventh series, the judges' vote was brought back for the semi-finals, [3] [4] after Cowell admitted in June 2017 that he disliked its removal from the show's format. [5] Disruptions caused by bad weather resulted in the first live semi-final being taken off the air for a brief time, following the first performance, while a stage invader attempted to disrupt proceedings during the broadcast of the second live semi-final. [6]

Of the participants that took part, only forty made it into the five live semi-finals - of these acts, reggae singer Donchez Dacres, opera singer Gruffydd Wyn Roberts, singer-guitarists duo Jack & Tim, singer Lifford Shillingford, and magician Marc Spelmann, [7] each received a golden buzzer during their auditions - with eight appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was B Positive Choir, after they lost out in the tied Judges' vote in the second semi-final. [8] The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist
Playing card club A.svg Judges' Wildcard Finalist | Yellow ffff00 pog.svg Golden Buzzer Audition
Participant [9] Age(s) 1 GenreActSemi-finalResult
Acrocadabra 2 9–17AcrobaticsAcrobatic Group3Eliminated
Aleksandar Mileusnić 23SingingSwing Singer3Eliminated
Amy Marie Borg16SingingOpera Singer4Eliminated
Andrew Lancaster32ComedyImpressionist2Eliminated
B Positive Choir Playing card club A.svg 22–62SingingChoir2Finalist
Baba Yega21–33DanceDance Group4Eliminated
Bring It North 2 10–11SingingBoy Band5Eliminated
Cali Swing9–14DanceSalsa Dance Group1Eliminated
Calum Courtney10SingingSinger2Finalist
DeMille & Muoneké 2 22 & 51SingingJazz Singing Duo5Eliminated
DMU Gospel Choir16–55SingingGospel Choir3Eliminated
Donchez Dacres Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 60SingingReggae Singer2Finalist
DVJ10–18DanceStreet Dance Group4Finalist
Ellie & Jeki29 & 34MagicQuick Change Duo1Eliminated
Father Ray Kelly 64SingingSinger5Eliminated
Futunity8–24DanceDance Group2Eliminated
Giang Brothers 29–33AcrobaticsAcrobatic Duo5Finalist
Gruffydd Wyn Roberts Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 22SingingOpera Singer3Finalist
Jack & Tim Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 12 & 43Singing / MusicSinging & Guitarist Duo4Finalist
Lexie & Christopher10 & 10DanceBallroom Dance Duo5Eliminated
Lifford Shillingford Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 42SingingSinger1Eliminated
Lost Voice Guy 37ComedyStand Up Comedian1Winner
Maddox Dixon31MagicClose Up Magician1Eliminated
Magus Utopia24–40MagicMagic Group2Eliminated
Mandy Muden55Comedy / MagicComic Magician5Eliminated
Marc Spelmann Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 46MagicMagician3Eliminated
Marty Putz55ComedyComedian & Inventor4Eliminated
Matt Johnson43DangerEscape Artist1Eliminated
Micky P Kerr36Comedy / Singing / MusicComic Singer & Guitarist5Finalist
Mr Uekusa 30VarietyNovelty Act3Eliminated
Nick Page47ComedyStand Up Comedian2Eliminated
Noel James52ComedyStand Up Comedian4Eliminated
Olena Uutai31MusicJaw Harpist4Eliminated
Rise Unbroken 2 10–24DanceDance Group3Eliminated
Robert White41Comedy / Singing / MusicComic Singer & Keyboardist3Runner-Up
Ronan Busfield33SingingSinger2Eliminated
Sarah Llewellyn32SingingOpera Singer5Eliminated
Sascha Williams29AcrobaticsRolla Bolla Acrobat4Eliminated
Shameer Rayes19DanceDancer1Eliminated
The D-Day Darlings27–39SingingVocal Harmony Group1Finalist

Semi-finals summary

Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Buzzed out | Crystal Clear app clean.svg Judges' vote |   Won the public vote
  Won the judges' vote |   Lost the judges' vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (28 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and judges' votesFinished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Cali Swing17th - Eliminated
Lifford Shillingford26th - Eliminated
Shameer Rayes34th - Eliminated
Maddox Dixon4 Crystal Clear app clean.svg 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote)
Ellie & Jeki5 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg 8th - Eliminated
Lost Voice Guy61st (Won Public Vote)
Matt Johnson 4 75th - Eliminated
The D-Day Darlings8 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 2nd (Won Judges' Vote)
  • ^4 For health and safety reasons, Matt Johnson's semi-final performance required paramedics to be brought in as a precaution. [12]

Semi-final 2 (29 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and judges' votesFinished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
B Positive Choir 5 1 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Futunity24th - Eliminated
Calum Courtney3 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)
Andrew Lancaster47th - Eliminated
Nick Page5 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg 8th - Eliminated
Ronan Busfield66th - Eliminated
Magus Utopia75th - Eliminated
Donchez Dacres81st (Won Public Vote)
  • ^5 B Positive Choir were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.

Semi-final 3 (30 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and judges' votesFinished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Acrocadabra16th - Eliminated
DMU Gospel Choir27th - Eliminated
Marc Spelmann3 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Mr Uekusa4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg 8th - Eliminated
Aleksandar Mileusnić54th - Eliminated
Robert White61st (Won Public Vote)
Rise Unbroken75th - Eliminated
Gruffydd Wyn Roberts8 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)

Semi-final 4 (31 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and judges' votesFinished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Olena Uutai18th - Eliminated
Amy Marie Borg25th - Eliminated
Noel James3 Crystal Clear app clean.svg 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote)
Baba Yega46th - Eliminated
Jack & Tim5 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 2nd (Won Judges' Vote)
Sascha Williams 6 64th - Eliminated
Marty Putz7 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg 7th - Eliminated
DVJ81st (Won Public Vote)

^6 For health and safety reasons, Sascha William's semi-final performance required fire extinguishers to be on standby as a precaution.

Semi-final 5 (1 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and judges' votesFinished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
DeMille & Muoneké16th - Eliminated
Lexie & Christopher27th - Eliminated
Micky P Kerr31st (Won Public Vote)
Sarah Llewellyn48th - Eliminated
Bring It North55th - Eliminated
Mandy Muden6 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Father Ray Kelly74th - Eliminated
Giang Brothers8 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)

Final (3 June)

  Winner |   Runner-up
FinalistOrderFinished [11]
Calum Courtney19th
The D-Day Darlings27th
Jack & Tim38th
Robert White42nd
B Positive Choir511th
Lost Voice Guy61st
Giang Brothers75th
Gruffydd Wyn Roberts84th
DVJ96th
Micky P Kerr1010th
Donchez Dacres113rd

Ratings

EpisodeAir date [13] Total viewers (millions) [14] ITV
Weekly rank [14]
Auditions 114 April10.981
Auditions 221 April10.501
Auditions 328 April11.481
Auditions 45 May9.611
Auditions 512 May9.551
Auditions 619 May9.041
Auditions 726 May7.834
Semi-final 128 May7.2212
Semi-final 1 results6.7214
Semi-final 229 May7.789
Semi-final 2 results6.1219
Semi-final 330 May8.128
Semi-final 3 results6.8013
Semi-final 431 May7.5611
Semi-final 4 results6.4018
Semi-final 51 June7.5810
Semi-final 5 results6.6315
Final3 June10.151

Criticism

Viewers criticised BGT's twelfth series over two separate matters. The first concerned one of the golden buzzers conducted in the auditions for the twelfth series for singer Lifford Shillingford as being a "fix". Viewers complained on social media that he maintained a close connection to judge Alesha Dixon, who provided the buzzer, and thus had an unfair advantage over other participants. Both Dixon and Shillingford denied the allegations, which focused on comments made by the judge over the singer's performance, clarifying that while they knew each other, it was through their mutual work in the music industry and not from a close friendship. [15] [16]

The second concerned the guest performance by the cast members of the musical Magic Mike for the live final. The complaint centered around the suitability of the performance for a "family-based show", including the nature of the performers' routines and the overall tone of the performance. In response, the broadcaster refuted the allegations against the guest performers involvement, making clear that the content had been checked thoroughly to ensure it was suitable for young viewers and had met strict "compliance guidelines". [17]

Related Research Articles

America's Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, and broadcasts on the NBC television network. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended, following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV. Production would later resume in 2007, following the success of the first season. Each season is mainly run during the network's summer schedule, and has featured various hosts over the course of the program's history. The current host is Terry Crews.

The first season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 21 to August 17, 2006. The season went into production a year earlier than planned by Got Talent creator Simon Cowell. Cowell intended for Britain's Got Talent to debut before AGT in 2006. However, production was suspended due to internal conflicts within its British television network. David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood and Piers Morgan were the show's first judges, with Regis Philbin as host. This season originally had an early format for live round judging and Wildcard acts, which would be changed after the season's conclusion.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> Televised British talent competition

Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> series 1 Season of television series

The first series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 to 17 June 2007; it was commissioned following the success of the first season of America's Got Talent, helping to revive production of the British edition after initial development was suspended in 2005. Simon Cowell, the programme's creator, formed the judging panel with both Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, with Ant & Dec operating as the programme's hosts. Alongside the main programme, the first series was accompanied by a spin-off sister programme on ITV2, titled Britain's Got More Talent, hosted by Stephen Mulhern.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> series 2 Season of television series

The second series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 31 May 2008. Following the success of its first series, ITV commissioned the programme for additional episodes, with more venues used for auditions than in the previous series, and the number of semi-finalists, semi-final rounds, and finalists increased by production staff. Both the judges from the first series – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan – and Ant & Dec returned to co-host the second series, along with Stephen Mulhern returning to front the second series of Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.

The third series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 30 May 2009. The judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan returned from the previous series; a fourth judge, Kelly Brook, was added, but removed from the series shortly after filming began.

The fourth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 17 April to 5 June 2010; due to live coverage of the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final on 22 May, the sixth audition episode of the series was pushed back a day to avoid clashing with it. Production on the fourth series during the filmed auditions required Louis Walsh to step in as a guest judge, after Simon Cowell became ill and unable to partake in certain sessions.

The fifth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 16 April to 4 June 2011; due to live coverage of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final on 28 May, the final audition episode of the series was pushed back a day to avoid clashing with it. As Piers Morgan had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of Simon Cowell made him unable to attend auditions, the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel. Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions, Louis Walsh stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.

The sixth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 24 March to 12 May 2012. The sixth series saw Simon Cowell resume a full commitment to the programme following the previous series, yet neither David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre returned to take part in the new series, leading to them being replaced by Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. Because of her pregnancy during filming of the auditions, Amanda Holden was required to miss a number of sessions, leading to producers asking Carmen Electra to step in as a guest judge in her place.

The seventh series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 13 April to 8 June 2013; because of England's international friendly with the Republic of Ireland that year, the show took a break on 29 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. Because of the work schedule of Stephen Mulhern, host of Britain's Got More Talent, filmed auditions had to be pushed back to mid-January that year, while no guest judge was brought in despite the absence of Simon Cowell for an audition session. Following the previous series, the programme's format was given a minor amendment - the cash prize offered to winners was reduced to £250,000 from this series onwards.

The eighth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 7 June 2014; because of England's international friendly with Peru, the show took a break on 30 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. Auditions were held in Northern Ireland instead of Scotland for this series, with hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly having to stand in for Simon Cowell, after illness forced him to be absent during a day of auditions. This series was the first in the programme's history to introduce the "Golden Buzzer" format to the competition – an element that was being introduced to the Got Talent franchise since it was first introduced on Germany's Got Talent in 2012.

The ninth series of the British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 31 May 2015. The series saw the "Wildcard" format introduced in the sixth series being modified in this series to include a "Public Wildcard" – like the "Judges' Wildcard" any act eliminated in the semi-finals, primarily those that lost out in the Judges' vote, could be reinstated by the public, based on the one that received the most votes from them before the final. Although speculations and rumours began to emerge after the previous series ended, claiming that some of the judges would be leaving before the ninth series, these were later dismissed as being unfounded by ITV, on 16 January 2015.

The tenth series of the British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 April to 28 May 2016. To celebrate ten series of the show, the final featured a special performance entitled "Best of Britain’s Got Talent", which featured several participants who had appeared on the show during the previous nine series, including Ashleigh and Pudsey, Attraction, Diversity, Jon Clegg, Stavros Flatley, Collabro and Spelbound. It was the last series to have its live episodes broadcast at The Fountain Studios before the site's closure that year.

The eleventh series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 15 April to 3 June 2017; because the One Love Manchester concert was to take place on 4 June, the live final was brought forward a day to avoid clashing with it. Following the closure of Fountain Studios the previous year, the live episodes were broadcast from Elstree Studios. The change in location allowed for a revamp of the studio used by both the main programme and its sister show, Britain's Got More Talent.

The thirteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 6 April to 2 June 2019. This series became the first to see the return of Ant McPartlin to his television duties, hosting alongside Dec Donnelly, following his absence the previous year to attend rehabilitation prior to the start of the previous series' live episodes. Alongside McPartlin's return, the competition for this year saw the oldest participant to win Britain's Got Talent, and the surprise return of a performer who participated in a previous year's contest, operating under an alias until their final appearance.

<i>Britains Got Talent: The Champions</i> Televised British talent competition series

Britain's Got Talent: The Champions is a spin-off of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, which began broadcasting on ITV on 31 August 2019. The programme functions similar to BGT, but features a selection of participants - winners, finalists and other notable acts - from across the history of both Britain's Got Talent and the Got Talent franchise, who compete in a series of preliminaries to secure a place in the grand final and a chance to win a large prize and to be crowned Britain's champion within Got Talent.

The fourteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, but in two parts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom during that year which affected production on the programme. The first half consisted of audition episodes that had already been filmed, which were aired between 11 April to 30 May 2020. The second half consisted of the remaining episodes when production could resume, and were aired between 30 August to 10 October 2020. The series was notable for Simon Cowell's absence from the semi-finals and final after he sustained an injury following an accident in August, forcing him to be replaced by Ashley Banjo. He still appeared in the audition episodes as they had been filmed and aired before his injury. Before Cowell's injury, it was intended for him to be virtually present for the semi-finals because of travel restrictions and his commitments to America's Got Talent.

The sixteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 15 April to 4 June 2023. Following the previous series, David Walliams resigned from the programme in the wake of criticism to comments he had made of contestants during the 2020 series, leading to him being replaced by Bruno Tonioli in January 2023. During auditions, Cowell allowed a change to the Golden Buzzer format, granting more being given than in previous series.

Tom Ball is an English singer who rose to fame after competing in the 2022 series of Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent: All Stars.

The seventeenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent began airing on ITV1 on 20 April 2024 and concluded on 2 June 2024. The series was again presented by Ant & Dec, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli returning to the judging panel.

References

  1. 1 2 "Declan Donnelly to host Britain's Got Talent solo as Ant McPartlin temporarily 'steps down from his TV commitments' – ITV News". itv.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  2. "Britain's Got Talent 2018 auditions: Judges' audition dates, venues, tickets". 16 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 Rory O'Connor (27 May 2018). "Britain's Got Talent 2018: MAJOR voting twist revealed in live final change". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. Frances Taylor (27 May 2018). "Britain's Got Talent reveals brand new voting twist for live shows". RadioTimes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  5. Anna Francis (5 June 2017). "Simon Cowell reveals BIG change he's making to Britain's Got Talent and viewers aren't happy about it" . Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  6. Vicki Newman (1 June 2018). "All the Britain's Got Talent semi-final shockers and mishaps from technical difficulties to stage invaders and a missing presenter". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. "Britain's Got Talent 2018: Who are this year's Golden Buzzer acts?". Metro.co.uk. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  8. Natasha Sporn (2 June 2018). "Britain's Got Talent 2018: Wildcard act revealed as B-Positive Choir complete Sunday's grand final line-up". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  9. Frances Taylor (26 May 2018). "Britain's Got Talent 2018 semi-finalists: all 40 acts who made it through to live shows". RadioTimes.com. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "It's nearly time for the live BGT Semi-Finals! Here's ALL the info you need". ITV.com. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Britain's Got Talent 2018 voting percentages revealed!". ITV. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. Amy Johnson (1 June 2018). "Britain's Got Talent 2018 viewers fume as show hit by ANOTHER technical blunder". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  13. "When is the Britain's Got Talent 2018 final on TV?". Radio Times. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  14. 1 2 "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. Ben Lee (14 May 2018). "Britain's Got Talent star Alesha Dixon responds to Golden Buzzer controversy". DigitalSpy.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  16. Josh Darvill (14 May 2018). "Britain's Got Talent 2018: Alesha Dixon responds to golden buzzer controversy". tellymix.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  17. Peter Lloyd (3 June 2018). "Fury after male strippers appear on 'family show' BGT on same line-up as children: 'Feminists only complain when it's women'". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2018.