A father and son magician, a signing choir and five dachshunds were among the highlights on the launch episode of Britain’s Got Talent 2020.
Fan-favourite judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams were back again to scour the UK for the best talent they can find.
Tonight’s (April 11) opener was packed with hilarious, jaw-dropping and thoroughly entertaining performances.
As always, hopefuls are competing for a £250,000 cash prize, and a spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance.
Recap the first round of auditions below…
St Anne’s Gospel Choir
Opening the Britain’s Got Talent 2020 auditions were St Anne’s Gospel Choir, made up of some 81 girls aged 11-35 from London. They performed a cover of Emeli Sandé’s ‘Shine’ which got four yeses from the judges. Said Alesha: “I love nothing more than young people standing up there doing something positive and I felt that energy, it was incredible.”
Nu Crew
Next up were Nu Crew, a hip hop dance troop, aged 5-10 from Glasgow. Going before the judges tonight, they performed an energetic routine to a mash up of nursery rhymes and commercial music that proved a hit with the judge and audience alike. The group got four yeses with David saying: “You did Scotland super proud today!”
James and Dylan Piper
Father son magic duo James and Dylan Piper from South Wales left the Britain’s Got Talent judges stunned with their audition. The pair did a card trick and a mind reading trick involving Simon and his relationship with his son, Eric. The performance got the duo a total of five yeses – with an extra one from Eric – through to the next round.
Diana Vedyashinka
35-year-old trainer Diana Vedyashinka from Russia provided a cuteness overload as she appeared on stage with her five dachshunds for a unique dance routine. Diana and her dogs got four yeses to see her into the callbacks, with Amanda enthusing: “I loved it so much, it was the cutest thing!”
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Yakub
10-year-old dancer Yakub from Stratford Upon Avon performed a dance inspired by The Lion King that had all four judges on their feet and saying yes. Alesha said: “That couldn’t have gone any better? I absolutely loved it but most importantly you entertained the audience, it was fantastic!”
Papi Flex
Papi Flex is a 26-year-old contortionist from Belgium who freaked out the judges with his audition. David said “I just can’t watch it… it’s impressive but so disturbing to see someone that bendy.” Despite making the judges feel completely uncomfortable, Papi still got four yeses through to the next round.
Steve Royle
Steve Royle is a 51-year-old comedian from Manchester who entertained the judges with a variety of props including ping pong balls and guitars. Steve got four yeses to make the next round, with David saying: “It’s a pleasure to be entertained by you” and Alesha describing him as a “born performer.”
Sign Along With Us
Sign Along With Us are a signing choir made up of 37 children and 28 adults aged 4-58 from Manchester. The group performed an all singing and and signing cover of The Greatest Showman’s ‘This is Me’ that saw David Walliams his his golden buzzer. He said: “Every one of you gave everything to this performance. An amazing positive message to put out there.”
Mr Cuddles
Mr Cuddles is a wannabe Super Villain who introduced the panel to a machine which could transform him into the face of one of the judges – becoming Simon. Unfortunately, Mr Cuddles’ plans for world domination were cut short when he got three nos from the judges with only Simon saying yes.
X1X Crew
The X1X Crew dance troop are aged 14-28 from India. They closed the first round of auditions with a fast-paced exciting routine mixing hip hop and jhama, and incorporating acrobatic elements. The group got four yeses and even had Amanda comparing them favourably to former winners Diversity.
Britain’s Got Talent continues next Saturday at 8PM on ITV.
After each episode, brand new spin-off show Britain’s Got Talent: Unseen will be made available online exclusively via the ITV Hub.
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