Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists: The acts who did NOT make the live shows

The Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists have been confirmed tonight but some surprising acts didn’t make the cut.

This evening saw the four judges pick the top 40 contestants from all of the successful auditionees to make the live shows, joining the five golden buzzers who had guaranteed spots in the semi-finals.

There were plenty of arguments and clashes between the panel as they made the choices, eventually compromising on a line up that they all agreed on.

But who was NOT in the line up? Here are five of the more surprising omissions…

Ella Yard

At 15 years old, Ella Yard impressed at the auditions with her singing. “I have to start from somewhere, and this is an amazing place to start at,” she said.

Making her first big splash with her BGT try-out, she covered Joss Stone’s version of ‘God Only Knows’. “I just found that absolutely mesmerizing, and it was magical,” commented Amanda. “I think you’ve been very smart on your song choice,” added Simon. “You’ve gotta make songs your own. You’ve got a great presence.”

Suzanne and Roxanne Chay

Pianist Roxanne and her singing sister Suzanne were encouraged to perform by their mother, who thinks they are destined to pursue music together.

At the auditions, the judges were charmed by the duo[s rendition of ‘Blinded By Your Grace’. “I really hope that Stormzy gets to see this,” said Alesha. “I think that he’ll be touched that you chose to sing this song and do it so beautifully, in your own way.”

David and Javier

Barcelona-based dancing duo David and Javier appeared in the auditions with a sizzling salsa routine that got them one step closer to a spot at the Royal Variety Performance.

Alesha called them “dynamic”, exclaiming: “You’re like the Little and Large of the Latin world!” David, meanwhile, took the opportunity to shade rival show Strictly Come Dancing. “It just shows there’s nothing funny about two men dancing together,” he said. “I don’t know why the BBC show doesn’t have that, it’s fantastic!”

Nino Nikolov

Electric violin player Nino decided to enter Britain’s Got Talent after Tokio Myers won last year’s series with his unique fusion of modern and classical music. The Essex club performer had the crowd up clapping along as he played an upbeat version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ at the auditions.

“You must have been fiddling for years to be that good,” joked David. “It was a really amazing audition, I think it’s absolutely the right time for an act like this as well,” reviewed Simon at the time.

Ben Langley

Variety act Ben Langley had hoped BGT would give his career a big push. At the auditions, he had the audience in fits of laughter with a comedy routine involving misheard song lyrics.

Ant and Dec even came out of the sidelines so they could witness the mayhem. “Brilliantly funny, perfect for the Royal Variety, it’s so fast-paced, so funny,” reviewed David. “I could watch you forever and ever, what a great character,” added Alesha.

Britain’s Got Talent Live semi-finals air Monday 28th May to Friday 1st June at 7.30pm on ITV.