Britain's Got Talent (series 8)

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 (colloquially known as Ant & Dec) having to stand in for Simon Cowell, after illness forced him to be absent during a day of auditions.[1] 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.[2][3]

Britain's Got Talent
Series 8
Presented byAnt & Dec (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
JudgesDavid Walliams
Alesha Dixon
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell
WinnerCollabro
Runner-upLucy Kay
Release
Original networkITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release12 April (2014-04-12) –
7 June 2014 (2014-06-07)
Series chronology
Judges for Britain's Got Talent Series 8
Simon Cowell
Amanda Holden
Alesha Dixon
David Walliams

The eighth series was won by boy band Collabro, with opera singer Lucy Kay finishing in second place and singing and rapping duo Bars and Melody third. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 9.8 million viewers.

Series overview
Cowell's absence on a day of auditions, led the hosts to stand in for him

Following open auditions held the previous year between 19 October to 1 December 2013 in various cities,[4] which included auditions held at a series of "Talent Spot tents" provided by the show's sponsor that year,[5] and at The Savoy Hotel in Blackpool and The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton, the Judges' auditions took place between January and February 2014, within Belfast,[6] London,[7] Manchester, Birmingham,[8][9] and Cardiff.[10] For the first time since the first series, auditions didn't take place in Scotland, as the show's producers wished to try new locations for talent, which led to them opting to hold auditions within Northern Ireland for the first time as a result.[11] Due to illness, Simon Cowell was forced to be absent from a day of auditions in Manchester to recover, leading to hosts Ant & Dec each standing in for him,[1] while on the final day of auditions in London, Cowell was forced to be absent for them to attend to his girlfriend Lauren Silverman, who had gone into labour that day; the show's production team chose not to bring in a stand-in because of this.[12]

By the time that the public auditions for the eighth series' competition had begun, the Got Talent franchise was beginning to update its format for auditions across international editions through the inclusion of a new feature – the "Golden Buzzer". First introduced on Germany's Got Talent, the new format meant that those auditioning for a place in the live rounds of the competition for this year could earn an automatic place in the live rounds from any of the judges or the hosts, regardless of the opinions about their performance. Although the judges and hosts had permission to use the buzzer, Stephen Mulhern was not allowed to use it, despite his involvement in overseeing auditions for Britain's Got More Talent.[2][3]

Of the participants that took part, forty-five made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals-[13] amongst these, salsa dancing duo Paddy & Nico,[14] hip hop duo Bars & Melody,[15] singer Christian Spridon,[16] girl group REAformed,[17] and stand-up comedian/impressionist Toju,[18] each received a golden buzzer during their auditions (by Holden, Cowell, Walliams, Dixon and Ant & Dec respectively) – with nine appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was impressionist Jon Clegg, after he lost out in the tied Judges' vote in the first semi-final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist
Judges' Wildcard Finalist | Golden Buzzer Audition
Participant Age(s) 1 Genre Act Semi-final Result
Allan Turner-Ward 37 Music DJ 4 Eliminated
Andrew Derbyshire 31 Singing Singer 5 Eliminated
Bailey McConnell 15 Singing Singer 5 Eliminated
Bars & Melody 13 & 15 Music Rapper and Singer 4 Finalist
Bolddog FMX Team 24–48 Danger Motorcycle Stunt Team 2 Eliminated
Brian Chan 25 Variety Painter 3 Eliminated
Cartel 16–27 Dance Dance Group 3 Eliminated
Christian Spridon 36 Singing Singer 1 Eliminated
Collabro 20–24 Singing Vocal Group 1 Winner
Country Vive 16–35 Dance Dance Group 1 Eliminated
Crazy Rouge 21–26 Dance Dance Group 3 Eliminated
Darcy Oake 26 Magic Magician 1 Finalist
Ed Drewett 26 Singing Singer 2 Eliminated
Ellis Chick 12 Singing Singer 3 Eliminated
Eva Iglesias 40 Singing Singer 4 Eliminated
Henrietta Adewole 18 Singing Singer 1 Eliminated
Innova Irish Dance Company 14–23 Dance Dance Group 4 Eliminated
Jack Pack 24–33 Singing Vocal Group 5 Finalist
James Smith 15 Singing Singer 2 Finalist
Jenson Zhu 37 Comedy Impressionist 5 Eliminated
Jodi Bird 16 Singing Singer 2 Eliminated
Jon Clegg 43 Comedy Impressionist 1 Finalist
Kieran & Sarah 26 & 28 Singing Singing Duo 4 Eliminated
Kieran Lai 17 Dance Dancer 5 Eliminated
Kings & Queens 18–29 Dance Dance Group 5 Eliminated
Kitty & Rosie 25 & 48 Singing Singing Duo 3 Eliminated
Kony Puppets 32 Comedy Puppeteer 2 Eliminated
La Voix & The London Gay Big Band 26–52 Singing Singer & Orchestra 5 Eliminated
Lauren & Terrell 12 & 12 Dance Dance Duo 1 Eliminated
Lettice Rowbotham 24 Music Violinist 4 Finalist
Light Balance 19–33 Dance Dance Group 4 Eliminated
Lucy Kay 24 Singing Opera Singer 3 Runner-up
Micky Dumoulin 25 Singing Singer 1 Eliminated
Mini Moves 11–12 Dance Dance Group 2 Eliminated
Paddy & Nico 79 & 39 Dance Dance Duo 5 Finalist
Patsy May 2 – Singing Singing Puppet 1 Eliminated
Peat Loaf & Elaine 52 & 36 Singing Singing Duo 5 Eliminated
Pyroterra 19–26 Dance Fire Dance Group 4 Eliminated
REAformed 16–21 Singing Vocal Group 3 Eliminated
Ricky K 33 Comedy Comedian 2 Eliminated
Sam Jones 21 Comedy Ventriloquist 3 Eliminated
SweetChix 14–15 Singing Girlband 2 Eliminated
The Addict Initiative 17–31 Dance Dance Group 2 Finalist
Toju 40 Comedy Comedian 4 Eliminated
Yanis Marshall, Arnaud and Mehdi 24–26 Dance Dance Trio 3 Finalist
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
  • ^2 No information on the puppeteer for this act was disclosed by the show.

Semi-finals summary
Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Won the public vote
  Won the judges' vote |   Lost the judges' vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (26 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Ella Henderson[19]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [20]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Country Vive 1 4th – Eliminated
Micky Dumoulin 2 5th – Eliminated
Lauren and Terrell 3 6th – Eliminated
Patsy May 4 7th – Eliminated
Henrietta Adewole 5 9th – Eliminated
Jon Clegg 3 6 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
Darcy Oake 7 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)
Christian Spridon 8 8th – Eliminated
Collabro 9 1st (Won Public Vote)
  • ^3 Jon Clegg was later sent through to the final as the judges wildcard.

Semi-final 2 (27 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Ed Sheeran[21]

Semi-Finalist [22] Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [20]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Mini Moves 1 4th – Eliminated
Ed Drewett 2 5th – Eliminated
Bolddog FMX Team 4 3 6th – Eliminated
Jodi Bird 4 2nd (Lost Judges' vote)
SweetChix 5 7th – Eliminated
Ricky K 6 8th – Eliminated
The Addict Initiative 7 3rd (Won Judges' vote)
Kony Puppets 8 9th – Eliminated
James Smith 9 1st (Won Public vote)
  • ^4 For health and safety reasons, Bolddog FMX Team's performance was pre-recorded outside the studio in advance.

Semi-final 3 (28 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: The Vamps[23]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [20]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Crazy Rouge 1 7th – Eliminated
Ellis Chick 2 4th – Eliminated
Sam Jones 3 6th – Eliminated
REAformed 4 5th – Eliminated
Brian Chan 5 9th – Eliminated
Cartel 6 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
Kitty and Rosie 7 8th – Eliminated
Lucy Kay 8 1st (Won Public Vote)
Yanis Marshall, Arnaud and Mehdi 9 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)

Semi-final 4 (29 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: will.i.am & Cody Wise[24]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [20]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Innova Irish Dance Company 1 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
Kieran & Sarah 2 7th – Eliminated
Pyroterra 3 8th – Eliminated
Toju 4 6th – Eliminated
Eva Iglesias 5 5th – Eliminated
Allan Turner-Ward 6 9th – Eliminated
Light Balance 7 4th – Eliminated
Bars & Melody 8 1st (Won Public Vote)
Lettice Rowbotham 9 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)

Semi-final 5 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Attraction, and Richard & Adam[25]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [20]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
La Voix & The London Gay Big Band 1 6th – Eliminated
Bailey McConnell 2 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
Kings & Queens 3 5th – Eliminated
Peat Loaf & Elaine 4 9th – Eliminated
Andrew Derbyshire 5 7th – Eliminated
Jenson Zhu 6 4th – Eliminated
Kieran Lai 7 8th – Eliminated
Paddy & Nico 5 8 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Jack Pack 9 1st (Won Public vote)
  • ^5 Paddy & Nico's performance had to be slightly modified before the semi-final, after the former was injured before its broadcast.[26]

Final (7 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity & Little Mix,[27] and Cheryl Cole (featuring Tinie Tempah)[28]

  Winner |   Runner-up
Finalist Order Finished [20]
The Addict Initiative 1 10th
Jon Clegg 2 7th
Lettice Rowbotham 3 8th
Yanis Marshall, Arnaud and Mehdi 1 4 11th
Bars and Melody 5 3rd
James Smith 6 6th
Jack Pack 7 4th
Darcy Oake 8 5th
Paddy & Nico 9 9th
Collabro 10 1st
Lucy Kay 11 2nd
  • ^1 Cowell buzzed Yanis Marshall, Arnaud and Mehdi, stating that their performance was 'boring and unoriginal'. This marks the first instance in Britain's Got Talent history that a buzzer was used in the live final of the competition.

Ratings
Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes
Episode Date Total viewers (millions) [29] Weekly rank [29] Share (%)
Auditions 1 12 April12.41145.0 [30]
Auditions 2 19 April11.05140.4 [31]
Auditions 3 26 April11.33142.6 [32]
Auditions 4 3 May10.90142.3 [33]
Auditions 5 10 May11.14141.1 [34]
Auditions 6 17 May10.70140.9 [35]
Auditions 7 25 May9.93138.9 [36]
Semi-final 1 26 May10.94139.1 [37]
Semi-final 1 results 8.871033.3 [37]
Semi-final 2 27 May9.36834.9 [38]
Semi-final 2 results 7.541427.4 [38]
Semi-final 3 28 May9.41636.7 [39]
Semi-final 3 results 7.551328.7 [39]
Semi-final 4 29 May9.53736.7 [40]
Semi-final 4 results 8.391233.3 [40]
Semi-final 5 31 May8.971138.1 [41]
Semi-final 5 results 7.091928.2 [41]
Live final 7 June12.05149.0 [42]

References
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