ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent is gearing up to welcome the first set of semi-finalists onto the ITV competition’s stage this weekend, as the first round of live semi-finals is taking place.
Judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli are set to choose which acts from the first round of semi-finals will go on to compete in the final – with a brand new, exciting, Golden Buzzer twist also taking place.
The first semi-final will see Heavysauras, Teddy Magic, Vinnie McKee, Skira, Linda Mudzena, Eden Choi, Auzzy Blood and The Blackouts face off for a place in the final. Ahead of the live show, which is being filmed at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo, viewers are already revealing their favourite acts of the series.
One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “The Blackouts and Electric Umbrella are definitely my favourite acts so far this year. Can’t wait to seem them again in the semi-finals!” As another predicted: “Blackouts to go into final”.
However, not everyone is convinced The Blackouts should be in the competition, despite receiving a Golden Buzzer from Simon in the audition process. The dance group have taken part in two different versions of the talent show previously, and making it to the finals in both. One asked: “why does everyone love the blackouts so much”.
While another moaned: “Yet another professional foreign act Simon has invited over to appear rather than showcasing amateur British talent” followed by the yawn emoji. Another added: “They are already a professional performance act. They have already been on Switzerland Got Talent… plus, they aren’t British…”
And another viewer fumed: “Takes the p**s an act can go round to the same show in lots of countries and reach a final. What’s the point?” And another said: “Promoting professional acts is the reason I never watch this rubbish.”
The Blackouts appeared on Das Supertalent, the German version of the Gat Talent franchise, in 2024. On the group’s official website, they say of the experience: “The Blackouts were part of the 2024 season of Das Supertalent and reached the final. The TV show gave them the unique opportunity to showcase their exceptional talent to a millions-strong audience on television and win over many new fans.” The troupe reached the final of Das Supertalent, but weren’t crowned the winners.
Posting about their journey on the show last year, they shared snaps from their act on the German show on their official Instagram. The Blackouts wrote in the caption: “hat a final moment! We are overwhelmed and grateful for the final participation at @supertalent A big thank you to @rtl_de @ekatleonova and the fantastic jury (@dieterbohlen @brucedarnell @ufa_production @annaermakova1 ) for this great opportunity and the valuable feedback!
“Your support means the world to us. You are our motivation to achieve our dreams.”
The group also took part in Stadt Land Talent in Switzerland in 2021, after initially competing in Switerland’s Got Talent in 2016, and reached the final in both competitions but narrowly missing out on the win.
Aside from their past experiences on talent shows, the group have also performed at a number of events over the years including the opening ceremony of the European Curling Chamionships in 2017 and the opening show of the Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships in 2023.
This isn’t the first time BGT has been plagued with fix rows. Head judge Simon Cowell recently suggested taking a lie detector test after Max Fox’s audition aired at the weekend. The moment saw Max being given a chance to audition as he begged Simon, 65, for a chance to audition from the crowd.
Speaking about the moment, which Simon insisted was spontaneous, the head judge told the Mirror: “I think I should be wired to a lie detector machine in the future to prove I’m speaking the truth because when something like this happens people instantly shout fix.
“In this case do you really think I could be bothered to plant someone in the audience? No. But that’s exactly what happened.”
Simon revealed the reaction of security guards on hand in Blackpool’s Winter Garden indicated the moment was real to the judge. “I knew it was genuine because of the way the security team reacted,” recalled Simon. “He looked like he was going to try and break onto the stage or get to me. They were not twitchy and being hyper vigilant, tracking him. But I heard him say he was desperate to show us what he could do but hadn’t managed to get a place in the auditions this year.
“I went over to the producers and I said, ‘Pinky swear this is not a set up’, because you can’t break a pinky agreement. They said they had no clue about him. So we let him audition and it was an incredible moment. I just know people will say I fixed it, but I really didn’t!”
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