Britain’s Got Talent is back this weekend with the show’s judges promising a stand out range of acts.
After a year away due to the pandemic, Britain’s Got Talent returns with its 15th series as even more awe-inspiring and show-stopping performers compete to impress the judges and secure their place in the live-semi-finals.
Reuniting with their infamous buzzers are judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams who this year celebrate their 10th year working alongside one another.
Hosted by Ant & Dec, the auditions this year include a dog act like no other, harmonious choirs and in a BGT first, a phantom man who leaves the judges spooked like never before.
Speaking ahead of the first episode, Simon revealed: “I have to say, the contestants are brilliant, we have seen so many good acts this year. So many great stories have come out of auditions too. I think sometimes having the little break that we did is a positive thing.
“I think they realised how important the show is to them because they need a show like this for whatever they want to achieve in their lives. Everyone felt more excited about it.
Alesha agreed: “I think that the talent having a bit of a break has meant that people have more time to work on their act. And actually, there was a contestant who said, ‘I was supposed to come on the show last year when it was cancelled, and actually having that extra year to really work on my act has been really good.’
“You also hear stories about acts coming out that have come up with these crazy ideas during lockdown, and I love those stories.”
“I think people have had time to work on their acts, haven’t they?” continued David. “It was like we had two years worth of good acts in one year. A lot of people had met in the last year or so, just virtually, and formed a group. There was a singing group who had been doing Zoom rehearsals.
“A lot of people during the pandemic were trying to find ways of doing positive things, like entertaining, singing for people, doing things for free, and all that kind of stuff. I think that brought a lot of people together. So I think there’s a good, happy spirit to it all and people have worked hard to make their audition count.”
Discussing some of the acts we can expect to see during the auditions, Amanda shared: “We had a phantom man perform and he got me up on stage. I’ll be honest, I can’t really remember what happened.
“One minute I was on stage and then the next minute I was asleep, and Alesha was like, ‘Well, you just did this.’ And I was like, ‘No I didn’t.’
“I was tasked with guessing what the other judges had picked from a box. He obviously had control over my mind because I guessed exactly whatever Alesha picked, even though I didn’t see. I don’t know how it happened or how it worked. I can’t wait to watch that one on TV.”
There’s also a busker called Maxwell who Simon says had a “Paul Potts” moment on stage
“It was a real surprise, I had no idea he was going to sing like that,” the music mogul explained. “He was so shy and I was praying it was going to work out for him. He chose a fantastic song, I looked around at the audience to see how they were reacting and it was just incredible the response he got.
“I’ve seen a small clip of it back and he’s absolutely amazing. That was a big moment.”
And Ant added: “There are some really good choirs this year, really good singers. It tends to go through stages, Britain’s Got Talent, where you have one year, it’s the year of the singer, songwriter.
“One year, it’s the year of the magician, like the last time we did it, it seemed very magician heavy. This year, there was a lot of everything. There’s a lot of just really good acts. It’s the year of the good act, I think.”
And Dec enthused: “I’m genuinely intrigued as to who the final 40 will be. I know how many acts the judges put through, and they’ve got a real task on their hands to get them down to 40, because the quality is so high this year. There’ll be a lot of really good acts that miss out this year as well.
“You can’t put 40 singers through. You can’t put 40 choirs. You can’t put 40 magicians through. You have to have a mix of categories. There are going to be some really good acts that miss out, just because there are too many good comedians or too many good singers, whatever. It’s going to be harsh on a few acts, but hopefully, maybe we’ll see them again another year.”
Alesha continued: “At the deliberations we had over 90 acts that we had to get down to 35. After we said yes to our semi-finalists we looked at the pile of acts that were left, we all said, ‘This is probably the strongest ‘no’ pile we’ve ever had, any other year there’s a couple of winners in that group.’
“I think it’s testament to how good everyone is this year that a lot of the people that didn’t make it through may have got through in other years and even won.
“So it’s heart-breaking from the point of view that a lot of talented people haven’t made it, but it’s really positive for the show, in that we’ve been spoiled for choice.”
Britain’s Got Talent begins Saturday, 16 April at 8PM on ITV and ITV Hub.
