Amanda Holden used the Golden Buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent 2019 tonight, as week six brought us a teenage rock band and an empowering female dance crew.
Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Ant and Dec had already picked the acts they’re backing in the looming live shows.
Now this year’s Golden Buzzer line-up is finally complete after Amanda became the final judge to use their power.
Meanwhile, there was another strong showing of magic as one act terrified the theatre with a dangerous sword stunt, before a lifelong illusionist seemingly mastered teleporation.
There was also a heartwarming Chelsea pensioner, an acrobatic dance duo and a group of living statues.
Find out how they all did right here in our weekly recap!
The Yeses
Russell T Bird (4 yeses) – 71-year-old (or “reverse 17”) Russell entered Britain’s Got Talent as a “reward for all my efforts since I was a teenager”. Unfortunately, his reward didn’t go to plan, as his keytar immediately suffered technical errors. Ant and Dec, Simon and David all went on stage to help technicians figure out what was wrong, while Amanda and Alesha became Russell’s backing dancers as he sang to entertain the crowd. Once the problem was fixed, he burst in to ‘Electric Dreams’, but still ignored his instrument. “After all that, you didn’t really play it much!” observed David. However, the retired distributor’s “wonderfully exuberant” performance saw him through to the next round. “I actually like your voice, it’s like the nutty professor in Back to the Future,” smirked Simon.
Brotherhood (4 yeses) – Brotherhood freaked the audience by coming out in scary face masks, but the costumes weren’t nearly as terrifying as their life-or-death “game of mystery”. The trio explained one of four cardboard boxes would contain an upright sword. They would fall on three of them – unaware of which ones were empty. To make matters even more tense, Dec had the job of placing the blade, while Simon picked which boxes they’d topple on. Remarkably, it was the box they avoided that contained the sword, which was so sharp it could slash through watermelons with ease. “Next time, how about we have two boxes and David does it?” joked Simon. “I don’t know how you did it. I’d like to see more,” remarked Alesha.
Dust in the Wind (4 yeses) – There was a different type of danger from Dust in the Wind, with boyfriend Julio claiming their act could “really hurt the woman I love” – his partner, Maite. The Cuban couple, who came to the UK for their first ever TV audition because it has “the best Got Talent in the world”, performed an emotional dance routine that incorporated some perilous tricks. Julio provided support as Maite flipped in the air and fell forward, before he did the splits while she balanced upside down on his head. “We have seen other acrobatic acts, but we haven’t seen them in such a romantic setting. There’s a beautiful connection between the two of you,” commented David. “You make it look easy, and I know it’s probably one of the most difficult things to do,” added Alesha.
Kronos Girls (4 yeses) – Kronos had two important messages to spread in their quest to become the first all-female dance company to win BGT. They want to prove that “girls can do anything”, but with their Suffragette-themed audition, they also aimed to encourage more young people to vote. Their floor-filling routine was punctuated with a moment when they ripped off their sashes – emblazoned with “votes for women” – and screamed: “Our voices matter.” Amanda was left feeling “so proud” of the Croydon teenagers’ “great energy”, while Alesha said: “You came to set the place on fire! I felt that passion, we were there with you. What an incredible message.” Simon felt like he “was watching a West End show”, and even called Kronos his favourite dance act of the series.
Colin Thackery (4 yeses) – David was thrilled to see Colin, whom he met last year on a tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea while researching for one of his books. Soon enough, the rest of the theatre had fallen in love with the 88-year-old retired army man, the oldest contestant in this year’s series. Colin sang ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ as a heartwarming tribute to his adoring wife Joan, who sadly passed away just over two years ago, as some of his fellow Chelsea pensioners watched from the audience. “There is not a dry eye in the house. You sang with such heart that it affect all of us,” noted David. “As I was listening, I’d never thought of it before, that all of the men and women that have fought for our country are the wind beneath our wings,” realised Amanda. “Congratulations, it was lovely.”
Big Name Statues (4 yeses) – This group of human statues stunned the room when they were revealed on stage, remaining so still that some of the audience members questioned whether they were actually made from stone. The matter was settled when they came to life with a rousing rendition of Queen classic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – and as soon as it was finished, they got back in their original positions as if nothing had happened. “It was extraordinary. We always say we want to be surprised on this show, well that counts as being very surprised,” said David. “I love seeing things I’ve never seen before. I don’t know who came up with his idea, but it works,” continued Simon.
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Ben Hart (4 yeses) – Ben has been practising magic so long that he “can’t remember not doing it”. He’s performed his own shows and even conjured up tricks for other magicians, and now hopes BGT can help him share his talent with the “biggest audience possible”. In his first encounter with the judges, Ben stunned the foursome by transforming a piece of confetti in to an egg, right in front of their eyes. The 28-year-old then plucked a random member of the audience to enter one of his ‘auto-conductive cages’, and somehow made her teleport to the other. Simon was so confused that he could only describe the display as “unbelievable”. Alesha was a little more articulate, gasping: “I love to hate these kinds of acts, that’s just done my head in! It’s exciting to see what you’re going to do next.”
The Golden Buzzer
Chapter 13 (Amanda’s Golden Buzzer) – While there’s music aplenty to be found on BGT, it’s not often we see a rock band. Teenagers Jacob, Noah, Tom and Jake all appeared in School Of Rock: The Musical together, and evidently they enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to form their own group. Formed out of a daydream Noah and Tom had in their shared room, Chapter 13 lit up the theatre with an all-guitars-blazing medley of some of Stevie Wonder’s biggest hits, including ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’, ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘Superstition’.
The atmosphere was so electric after their performance that the crowd seemingly could not stop cheering, while the judges were left sporting massive grins. “I honestly can say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen four young musicians so together,” started Amanda. “The drummer, you were amazing, the guitar playing was spot on, some of the faces you were pulling were fantastic.” So excited was the actress that she “could not resist” slamming both her hands on the Golden Buzzer, telling the elated quartet that they “now need to win the whole show”. Simon, meanwhile, favourably compared them to pop rockers Busted.
The result means that all the Golden Buzzer places have now been won, with Chapter 13 immediately going through to the live shows alongside Flakefleet Primary, Kojo Anim, Akshat Singh and Giorgia Borg.
Which of this week’s acts won your seal of approval? Vote in our poll below!
Britain’s Got Talent 2019 continues next Saturday at the usual time of 8.00pm on ITV.
Stephen Mulhern presents spin-off Britain’s Got More Talent every week after the main show on ITV2.
