This year’s Britain’s Got Talent auditions are thrown into chaos with rule breaks resulting in a record NINE golden buzzer acts.
The golden buzzer, meant to be pressed just once by the judges and hosts Ant & Dec, sends an act straight through to the live shows.
But filming for the 2024 series, Simon Cowell says the rulebook was thrown out of the window.
Simon said: “It is kind of like being back at school, because the teachers keep coming in saying, “You know, can we try and keep the golden buzzers down?” And they know we’ve got absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing that. I keep saying, “Look, if something happens or the audience in particular are telling us, then we kind of have to”. I think they secretly love when it happens, but they have to try and keep us in check!
“But I don’t think it matters. I mean, we don’t want to get to the point where you’ve got 20 golden buzzer acts, but I think eight or nine is fine, that’s one an episode and in one episode you’ll see two. I don’t see that as a bad thing.”
Simon continued: “The truth is, honestly, when I watched the yes tapes back, I thought there were about another 17 acts who easily could have had a golden buzzer. That’s how good the talent is this year. But look, I think eight or nine is the absolute limit. I don’t think you could ever really go beyond nine, well, maybe 10 at a push!
“But I always listen to the audience and the feedback I got last year was they did enjoy seeing more golden buzzers. It doesn’t mean we’ll just hand them out for no reason, they have to be earned otherwise there’s no point in them. They have to stand out, like Amanda’s second buzzer, I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s so funny. It’s just so weird but brilliant”.”
Amanda Holden shared of her two golden buzzer acts: “So, the first was for a singer, and she’s got the perfect showbiz name if ever I’ve heard one!
“I was blown away by her and I really hope this is going to give her a kickstart to a career that she’s destined to have.
“And then on the other end of the spectrum was my second golden buzzer. He had me howling with laughter. I’ve never seen anything like it ever, ever, ever! There’s no one else doing it. He deserves the golden buzzer just for thinking up that act.
“And I then got the giggles because I kept thinking of what my husband and kids would think when they were watching it and saw who I pressed my buzzer for. They won’t see it coming, it’s not an act that anyone would think I’d press the buzzer for.”
Meanwhile Alesha Dixon said of the golden buzzer chaos: “I quite like following rules, which is very ironic. I’m very rebellious in my nature, but I do like a bit of structure. I only pressed my golden buzzer once because for me personally, it gives more value to the act that I’ve pressed it for.
“However, having said that, sometimes you are in a situation where people power overpowers us and if the audience is so relentless in wanting somebody to receive a golden buzzer, you just don’t have any choice! When you get those moments, it just makes for great TV.”
And Bruno Tonioli enthused: “It’s a testament to the talent we have this year. It’s a feeling of recognising the effort. I firmly believe if they’re good enough then they deserve the golden buzzer no matter what.”
Britain’s Got Talent returns this Saturday at 7:30PM and Sunday at 7:40PM on ITV1 and ITVX.
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