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.

Britain's Got Talent
Series 12
Presented byAnt McPartlin (ITV; auditions)
Dec Donnelly (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
JudgesDavid Walliams
Alesha Dixon
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell
WinnerLost Voice Guy
Runner-upRobert White
Release
Original networkITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release14 April (2018-04-14) 
3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)
Series chronology
Judges for Britain's Got Talent Series 12

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
Judges' Wildcard Finalist | Golden Buzzer Audition
Participant [9] Age(s) 1 Genre Act Semi-final Result
Acrocadabra 2 9–17 Acrobatics Acrobatic Group 3 Eliminated
Aleksandar Mileusnić 23 Singing Singer 3 Eliminated
Amy Marie Borg 16 Singing Opera Singer 4 Eliminated
Andrew Lancaster 32 Comedy Impressionist 2 Eliminated
B Positive Choir 22–62 Singing Choir 2 Finalist
Baba Yega 21–33 Dance Dance Group 4 Eliminated
Bring It North 2 10–11 Singing Boyband 5 Eliminated
Cali Swing 9–14 Dance Dance Group 1 Eliminated
Calum Courtney 10 Singing Singer 2 Finalist
DeMille & Muoneké 2 22 & 51 Singing Singing Duo 5 Eliminated
DMU Gospel Choir 16–55 Singing Gospel Choir 3 Eliminated
Donchez Dacres 60 Singing Singer 2 Finalist
DVJ 10–18 Dance Dance Group 4 Finalist
Ellie & Jeki 29 & 34 Magic Quick Change Duo 1 Eliminated
Father Ray Kelly 64 Singing Singer 5 Eliminated
Futunity 8–24 Dance Dance Group 2 Eliminated
Giang Brothers 29–33 Acrobatics Acrobat Duo 5 Finalist
Gruffydd Wyn 22 Singing Opera Singer 3 Finalist
Jack & Tim 12 & 43 Singing Singing Duo 4 Finalist
Lexie & Christopher 10 & 10 Dance Dance Duo 5 Eliminated
Lifford Shillingford 42 Singing Singer 1 Eliminated
Lost Voice Guy 37 Comedy Comedian 1 Winner
Maddox Dixon 31 Magic Magician 1 Eliminated
Magus Utopia 24–40 Magic Magicians 2 Eliminated
Mandy Muden 55 Magic Magician 5 Eliminated
Marc Spelmann 46 Magic Magician 3 Eliminated
Marty Putz 55 Comedy Comedian 4 Eliminated
Matt Johnson 43 Danger Escape Artist 1 Eliminated
Micky P Kerr 36 Comedy Comedian 5 Finalist
Mr Uekusa 30 Comedy Comedian 3 Eliminated
Nick Page 47 Comedy Comedian 2 Eliminated
Noel James 52 Comedy Comedian 4 Eliminated
Olena Uutai 31 Singing Throat Singer 4 Eliminated
Rise Unbroken 2 10–24 Dance Dance Group 3 Eliminated
Robert White 41 Comedy Comedian 3 Runner-Up
Ronan Busfield 33 Singing Singer 2 Eliminated
Sarah Llewellyn 32 Singing Opera Singer 5 Eliminated
Sascha Williams 29 Danger Acrobat 4 Eliminated
Shameer Rayes 19 Dance Dancer 1 Eliminated
The D-Day Darlings 27–39 Singing Choir 1 Finalist
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
  • ^2 Each respective participant(s) auditioned under a different name, before changing them for their semi-final appearance.
  • ^3 Locations for members of each respective group, or the group as a whole, were not disclosed during their time on the programme.

Semi-finals summary

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Won the public vote
  Won the judges' vote |   Lost the judges' vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (28 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity, and cast of Matilda the Musical[10]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and judges' votes Finished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Cali Swing 1 7th - Eliminated
Lifford Shillingford 2 6th - Eliminated
Shameer Rayes 3 4th - Eliminated
Maddox Dixon 4 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote)
Ellie & Jeki 5 8th - Eliminated
Lost Voice Guy 6 1st (Won Public Vote)
Matt Johnson 4 7 5th - Eliminated
The D-Day Darlings 8 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)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Alfie Boe[10]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and judges' votes Finished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
B Positive Choir 5 1 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Futunity 2 4th - Eliminated
Calum Courtney 3 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)
Andrew Lancaster 4 7th - Eliminated
Nick Page 5 8th - Eliminated
Ronan Busfield 6 6th - Eliminated
Magus Utopia 7 5th - Eliminated
Donchez Dacres 8 1st (Won Public Vote)
  • ^5 B Positive Choir were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.

Semi-final 3 (30 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Rita Ora[10]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and judges' votes Finished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Acrocadabra 1 6th - Eliminated
DMU Gospel Choir 2 7th - Eliminated
Marc Spelmann 3 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Mr Uekusa 4 8th - Eliminated
Aleksandar Mileusnić 5 4th - Eliminated
Robert White 6 1st (Won Public Vote)
Rise Unbroken 7 5th - Eliminated
Gruffydd Wyn Roberts 8 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)

Semi-final 4 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Chicago[10]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and judges' votes Finished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Olena Uutai 1 8th - Eliminated
Amy Marie Borg 2 5th - Eliminated
Noel James 3 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote)
Baba Yega 4 6th - Eliminated
Jack & Tim 5 2nd (Won Judges' Vote)
Sascha Williams 6 6 4th - Eliminated
Marty Putz 7 7th - Eliminated
DVJ 8 1st (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)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Tokio Myers[10]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and judges' votes Finished [11]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
DeMille & Muoneké 1 6th - Eliminated
Lexie & Christopher 2 7th - Eliminated
Micky P Kerr 3 1st (Won Public Vote)
Sarah Llewellyn 4 8th - Eliminated
Bring It North 5 5th - Eliminated
Mandy Muden 6 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote)
Father Ray Kelly 7 4th - Eliminated
Giang Brothers 8 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)

Final (3 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Tina: The Musical, and cast of Magic Mike Live[10]

  Winner |   Runner-up
Finalist Order Finished [11]
Calum Courtney 1 9th
The D-Day Darlings 2 7th
Jack & Tim 3 8th
Robert White 4 2nd
B Positive Choir 5 11th
Lost Voice Guy 6 1st
Giang Brothers 7 5th
Gruffydd Wyn Roberts 8 4th
DVJ 9 6th
Micky P Kerr 10 10th
Donchez Dacres 11 3rd

Ratings

Episode Air date [13] Total viewers (millions) [14] ITV
Weekly rank [14]
Auditions 1 14 April10.981
Auditions 2 21 April10.501
Auditions 3 28 April11.481
Auditions 4 5 May9.611
Auditions 5 12 May9.551
Auditions 6 19 May9.041
Auditions 7 26 May7.834
Semi-final 1 28 May7.2212
Semi-final 1 results 6.7214
Semi-final 2 29 May7.789
Semi-final 2 results 6.1219
Semi-final 3 30 May8.128
Semi-final 3 results 6.8013
Semi-final 4 31 May7.5611
Semi-final 4 results 6.4018
Semi-final 5 1 June7.5810
Semi-final 5 results 6.6315
Final 3 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]

References

  1. "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. 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. "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. "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. "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.
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