Britain's Got Talent series 5 explained

Bgcolour:
  1. 4B0082
Module1:
Host:Ant & Dec (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Judges:David Hasselhoff
Michael McIntyre
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell (live shows)
Louis Walsh (London auditions)
Winner:Jai McDowall
Runner Up:Ronan Parke
Network:ITV
ITV2 (BGMT)

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,[1] the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel.[2] 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.[3]

This series saw the judging panel expanded to four judges for the first time in the programme's history, albeit for the live episodes – Cowell chose not to have either replacement drop out when he returned to attend the remainder of the contest. Because of this decision, the rules for the judges' vote had to be amended so that the public vote could be used to deal with a tied vote amongst the panel between the 2nd and 3rd placed semi-finalists of a semi-final. Apart from the change in format for the live rounds, the programme's studio used for live episodes was given a considerable revamp for the new series.[4]

The fifth series was won by singer Jai McDowall, with singer Ronan Parke finishing in second place and boyband New Bounce third. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 10.9 million viewers, and was the first in the show's history to be aired in high definition. In an interview made after the series' broadcast, hosts Ant & Dec marked the fifth series as a poor one for the show because of the low quality of some of the participants that took part.[5] During the broadcast of the fifth series, the programme faced accusations of unfair treatment to participants, while the producers had to bring in police to investigate a suspected act of online bullying against one of the semi-finalists during production.

Series overview

Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2011, within London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Birmingham; an additional round of auditions were held in Birmingham on 3 April, consisting of those found through their online videos on YouTube.[6] [7] In December 2010, Simon Cowell revealed that, because of his commitments in launching the American version of The X Factor, he would only be present for the live episodes of this series. Both this announcement, and the departure of Piers Morgan the previous year, led to a change in the judging panel, in which Amanda Holden was joined by two new judges recruited by the producers – comedian Michael McIntyre; and actor David Hasselhoff, who had previously worked as a judge on America's Got Talent. Owing to his work schedule in 2011, Hasselhoff was forced to miss the London auditions, leading to Louis Walsh standing in for him as a guest judge.

Prior to filming, plans had been made to incorporate an element from the format of The X Factor, in which auditions would be attended by a guest judge for each one;[8] such a format addition was later made for America's Got Talent in 2015. However, the format change was never made by the production team, for unknown reasons. For the first time in the show's history, after the auditions were over, some of the acts found themselves having to perform again, due to the judges facing some difficulty in making a final decision on whom to send through into the live semi-finals.[9]

Of the participants that took part, only forty-one made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals,[10] with eight appearing in the first four and nine in the final semi-final, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. Because the live episodes now featured four judges, the rule on the judges' votes was modified as a result – if the judges were split over which two acts would follow the winner of the public vote, the decision would be made by which had received the second highest number of public votes. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

| | |

ParticipantAge(s) GenreActSemi-finalResult
Abyss17–28Dance Dance Group 3
Angela & Teddy64 & 12 Animals Dog Act3
Antonio Popeye47Variety Eye Popper 5
Bruce Sistaz19 & 27Acrobatics Martial Arts Duo1
Dance Angels Elite8–24Dance Dance Group4
David & Karen39 & 27Magic Magic Duo 2
Donelda Guy66 Animals Dog Act 1
Edward Reid35Comedy / Singing Comic Singer 4
Enchantment17–51Acrobatics Circus Group 2
Follow the Right Path14 & 13Singing Rap Duo 5
Gay & Alan56 & 59Music Handbell Players 3
Girls Roc22–25Dance Fire Dance Group 1
Herbie Armstrong66Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist 2
Jai McDowall24SingingSinger4
James Hobley11DanceContemporary Dancer3
Jay Worley17Singing Singer3
Jean Martyn59MusicOrganist2
Jessica Hobson19Singing / Music Singer & Pianist4
Joe Oakley19Danger Trial Bike Rider1
Les Gibson41ComedyImpressionist3
Lorna Bliss32Singing Britney Spears Impersonator2
Marawa28Variety Hula Hoop Artist5
Mexican Mayhem59, 4 & 3 Animals Dog Act4
Michael Collings19Singing / MusicSinger & Guitarist5
Michael Moral 21Dance Breakdancer 5
Mr. & Mrs.44 & 55Singing / Music Singing Duo & Keyboardist 5
Nathan Wyburn21Variety Visual Artist4
New Bounce12–16SingingBoy Band2
Out of the Blue18–22Singing A Cappella Group4
Paul Gbegbaje19MusicPianist1
Pip & Puppy20 & 6 months Singing / Animals Opera Singer & Dog Act 5
Razy Gogonea28DanceBreakdancer5
Ronan Parke12SingingSinger1
Steven Hall53Comedy / DanceComic Dancer4
Stuart Arnold48Singing / Comedy Rapping Terminator Impersonator 1
Ted & Grace92 & 21Singing Singing Duo 1
The Celtic Colleens8–30Dance Blacklight Dance Group5
The Circus of Horrors18–54Acrobatics Circus Group 3
Two and a Half Men26–28Dance Dance Trio2
Up & Over It31 & 31DanceTable Based Dance Duo 2
Wachiraporn Tirpak27Variety Entertainer3

Semi-finals summary

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |

| |

Semi-final 1 (30 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult ">News: 6 June 2011 . The votes revealed! . dead . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110705022416/http://talent.itv.com/2011/news/article/read_the-votes-revealed_item_100974.htm . 5 July 2011 . 29 May 2014.
Girls Roc17th - Eliminated
Donelda Guy25th - Eliminated
Stuart Arnold38th - Eliminated
Paul Gbegbaje42nd (Judges' vote tied - Won on Public vote)
Bruce Sistaz54th - Eliminated
Ted & Grace66th - Eliminated
Joe Oakley73rd (Judges' vote tied - Lost on Public vote)
Ronan Parke81st (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 2 (31 May)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult "/>
Two and a Half Men14th - Eliminated
Enchantment27th - Eliminated
Herbie Armstrong35th - Eliminated
Lorna Bliss48th - Eliminated
New Bounce51st (Won Public vote)
Jean Martyn62nd (Won Judges' vote)
David & Karen73rd (Lost Judges' vote)
Up & Over It86th - Eliminated

Semi-final 3 (1 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult "/>
The Circus of Horrors16th - Eliminated
Jay Worley24th - Eliminated
Angela & Teddy37th - Eliminated
Abyss45th - Eliminated
Wachiraporn Tirpak58th - Eliminated
Les Gibson61st (Won Public vote)
James Hobley72nd (Won Judges' vote)
Gay & Alan83rd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 4 (2 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult "/>
Dance Angels Elite16th - Eliminated
Jessica Hobson25th - Eliminated
Mexican Mayhem38th - Eliminated
Out of the Blue44th - Eliminated
Nathan Wyburn57th - Eliminated
Jai McDowall61st (Won Public vote)
Steven Hall72nd (Won Judges' vote)
Edward Reid83rd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 5 (3 June)

Semi-FinalistOrderBuzzes and Judges' VoteResult "/>
Marawa17th - Eliminated
Pip & Puppy23rd (Lost Judges' vote)
The Celtic Colleens34th - Eliminated
Mr. & Mrs.49th - Eliminated
Follow the Right Path56th - Eliminated
Antonio Popeye 68th - Eliminated
Michael Moral75th - Eliminated
Michael Collings82nd (Won Judges' vote)
Razy Gogonea91st (Won Public vote)

Final (4 June)

|

FinalistOrderFinished "/>
Steven Hall17th
Michael Collings25th
Les Gibson39th
James Hobley48th
Paul Gbegbaje56th
Ronan Parke62nd
Jean Martyn710th
Jai McDowall81st
Razy Gogonea94th
New Bounce103rd

Ratings

See main article: article and List of Britain's Got Talent episodes.

EpisodeAir DateTotal viewers
(millions) [13]
ITV1
Weekly rank
Viewer Share (%)
Auditions 116 April 11.42 3 40.5 [14]
Auditions 223 April 10.62 3 41.5 [15]
Auditions 330 April 10.65 1 39.9 [16]
Auditions 47 May 11.69 1 42.2 [17]
Auditions 514 May 9.72 3 32.0 [18]
Auditions 621 May 11.16 1 42.2 [19]
Auditions 729 May 11.53 1 40.4 [20]
Semi-final 130 May 12.27 4 41.9 [21]
Semi-final 1 results11.16 6 38.2
Semi-final 231 May 10.65 10 40.5 [22]
Semi-final 2 results10.04 15 35.8
Semi-final 31 June 10.31 16 41.8 [23]
Semi-final 3 results8.67 17 28.9
Semi-final 42 June 10.53 12 43.2 [24]
Semi-final 4 results10.48 11 39.1
Semi-final 53 June 10.36 14 43.3 [25]
Semi-final 5 results10.61 9 42.3
Live final4 June 12.70 2 47.0 [26]
Live final results12.95 1 49.3

Criticism & incidents

The fifth series saw Britain's Got Talent face criticism from viewers, via social media, over unfair treatment on a participant. Their concern was over the performance of Jessica Hobson during her semi-final, and the belief her choice of song had been fixed by producers to ensure she would lose. Britain's Got More Talent presenter Stephen Mulhern refuted the allegations made by the complaints, making clear that production staff maintain high commitment to the well-being of participants (such as had been done for Susan Boyle in the third series) and that Hobson's performance had not been rigged against her.[27]

One of the more serious matters that occurred off-camera was the publication of a malicious blog against the participant Ronan Parke, which claimed that the competition had been fixed so that the singer would win and that he had been groomed by Simon Cowell's company Syco for two years in preparation to fulfil a record contract. However, Parke's family, Cowell, the producers and Syco, refuted the claims in the blog, even one that the blogger was an executive in the company, highlighting that the information was false and unsubstantiated. Producers determined that the nature of the blog was effectively malicious and aimed at bullying Parke online.[28] Police were brought in to investigate the motivation of the blogger's action, and resulted in the culprit being cautioned and ordered to apologise for the distress caused to those involved.[29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Britain's Got Talent: Simon Cowell return for semi-finals confirmed – Mirror Online . Daily Mirror . 17 May 2011.
  2. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s107/britains-got-talent/news/a293212/mcintyre-hasselhoff-for-britains-got-talent.html McIntyre, Hasselhoff for 'Britain's Got Talent'
  3. http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/gallery/gallery-specials/31401/1/0/new-pictures-britain-s-got-talent-auditions-hit-london/1/ Britain's Got Talent auditions hit London
  4. Web site: Simon Cowell confirms Britain's Got Talent set for revamp | STV . Entertainment . 11 May 2011.
  5. Web site: Ant and Dec admit Britain's Got Talent has had some dud years. Tellymix.co.uk. 21 February 2014. 21 February 2014.
  6. http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/x-factor/simon-cowell-wants-extra-britains-got-talent-auditions/1 Simon Cowell wants extra Britain's Got Talent auditions
  7. Web site: Birmingham sees Britain’s Got Talent sweep in. expressandstar.com. 4 April 2011.
  8. Web site: Britain's Got Talent To Feature Guest Judges . https://web.archive.org/web/20101224215310/http://www.mtv.co.uk/events/britains-got-talent/news/251069-britains-got-talent-to-feature-guest-judges. dead. 24 December 2010. 23 December 2010. 23 December 2010. MTV UK.
  9. Web site: Britain's Got Talent shock as acts have to perform again to get into semi-finals | STV . Entertainment . 29 May 2011.
  10. Web site: Final 40 acts revealed! – Britain's Got Talent 2011 – ITV.com – News . Talent.itv.com .
  11. Web site: Amanda Holden to perform on Britain's Got Talent | STV . Entertainment . 28 May 2011.
  12. Web site: Britain's Got Talent 2012 | Britain's Got Talent news and spoilers | TellyMix . Talent.tellymix.co.uk .
  13. Web site: Weekly Top 30 Programmes. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. 6 May 2018.
  14. Web site: Revamped 'Britain's Got Talent' dazzles 10.4m . Paul . Millar . 17 April 2011 . 17 April 2011.
  15. Web site: New 'Doctor Who' kicks off with 6.5m . Paul . Millar . 24 April 2011 . 24 April 2011.
  16. Web site: 'Doctor Who' audience slips to 5.4m . Paul . Millar . 1 May 2011 . 1 May 2011.
  17. Web site: 'Britain's Got Talent' soars past 10 million . Paul . Millar . 8 May 2011 . 8 May 2011.
  18. Web site: Eurovision TV ratings reach 11-year high . Paul . Millar . 15 May 2011 . 15 May 2011.
  19. Web site: Sing If You Can' beats 'SYTYCD . Paul . Millar . 22 May 2011 . 22 May 2011.
  20. Web site: 'Scott & Bailey' makes strong debut . Paul . Millar . 30 May 2011 . 30 May 2011.
  21. Web site: 'Britain's Got Talent' semi nabs almost 11m . Andrew . Laughlin . 31 May 2011 . 31 May 2011.
  22. Web site: 'Britain's Got Talent' semi-final peaks at 10.5m . Andrew . Laughlin . 1 June 2011 . 1 June 2011.
  23. Web site: Apprentice' ratings hit by 'Britain's Got Talent . Andrew . Laughlin . 2 June 2011 . 2 June 2011.
  24. Web site: 'Bums, Boobs and Botox' nabs 1.3m on C4 . Andrew . Laughlin . 3 June 2011 . 3 June 2011.
  25. Web site: 'Britain's Got Talent' ratings heat up for last semi . Paul . Millar . 4 June 2011 . 4 June 2011.
  26. Web site: 'Britain's Got Talent' final grabs 12.5m . Paul . Millar . 5 June 2011 . 5 June 2011.
  27. Web site: Britain's Got Talent' defended over Jessica Hobson tears. Alex Fletcher. www.digitalspy.co.uk. 3 June 2011.
  28. News: Simon Cowell calls police in over BGT hopeful Ronan Parke 'fix' slurs. Duncan. Andy. 3 June 2011. Metro. 3 June 2011. London.
  29. Web site: Britain’s Got Talent: the biggest controversies of all time. Michael Hogan. Telegraph.co.uk. 31 May 2017. 31 May 2017.