Britain's Got Talent (series 5)

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]

Britain's Got Talent
Series 5
Hosted byAnt & Dec (ITV)
Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
JudgesDavid Hasselhoff
Michael McIntyre
Amanda Holden
Simon Cowell (live shows)
Louis Walsh (guest)
WinnerJai McDowall
Runner-upRonan Parke
New Bounce
Release
Original networkITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release16 April (2011-04-16) –
4 June 2011 (2011-06-04)
Series chronology
Judges for Britain's Got Talent Series 5
Simon Cowell (second half)
Amanda Holden
David Hasselhoff
Michael McIntyre
Louis Walsh (Guest)

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
Judge
Judge
Both Hasselhoff and McIntyre took part in the fifth series as judges, the former having been a judge on America's Got Talent

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.[1] 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.[2] 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:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Finalist |   Semi-Finalist
Participant Age(s) 1 Genre Act Semi-final Result
Abyss 17–28 Dance Dance Group 3 Eliminated
Angela & Teddy 64 & 12 2 Animals Dog Act 3 Eliminated
Antonio Popeye 47 Variety Eye Popper 5 Eliminated
Bruce Sistaz 19 & 27 Acrobatics Martial Artists 1 Eliminated
Dance Angels Elite 8–24 Dance Dance Group 4 Eliminated
David & Karen 39 & 27 Magic Magicians 2 Eliminated
Donelda Guy 66 3 Animals Dog Act 1 Eliminated
Edward Reid 35 Comedy Comedy Singer 4 Eliminated
Enchantment 17–51 Acrobatics Circus Group 2 Eliminated
Follow the Right Path 14 & 13 Music Rappers 5 Eliminated
Gay & Alan 56 & 59 Music Handbell Players 3 Eliminated
Girls Roc 22–25 Dance Fire Dance Group 1 Eliminated
Herbie Armstrong 66 Singing Singer 2 Eliminated
Jai McDowall 24 Singing Singer 4 Winner
James Hobley 11 Dance Dancer 3 Finalist
Jay Worley 17 Singing Singer 3 Eliminated
Jean Martyn 59 Music Organ Player 2 Finalist
Jessica Hobson 19 Singing Singer 4 Eliminated
Joe Oakley 19 Danger Trial Biker 1 Eliminated
Les Gibson 41 Comedy Impressionist 3 Finalist
Lorna Bliss 32 Dance Britney Spears Impersonator 2 Eliminated
Marawa 28 Dance Hula Hoop Dancer 5 Eliminated
Mexican Mayhem 59, 4 & 3 2 Animals Dog Act 4 Eliminated
Michael Collings 19 Singing Singer 5 Finalist
Michael Moral 5 21 Dance Dancer 5 Eliminated
Mr. & Mrs. 44 & 55 Singing Singing Duo 5 Eliminated
Nathan Wyburn 21 Variety Visual Artist 4 Eliminated
New Bounce 12–16 Singing Boyband 2 Finalist
Out of the Blue 18–22 Singing A Cappella Group 4 Eliminated
Paul Gbegbaje 19 Music Pianist 1 Finalist
Pip & Puppy 20 & 6 months 2 Singing Opera Singer 5 Eliminated
Razy Gogonea 28 Dance Dancer 5 Finalist
Ronan Parke 12 Singing Singer 1 Runner-up
Steven Hall 53 Dance Comedy Dancer 4 Finalist
Stuart Arnold 48 Comedy Impressionist 1 Eliminated
Ted & Grace 92 & 21 Singing Singing Duo 1 Eliminated
The Celtic Colleens 8–30 Dance Dance Group 5 Eliminated
The Circus of Horrors 18–54 Acrobatics Circus Group 3 Eliminated
Two and a Half Men 26–28 Dance Dance Trio 2 Eliminated
Up & Over It 31 & 31 Dance Dance Duo 2 Eliminated
Wachiraporn Tirpak 27 Variety Entertainer 3 Eliminated
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
  • ^2 The latter values pertain to the age of the dogs, as disclosed by their respective owners.
  • ^3 The age of the animals used by Donelda Guy were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
  • ^4 Locations for members of each respective group, or the group as a whole, were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
  • ^5 Michael Moral was not originally given a place in the live rounds. His placement was due to the high standards of his performance leading Cowell to giving him a place as a semi-finalist.

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

Semi-final 1 (30 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Spelbound

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [11]
Cowell Holden McIntyre Hasselhoff
Girls Roc 1 7th - Eliminated
Donelda Guy 2 5th - Eliminated
Stuart Arnold 3 8th - Eliminated
Paul Gbegbaje 4 2nd (Judges' vote tied - Won on Public vote)
Bruce Sistaz 5 4th - Eliminated
Ted & Grace 6 6th - Eliminated
Joe Oakley 7 3rd (Judges' vote tied - Lost on Public vote)
Ronan Parke 8 1st (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 2 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Shrek the Musical [12]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [11]
Cowell Holden McIntyre Hasselhoff
Two and a Half Men 1 4th - Eliminated
Enchantment 2 7th - Eliminated
Herbie Armstrong 3 5th - Eliminated
Lorna Bliss 4 8th - Eliminated
New Bounce 5 1st (Won Public vote)
Jean Martyn 6 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
David & Karen 7 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
Up & Over It 8 6th - Eliminated

Semi-final 3 (1 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Avril Lavigne[13]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [11]
Cowell Holden McIntyre Hasselhoff
The Circus of Horrors 1 6th - Eliminated
Jay Worley 2 4th - Eliminated
Angela & Teddy 3 7th - Eliminated
Abyss 4 5th - Eliminated
Wachiraporn Tirpak 5 8th - Eliminated
Les Gibson 6 1st (Won Public vote)
James Hobley 7 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Gay and Alan 8 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 4 (2 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Jessie J

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [11]
Cowell Holden McIntyre Hasselhoff
Dance Angels Elite 1 6th - Eliminated
Jessica Hobson 2 5th - Eliminated
Mexican Mayhem 3 8th - Eliminated
Out of the Blue 4 4th - Eliminated
Nathan Wyburn 5 7th - Eliminated
Jai McDowall 6 1st (Won Public vote)
Steven Hall 7 3rd (Won Judges' vote)
Edward Reid 8 2nd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 5 (3 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity, and JLS

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result [11]
Cowell Holden McIntyre Hasselhoff
Marawa 1 7th - Eliminated
Pip & Puppy 2 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
The Celtic Colleens 3 4th - Eliminated
Mr. & Mrs. 4 9th - Eliminated
Follow the Right Path 5 6th - Eliminated
Antonio Popeye 6 6 8th - Eliminated
Michael Moral 7 5th - Eliminated
Michael Collings 8 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Razy Gogonea 9 1st (Won Public vote)
  • ^6 Jedward made a special appearance for this performance as backing dancers & singers.

Final (4 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Jackie Evancho, and Nicole Scherzinger

  Winner |   Runner-up
Finalist Order Finished [11]
Steven Hall 1 7th
Michael Collings 2 5th
Les Gibson 3 9th
James Hobley 4 8th
Paul Gbegbaje 5 6th
Ronan Parke 6 2nd
Jean Martyn 7 10th
Jai McDowall 8 1st
Razy Gogonea 9 4th
New Bounce 10 3rd

Ratings
Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes
Episode Air Date Total viewers
(millions) [14]		 ITV1
Weekly rank [14]		 Viewer Share (%)
Auditions 1 16 April11.42340.5 [15]
Auditions 2 23 April10.62341.5 [16]
Auditions 3 30 April10.65139.9 [17]
Auditions 4 7 May11.69142.2 [18]
Auditions 5 14 May9.72332.0 [19]
Auditions 6 21 May11.16142.2 [20]
Auditions 7 29 May11.53140.4 [21]
Semi-final 1 30 May12.27441.9 [22]
Semi-final 1 results 11.16638.2 [22]
Semi-final 2 31 May10.651040.5 [23]
Semi-final 2 results 10.041535.8 [23]
Semi-final 3 1 June10.311641.8 [24]
Semi-final 3 results 8.671728.9 [24]
Semi-final 4 2 June10.531243.2 [25]
Semi-final 4 results 10.481139.1 [25]
Semi-final 5 3 June10.361443.3 [26]
Semi-final 5 results 10.61942.3 [26]
Live final 4 June12.70247.0 [27]
Live final results 12.95149.3 [27]

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.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30]

References
  1. "Britain's Got Talent: Simon Cowell return for semi-finals confirmed – Mirror Online". Daily Mirror. 17 May 2011.
  2. McIntyre, Hasselhoff for 'Britain's Got Talent' Digital Spy, 14 December 2010
  3. Britain's Got Talent auditions hit London Now Magazine
  4. "Simon Cowell confirms Britain's Got Talent set for revamp | STV". Entertainment. 11 May 2011.
  5. "Ant and Dec admit Britain's Got Talent has had some dud years". Tellymix.co.uk. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  6. Simon Cowell wants extra Britain's Got Talent auditions Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Unreality TV, 3 March 2011
  7. "Birmingham sees Britain's Got Talent sweep in". expressandstar.com. 4 April 2011.
  8. "Britain's Got Talent To Feature Guest Judges". MTV UK. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  9. "Britain's Got Talent shock as acts have to perform again to get into semi-finals | STV". Entertainment. 29 May 2011.
  10. "Final 40 acts revealed! – Britain's Got Talent 2011 – ITV.com – News". Talent.itv.com.
  11. "The votes revealed!". ITV. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. "Amanda Holden to perform on Britain's Got Talent | STV". Entertainment. 28 May 2011.
  13. "Britain's Got Talent 2012 | Britain's Got Talent news and spoilers | TellyMix". Talent.tellymix.co.uk.
  14. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. Millar, Paul (17 April 2011). "Revamped 'Britain's Got Talent' dazzles 10.4m". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  16. Millar, Paul (24 April 2011). "New 'Doctor Who' kicks off with 6.5m". Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  17. Millar, Paul (1 May 2011). "'Doctor Who' audience slips to 5.4m". Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  18. Millar, Paul (8 May 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' soars past 10 million". Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  19. Millar, Paul (15 May 2011). "Eurovision TV ratings reach 11-year high". Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  20. Millar, Paul (22 May 2011). "Sing If You Can' beats 'SYTYCD". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  21. Millar, Paul (30 May 2011). "'Scott & Bailey' makes strong debut". Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  22. Laughlin, Andrew (31 May 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' semi nabs almost 11m". Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  23. Laughlin, Andrew (1 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' semi-final peaks at 10.5m". Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  24. Laughlin, Andrew (2 June 2011). "Apprentice' ratings hit by 'Britain's Got Talent". Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  25. Laughlin, Andrew (3 June 2011). "'Bums, Boobs and Botox' nabs 1.3m on C4". Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  26. Millar, Paul (4 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' ratings heat up for last semi". Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  27. Millar, Paul (5 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' final grabs 12.5m". Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  28. Alex Fletcher. "Britain's Got Talent' defended over Jessica Hobson tears". www.digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  29. Duncan, Andy (3 June 2011). "Simon Cowell calls police in over BGT hopeful Ronan Parke 'fix' slurs". Metro. London. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  30. Michael Hogan (31 May 2017). "Britain's Got Talent: the biggest controversies of all time". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
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