The thirteenth series of British talent competition programme ''
Britain's Got Talent
''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...
'' was broadcast on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, from 6 April to 2 June 2019. This series became the first to see the return of
Ant McPartlin
Anthony David McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) is an English television presenter, singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Dec Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec.
McPartlin came to prominence ...
to his television duties, hosting alongside
Dec Donnelly (colloquially forming the hosting duo known as
Ant & Dec
Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...
), following his absence the previous year to attend
rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
prior to the start of the
previous series' live episodes. Alongside McPartlin's return, the competition for this year saw the oldest participant to win ''Britain's Got Talent'', and the surprise return of a performer who participated in a previous year's contest, operating under an alias until their final appearance.
The thirteenth series was won by 89-year-old singer
Colin Thackery
Warrant Officer Class 2 Colin Thackery (born 9 March 1930) is a British Korean War veteran and singer who won the thirteenth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in June 2019. As the winner, he received £250,000 and performed at the 2019 Royal Va ...
, with mentalist Marc Spelmann (under the stage name "X") finishing in second place and magician Ben Hart third. During its broadcast, the series averaged 8.32 million viewers.
Series overview
The judges' auditions took place between January and February 2019, within
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. During filming of the London auditions, the event was kick-started by a special performance from
Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of ''Britain's Got Talent'', singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from '.
Boyle's debut studio album, ''I D ...
to mark her tenth year as a singer since she first made her appearance on
''Britain's Got Talent''s third series. One of the most notable auditionees for this year's contest was David J. Watson – a participant who had auditioned for ten years for a place on the programme without success. His latest attempt led to the host of ''Britain's Got More Talent'',
Stephen Mulhern
Stephen Daniel Mulhern is an English television presenter, magician, and comedian. He began his television career on CITV, presenting the children's shows ''Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and ''Tricky TV'' (2005–2010). Mulhern has presented vario ...
, triggering a Golden Buzzer for him. This action led to speculation in the media over whether this had been officially allowed, but it was later revealed to have been disallowed on the grounds that it did not fall under the contest rules, as Mulhern had no official allowance to provide a Golden Buzzer act.
This series featured two notable events during its broadcast. The first to take place was the forced withdrawal of an act – extreme magicians Brotherhood – who had secured a spot in the semi-finals. Despite Brotherhood's success in the auditions landing them a place in the fifth and final semi-final, concerns over health and safety were raised about the dangerous nature of their performance, leading to the group of magicians withdrawing their involvement at the request of the production staff and broadcaster, and their place being offered to another act which had been eliminated during auditions. Additionally, a dance troupe who had made it to the semi final stage also withdrew following the death of one of their members. The group's audition was not broadcast. The second was the surprise revelation that a participant who had operated under anonymity was in reality a former semi-finalist from the previous year's contest who had re-entered the contest for this year in order to emphasise the values of hope and perseverance.
Of the participants that took part, only 40 made it into the five live semi-finals – of these acts, dancer
Akshat Singh
Akshat Anjaria or Hakka (born 21 April 2005) is an Indian dancer who came into prominence by showcasing his talent in the Bengali dance reality show ''Dance Bangla Dance''. He then took part in India's reality show ''India's Got Talent'' and b ...
, band Chapter 13, choir Flakefleet Primary School, singer Giorgia Borg, and stand-up comedian Kojo Anim each received a golden buzzer during their auditions – with eight appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was dance duo Libby & Charlie, after they lost out in a tied judges' vote in the last semi-final round. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
: , , ,
:
Judges' Wildcard Finalist ,
Golden Buzzer Audition
* Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
* These acts originally auditioned under different names, before changing them for their Semi-Final appearances.
* These participants each required their coach to act as translator, due to their limited or lack of knowledge on the English language.
* This participant initially failed to reach the semi-finals, but were later brought back after another semi-finalist was forced to withdraw at the advice of production staff and the broadcaster.
* Details on both the locations for and ages of each member of The Haunting were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
* This participant's actual age was not officially disclosed as such during their time on the programme.
* Marc Spelmann's identity was kept a secret by production staff throughout the series - all details listed here pertain to his unveiling in the final.
Semi-finals summary
:
Buzzed out ,
Judges' vote ,
: , ,
Semi-final 1 (27 May)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast Of ''
On Your Feet!
''On Your Feet!'' is a jukebox musical that played on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre. Based on the lives and music of 26-time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan, the musical has a book written by Alexander Dinel ...
'' &
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...
Semi-final 2 (28 May)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of ''
Six
6 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
6 or six may also refer to:
* AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era
* 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era
* The month of June
Science
* Carbon, the element with atomic number 6
* 6 Hebe, an asteroid
People ...
''
Semi-final 3 (29 May)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
James Arthur
James Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012. His debut single, a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible", was released by Syco Music after the fin ...
and
Freckled Sky
Freckled Sky is a multimedia company that specializes in performances and events with digital special effects which include projection mappings. Freckled Sky was founded in Chicago in 2015 and gained popularity competing in America's Got Talent ...
* Due to the majority vote for Kojo Anim, Walliams' voting intention was not revealed.
Semi-final 4 (30 May)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
Semi-final 5 (31 May)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Jason Donovan
Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 mi ...
,
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints o ...
& Cast Of ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...
''
* Libby & Charlie were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.
Final (2 June)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Diversity
Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to:
Business
*Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce
*Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers
* ...
& DVJ, and
Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of ''Britain's Got Talent'', singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from '.
Boyle's debut studio album, ''I D ...
&
Michael Ball
Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...
: ,
Ratings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britain's Got Talent (series 13)
2019 British television seasons
Britain's Got Talent