Britain's Got Talent (series 5)

The fifth series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2011, from 16 April to 4 June on ITV; due to live coverage of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final on 28 May, the final audition episode of the series was pushed back a day to avoid clashing with it. As Piers Morgan had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of Simon Cowell made him unable to attend auditions,[1] the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel;[2] neither would remain on the programme after the series had concluded. Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions, Louis Walsh stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.[3]

Britain's Got Talent
Series 5
Hosted by	Anthony McPartlin (ITV) Declan Donnelly (ITV) Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Judges	Simon Cowell (live shows only) Amanda Holden David Hasselhoff Michael McIntyre Louis Walsh (guest)
Winner	Jai McDowall
Runner-ups	Ronan Parke New Bounce
Release
Original network	ITV ITV2 (BGMT)
Original release	16 April – 4 June 2011
Series chronology

This series saw the programme have a panel of four judges for the first time in the programme's history - albeit for the live rounds - as Cowell chose not to have either replacement drop out when he returned to attend live recording. Because of this decision, the rules for the judges' vote had to be amended so that the public vote could be used to deal with a split vote amongst the panel between the 2nd and 3rd place semi-finalists of a semi-final. Apart from these changes, the programme's studio used for live episodes was given a considerable revamp for the new series.[4]

The fifth series was won by singer Jai McDowall, with singer Ronan Parke finishing in second place, and boyband New Bounce placing third. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 10.9 million viewers, and was the first in the show's history to be aired in high definition. In an interview made after the series' broadcast, hosts Ant & Dec marked the fifth series as a poor one for the show because of the low quality of some of the participants that took part.[5] During the broadcast of the fifth series, the programme faced accusations of unfair treatment to participants, while the producers had to bring in police to investigate a suspected act of online bullying against one of the semi-finalists.

Series overview

Both Hasselhoff and McIntyre took part in the fifth series as judges, the former having been a judge on America's Got Talent

Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2011, within London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Birmingham; an additional round of auditions were held in Birmingham on 3 April, consisting of those found through their online videos on YouTube.[6][7] In December 2010, Simon Cowell revealed that, because of his commitments in launching the American version of The X Factor, he would only be present for the live episodes of this series.[1] Both this announcement, and the departure of Piers Morgan the previous year, led to a change in the judging panel, in which Amanda Holden was joined by two new judges recruited by the producers - comedian Michael McIntyre; and actor David Hasselhoff, who had previously worked as a judge on America's Got Talent.[2] Owing to his work schedule in 2011, Hasselhoff was forced to miss the London auditions, leading to Louis Walsh standing in for him as a guest judge.

Prior to filming, plans had been made to incorporate an element from the format of The X Factor, in which auditions would be attended by a guest judge for each one;[8] such a format addition was later made for America's Got Talent in 2015. However, the format change was never made by the production team, for unknown reasons. For the first time in the show's history, after the auditions were over, some of the acts found themselves having to perform again, due to the judges facing some difficulty in making a final decision on whom to send through into the live semi-finals.[9]

Of the participants that took part, only forty-one made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals,[10] with eight appearing in the first four and nine in the final semi-final, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. Because the live episodes now featured four judges, the rule on the judges' votes was modified as a result - if the judges were split over which two acts would follow the winner of the public vote, the decision would be made by which had received the second highest number of public votes. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third place

  Finalist |   Semi-Finalist

Participant	Age(s) ^1	Genre	Act	From	Semi-final	Result
Abyss	17–28	Dance	Street Dance Group	London	3	Eliminated
Angela & Teddy	64, 12 ^2	Animals	Dog Trick Act	Swindon, Wiltshire	3	Eliminated
Antonio Popeye	47	Variety / Dance	Eye-popper & Dancer	London	5	Eliminated
Bruce Sistaz	19, 27	Acrobatics	Martial Artists	Essex	1	Eliminated
Dance Angels Elite	8–24	Dance	Dance Troupe	Cardiff	4	Eliminated
David & Karen	39, 27	Magic	Illusionists	Leicester, Leicestershire	2	Eliminated
Donelda Guy	66 ^3	Animals	Canine Freestyle Troupe	Portsmouth	1	Eliminated
Edward Reid	35	Singing / Comedy	Comic Singer	Leeds	4	Eliminated
Enchantment	17–51	Acrobatics	Acrobatic Circus Troupe	Various ^4	2	Eliminated
Follow the Right Path	14, 13	Singing	Rap Duo	Bristol	5	Eliminated
Gay & Alan	56, 59	Music	Handbell Players	Oxford	3	Eliminated
Girls Roc	22–25	Dance / Danger	Fire Dance Group	London & Kent	1	Eliminated
Herbie Armstrong	66	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	Hampshire	2	Eliminated
Jai McDowall	24	Singing	Singer	Ayrshire	4	Winner
James Hobley	11	Dance	Contemporary Dancer	Redcar, North Yorkshire	3	Finalist
Jay Worley	17	Singing	Singer	Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf	3	Eliminated
Jean Martyn	59	Music	Organist	Staffordshire	2	Finalist
Jessica Hobson	19	Singing / Music	Singer & Keyboardist	Sheffield	4	Eliminated
Joe Oakley	19	Acrobatics / Danger	Trial Biker	Nottingham	1	Eliminated
Les Gibson	41	Comedy	Impressionist	Liverpool	3	Finalist
Lorna Bliss	32	Dance / Variety	Britney Spears Impersonator	London	2	Eliminated
Marawa	28	Acrobatics	Hula-hoop Artist	London (originally Melbourne, Australia)	5	Eliminated
Mexican Mayhem	59, 4 & 3 ^2	Animals	Chihuahuas Dog Trick Act	London	4	Eliminated
Michael Collings	19	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	Plymouth	5	Finalist
Michael Moral ^5	21	Dance	Breakdancer	France	5	Eliminated
Mr. & Mrs.	44, 55	Singing / Music	Pianist and Singers	Coventry, West Midlands	5	Eliminated
Nathan Wyburn	21	Variety	Visual Artist	Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent	4	Eliminated
New Bounce	12–16	Singing	Boyband	London	2	Third place
Out of the Blue	18–22	Singing	A-Cappella Singers	Oxford	4	Eliminated
Paul Gbegbaje	19	Music	Pianist	London	1	Finalist
Pip & Puppy	20, 6 months ^2	Singing / Animals / Variety	Opera Singer & Singing Dog	Bromsgrove, Worcestershire	5	Eliminated
Razy Gogonea	28	Dance	Breakdancer	Manchester (originally Romania)	5	Finalist
Ronan Parke	12	Singing	Singer	Proingland, Norfolk	1	Runner-up
Steven Hall	53	Dance	Comic Dancer	Kendall, Cumbria	4	Finalist
Stuart Arnold	48	Comedy / Singing	Terminator Impersonator & Rapper	Rhyl, Denbighshire	1	Eliminated
Ted & Grace	92, 21	Singing	Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet	Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire	1	Eliminated
The Celtic Colleens	8–30	Dance	Blacklight Irish Dancers	Crawley, West Sussex	5	Eliminated
The Circus of Horrors	18–54	Variety / Danger	Extreme Stunt Performers	Various ^4	3	Eliminated
Two and a Half Men	26–28	Dance	Dance Trio	London	2	Eliminated
Up & Over It	31	Dance	Table-based Hand Dancers	London	2	Eliminated
Wachiraporn Tirpak	27	Variety	Entertainer	King's Lynn, Norfolk (originally Thailand)	3	Eliminated

• ^1 Ages denoted in this column pertain to those of the respective participant(s) for their final performance for this series.
• ^2 The latter values pertain to the age of the dogs, as disclosed by their respective owners.
• ^3 The age of the animals used by Donelda Guy were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
• ^4 Locations for members of each respective group, or the group as a whole, were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
• ^5 Michael Moral was not originally given a place in the live rounds. His placement was due to the high standards of his performance leading Cowell to giving him a place as a semi-finalist.

Semi-finals summary

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Won the public vote

  Won the judges' vote |   Lost the judges' vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (30 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Spelbound

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote				Result [11]
			Cowell	Holden	McIntyre	Hasselhoff
Girls Roc	1	Fire Dance Group					7th - Eliminated
Donelda Guy	2	Canine Freestyle Troupe					5th - Eliminated
Stuart Arnold	3	Terminator Impersonator & Rapper					8th - Eliminated
Paul Gbegbaje	4	Pianist					2nd (Judges' vote tied - Won on Public vote)
Bruce Sistaz	5	Martial Artists					4th - Eliminated
Ted & Grace	6	Grandfather & Granddaughter Duet					6th - Eliminated
Joe Oakley	7	Trial Biker					3rd (Judges' vote tied - Lost on Public vote)
Ronan Parke	8	Singer					1st (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 2 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Shrek the Musical ("I'm a Believer") [12]

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote				Result [11]
			Cowell	Holden	McIntyre	Hasselhoff
Two and a Half Men	1	Dance Trio					4th - Eliminated
Enchantment	2	Acrobatic Circus Troupe					7th - Eliminated
Herbie Armstrong	3	Singer & Guitarist					5th - Eliminated
Lorna Bliss	4	Britney Spears Impersonator					8th - Eliminated
New Bounce	5	Boyband					1st (Won Public vote)
Jean Martyn	6	Organist					2nd (Won Judges' vote)
David & Karen	7	Illusionists					3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
Up & Over It	8	Table-based Hand Dancers					6th - Eliminated

Semi-final 3 (1 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Avril Lavigne ("What the Hell" / "Smile") [13]

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote				Result [11]
			Cowell	Holden	McIntyre	Hasselhoff
The Circus of Horrors	1	Extreme Stunt Performers					6th - Eliminated
Jay Worley	2	Singer					4th - Eliminated
Angela & Teddy	3	Dog Trick Act					7th - Eliminated
Abyss	4	Street Dance Group					5th - Eliminated
Wachiraporn Tirpak	5	Entertainer					8th - Eliminated
Les Gibson	6	Impressionist					1st (Won Public vote)
James Hobley	7	Contemporary Dancer					2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Gay and Alan	8	Handbell Players					3rd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 4 (2 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Jessie J ("Mamma Knows Best")

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote				Result [11]
			Cowell	Holden	McIntyre	Hasselhoff
Dance Angels Elite	1	Dance Troupe					6th - Eliminated
Jessica Hobson	2	Singer & Pianist					5th - Eliminated
Mexican Mayhem	3	Chihuahuas Dog Trick Act					8th - Eliminated
Out of the Blue	4	A-Capella Singing Group					4th - Eliminated
Nathan Wyburn	5	Visual Artist					7th - Eliminated
Jai McDowall	6	Singer					1st (Won Public vote)
Steven Hall	7	Comic Dancer					2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Edward Reid	8	Comic Singer					3rd (Lost Judges' vote)

Semi-final 5 (3 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity, and JLS ("Eyes Wide Shut" / "Everybody in Love")

Semi-Finalist	Order	Act	Buzzes and Judges' Vote				Result [11]
			Cowell	Holden	McIntyre	Hasselhoff
Marawa	1	Hula-hoop Artist					7th - Eliminated
Pip & Puppy	2	Opera Singer & Singing Dog					3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
The Celtic Colleens	3	Blacklight Irish Dance Troupe					4th - Eliminated
Mr. & Mrs.	4	Pianist & Singers					9th - Eliminated
Follow the Right Path	5	Rapping Duo					6th - Eliminated
Antonio Popeye ^6	6	Eye-Popper					8th - Eliminated
Michael Moral	7	Breakdancer					5th - Eliminated
Michael Collings	8	Singer & Guitarist					2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Razy Gogonea	9	Breakdancer					1st (Won Public vote)

• ^6 Jedward made a special appearance for this performance as backing dancers & singers.

Final (4 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Jackie Evancho ("Nessun dorma"), and Nicole Scherzinger ("Right There")

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place

Finalist	Order	Act	Finished [11]
Steven Hall	1	Comic Dancer	7th
Michael Collings	2	Singer & Guitarist	5th
Les Gibson	3	Impressionist	9th
James Hobley	4	Contemporary Dancer	8th
Paul Gbegbaje	5	Pianist	6th
Ronan Parke	6	Singer	2nd
Jean Martyn	7	Organist	10th
Jai McDowall	8	Singer	1st
Razy Gogonea	9	Breakdancer	4th
New Bounce	10	Boyband	3rd

Ratings

Main article: List of Britain's Got Talent episodes

Episode	Date	Total viewers (millions) [14]	Weekly rank [14]	Share (%)
Auditions 1	16 April	11.42	3	40.5 [15]
Auditions 2	23 April	10.62	3	41.5 [16]
Auditions 3	30 April	10.65	1	39.9 [17]
Auditions 4	7 May	11.69	1	42.2 [18]
Auditions 5	14 May	9.72	3	32.0 [19]
Auditions 6	21 May	11.16	1	42.2 [20]
Auditions 7	29 May	11.53	1	40.4 [21]
Semi-final 1	30 May	12.27	4	41.9 [22]
Semi-final 1 results		11.16	6	38.2 [22]
Semi-final 2	31 May	10.65	10	40.5 [23]
Semi-final 2 results		10.04	15	35.8 [23]
Semi-final 3	1 June	10.31	16	41.8 [24]
Semi-final 3 results		8.67	17	28.9 [24]
Semi-final 4	2 June	10.53	12	43.2 [25]
Semi-final 4 results		10.48	11	39.1 [25]
Semi-final 5	3 June	10.36	14	43.3 [26]
Semi-final 5 results		10.61	9	42.3 [26]
Live final	4 June	12.70	2	47.0 [27]
Live final results		12.95	1	49.3 [27]

Criticism & incidents

"Poor treatment" claim

Britain's Got Talent faced criticism in the fifth series of unfair treatment, after viewers complained on social media that Jessica Hobson had been set up during her semi-final performance by producers, with a routine that would cause her to lose. In response to the complaints, Britain's Got More Talent presenter Stephen Mulhern emphasised the production staff's commitment to the well-being of participants (see Britain's Got Talent, Series 3, Susan Boyle's well-being), including aiding them in their performances, and thus refuted allegations that Hobson's performance had been fixed.[28]

Malicious blog

Production staff found themselves investigating a blog published on the internet during the broadcast of the fifth series, regarding a "confirmed" source that the competition for that year had been fixed so that Ronan Parke would win. The blog's creator purported to be an executive at Simon Cowell's company Syco, and that Parke had not only been groomed for two years prior to his appearance, but was already signed up to a record label. However, Syco became aware of the blog due to the attention it received and firmly refuted the blogger's identity, stating that the blog itself had been created with false, unsubstantiated information - the claims within were refuted by both the company, Parke's family, Cowell and the producers. The nature of the blog was effectively deemed as malicious and aimed at conducting online bullying against Parke, requiring the involvement of police to determine the motive of the blogger's actions.[29] The resultant investigation led to the blogger, whose identity was not disclosed, to be cautioned by police, and forced to apologise for any form of distress caused to those involved in the matter.[30]

References

1. "Britain's Got Talent: Simon Cowell return for semi-finals confirmed – Mirror Online". Daily Mirror. 17 May 2011.
2. McIntyre, Hasselhoff for 'Britain's Got Talent' Digital Spy, 14 December 2010
3. Britain's Got Talent auditions hit London Now Magazine
4. "Simon Cowell confirms Britain's Got Talent set for revamp | STV". Entertainment. 11 May 2011.
5. "Ant and Dec admit Britain's Got Talent has had some dud years". Tellymix.co.uk. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
6. Simon Cowell wants extra Britain’s Got Talent auditions Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Unreality TV, 3 March 2011
7. "Birmingham sees Britain's Got Talent sweep in". www.expressandstar.com. 4 April 2011.
8. "Britain's Got Talent To Feature Guest Judges". MTV UK. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
9. "Britain's Got Talent shock as acts have to perform again to get into semi-finals | STV". Entertainment. 29 May 2011.
10. "Final 40 acts revealed! – Britain's Got Talent 2011 – ITV.com – News". Talent.itv.com.
11. "The votes revealed!". ITV. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
12. "Amanda Holden to perform on Britain's Got Talent | STV". Entertainment. 28 May 2011.
13. "Britain's Got Talent 2012 | Britain's Got Talent news and spoilers | TellyMix". Talent.tellymix.co.uk.
14. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
15. Millar, Paul (17 April 2011). "Revamped 'Britain's Got Talent' dazzles 10.4m". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
16. Millar, Paul (24 April 2011). "New 'Doctor Who' kicks off with 6.5m". Retrieved 24 April 2011.
17. Millar, Paul (1 May 2011). "'Doctor Who' audience slips to 5.4m". Retrieved 1 May 2011.
18. Millar, Paul (8 May 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' soars past 10 million". Retrieved 8 May 2011.
19. Millar, Paul (15 May 2011). "Eurovision TV ratings reach 11-year high". Retrieved 15 May 2011.
20. Millar, Paul (22 May 2011). "Sing If You Can' beats 'SYTYCD". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
21. Millar, Paul (30 May 2011). "'Scott & Bailey' makes strong debut". Retrieved 30 May 2011.
22. Laughlin, Andrew (31 May 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' semi nabs almost 11m". Retrieved 31 May 2011.
23. Laughlin, Andrew (1 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' semi-final peaks at 10.5m". Retrieved 1 June 2011.
24. Laughlin, Andrew (2 June 2011). "Apprentice' ratings hit by 'Britain's Got Talent". Retrieved 2 June 2011.
25. Laughlin, Andrew (3 June 2011). "'Bums, Boobs and Botox' nabs 1.3m on C4". Retrieved 3 June 2011.
26. Millar, Paul (4 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' ratings heat up for last semi". Retrieved 4 June 2011.
27. Millar, Paul (5 June 2011). "'Britain's Got Talent' final grabs 12.5m". Retrieved 5 June 2011.
28. Alex Fletcher. "Britain's Got Talent' defended over Jessica Hobson tears". www.digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
29. Duncan, Andy (3 June 2011). "Simon Cowell calls police in over BGT hopeful Ronan Parke 'fix' slurs". Metro. London. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
30. Michael Hogan (31 May 2017). "Britain's Got Talent: the biggest controversies of all time". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2017.