Here’s a full recap of the first round of auditions on Britain’s Got Talent 2023.
Britain’s Got Talent’s new series kicked off this Saturday with the opening set of auditions.
Ant & Dec return overseeing proceedings from the sidelines. They will be on hand to support contestants as they head out to face the panel and live audience.
Making up the panel this year are returning judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden who are joined by new judge Bruno Tonioli.
In the competition contestants must get three or more yeses from the panel to secure a spot in the next round where they could make the live semi-finals.
Alternatively, five lucky contestants will get awarded the golden buzzer which will see them straight through to the semi-finals.
Recap the first round of auditions below…
Darth Vader
Opening the new series was ‘Darth Vader’ who played a selection of songs on an electric keyboard but failed to impress the panel. Getting a no, Simon Cowell told the dark lord: “The idea of Darth Vader playing Star Wars songs is brilliant… if you could play the keyboard.”
Mikko Rautiainen
Next up was Mikko who played a medley of pop songs on a recorder – through his nose. Unfortunately it was four nos for Mikko with Bruno saying: “It’s definitely original and your nose is going to be perfectly clean but it’s a no from me.”
The Big Sing
Community choir The Big Sing took the judges by surprise with their performance of Brighter Days by Emeli Sandé with some 350 singers both on stage and in the audience, aged from 3 to 83. Simon declared: “Oh my goodness, we weren’t expecting that!” while Bruno added: “You made our day bright as it could ever be”. With four yeses, The Big Sing sailed through to the next round.
Parkour Collective
The Parkour Collective – made up of George, Ed and Travis – shocked the judges with their jaw dropping routine on the stage and across the judges’ desk. Simon compared the trio to a boy band, naming the ‘the Next Direction’. The group got four yeses, seeing them into the next stage.
Cillian O’Connor
13-year-old schoolboy Cillian was next on stage, performing a series of magic tricks that left the panel stunned. The audition ended in tears from both Cillian and the panel as Simon said: “You are unbelievably talented… there’s something incredible about you. You’re brilliant”
Jane McKennan
Childminder Jane from Plymouth performed an interpretive dance routine to various everyday objects from a stapler to a brioche bun. Sadly, the panel buzzed Jane off the stage with Amanda saying: “It is nuts.”
Amy Lou
34-year-old sunbed receptionist Amy from the West Midlands performed Listen by Beyoncé to wow the judges. Getting four yeses, Amy was told by Alesha: “That was by far my favourite audition so far!”.
Ghetto Kids
Dance group Ghetto Kids, aged 5 – 13 from Uganda, performed a routine to a medley of songs with Bruno hitting his golden buzzer halfway through the act. Bruno said: I was literally exploding, you should be so proud of yourselves, I can’t wait to see you back.” With Bruno’s golden buzzer, the group sail straight through to the live semi-finals later this year.
Ichikawa Koikuchi
Last to perform this weekend was 42-year-old comedian Ichikawa who performed a series of ‘wind’ tricks. Bruno described the audition as an “outer body experience” while Alesha reacted: I can’t believe that I really enjoyed that!”
Britain’s Got Talent airs on Saturday nights on ITV1
You can watch episodes and catch up with the series online via the ITVX website.
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