Australia's Got Talent (season 5)
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Australia's Got Talent ''Australia's Got Talent'' is an Australian reality television talent show. The show is based on the '' Got Talent'' series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell. The first six seasons aired on the Seven Network, from ...
'' is an Australian reality television show, based on the original UK series, claiming to find new talent. The fifth season premiered on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
on 3 May 2011 and ended on 2 August 2011, where singer
Jack Vidgen Jack Vidgen (born 17 January 1997) is an Australian singer and television personality, best known for winning the Australia's Got Talent season 5, fifth season of ''Australia's Got Talent'' as a teenager. He subsequently signed a recording cont ...
was crowned the winner of ''Australia's Got Talent'', while illusionist Cosentino became runner-up. Judges
Dannii Minogue Dannii Minogue (; born 20 October 1971) is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. As a child, she became known for her appearances on the television talent show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988). She went on to play the r ...
,
Kyle Sandilands Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host, shock jock and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio s ...
, and
Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter. He rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...
returned for the series, as well as host
Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. He previ ...
. The producer auditions took place in 16 cities across Australia, and ran from October to December 2010. The successful acts from these auditions were then invited back for a second audition in front of the judges and a live audience. These auditions were held in February and March 2011 in four major cities, including one day in Gold Coast and
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, two days in Sydney, and three days in Melbourne. From over 200 successful auditionees, only 48 acts were selected for the semi-finals. The six semi-final shows began on 31 May 2011 and ended on 5 July. Introduced, was a new format to the show where three acts from each semi-final would advance through to the next round. In previous years only two acts have made it through each semi-final. One of the most notable performances was by
Jack Vidgen Jack Vidgen (born 17 January 1997) is an Australian singer and television personality, best known for winning the Australia's Got Talent season 5, fifth season of ''Australia's Got Talent'' as a teenager. He subsequently signed a recording cont ...
, a 14-year-old singer who sang a rendition of
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
's "
I Have Nothing "I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993 as the third single from '' The Bodyguard'' (1992) by Arista Records. The song was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produce ...
" for his audition. His performance earned a standing ovation from both the judges and the audiences, and has received more than 1.5 million views on YouTube. Vidgen has since been dubbed Australia's answer to
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
, and has also attracted international and local interest. The show had also sparked controversy, with accusations of contestant Jordan Paris plagiarising other comedians' jokes in his audition, and reports of contestant Chooka Parker's incident backstage following his elimination from the show.


Auditions

The producer auditions took place in 16 cities, throughout
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Queensland,
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. These auditions began on 17 October 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The successful acts from the auditions were then invited to a second audition in front of the judges and a live audience. These auditions began in Gold Coast on 19 February 2011, followed by three days in Melbourne from 25 February 2011. They also took place in Sydney on 12–13 March 2011, and ended in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
on 20 March 2011.


Semi-finalists


Semi-final summary

: Buzzed out , Judges' vote , : , ,


Semi-final 1


Semi-final 2


Semi-final 3


Semi-final 4


Semi-final 5


Semi-final 6

Notes * Due to the majority vote for Majestic, Minogue's voting intention was not revealed. * Due to complications, The Flying Lotahs had to perform outside the studio; the judges were required to be in person to view the performance, and used hand-carried signs in place of their buzzers, though they never used them.


Finals summary

The "Order" columns lists the order of appearance each act made for every episode.


Final showdown 1

Notes *1 David De Vitto, Cosentino, and Jack Vidgen were the three acts who won the public vote. *2 The judges then had to choose a fourth act to go through to the grand-final. Judges' votes (revealed in order) *McFadden: Ben Price *Minogue: Chooka Parker *Sandilands: Instant Bun As their votes were a tie, the result went to the public vote. It was then revealed that the act who received the most votes was Ben Price.


Final showdown 2

Judges' first vote (revealed in order) *McFadden: Matty "The Bandit" White *Minogue: Benchmark *Sandilands: Matty "The Bandit" White As McFadden and Sandilands both voted for Matty "The Bandit" White, he won the first judges vote. Judges' second vote (revealed in order) *Sandilands: Benchmark *Minogue: Benchmark As Sandilands and Minogue both voted for Benchmark, they won the second judges vote. It is unsure who McFadden would have voted for.


Final

Notes *Vidgen was awarded the grand prize of $250,000. *Guest performers on the grand final decider show were
Justice Crew Justice Crew is an Australian dance and music group consisting of John and Len Pearce, Lukas Bellesini, Paul Merciadez, Samson Smith, and Solo Tohi. Although the group is Australian, members Samson and Solo are from New Zealand. The group origin ...
and
Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...
.


Reception


Controversies

Comedian Jordan Paris, who made it through to the semi-finals, was accused of plagiarising his jokes in his audition, of which he performed a routine about English singer
Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...
. On 26 May 2011, ''
The Gold Coast Bulletin The ''Gold Coast Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving Australia's Gold Coast region. It is published as ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' on weekdays and the ''Weekend Bulletin'' at weekends. It is owned by News Corp Australia. History The ...
'' reported that the same routine was performed by English comedian
Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian and actor, famed for his quick wit. Mack’s better known work includes creating, writing and starring in sitcom ''Not Going Out'', and featuring ...
in 2007 on the British stand-up comedy show '' Live at the Apollo''. Paris said he was aware of Mack's work but did not rip off his routine, stating "comedy's a funny thing. Obviously there are a lot of people doing a lot of things, but a joke's a joke. If it's making people laugh then I'm happy." That same day, ''
Brisbane Times ''Brisbane Times'' is an online newspaper for Brisbane and Queensland, Australia. It is owned and run by Nine Publishing, publishers of ''The Age'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and other mastheads. As of 2024, the editor is Sean Parnell. H ...
'' also reported that the other half of Paris' routine – about his three requirements for dating a woman – had been lifted from a routine by US comedian Geoff Keith. After losing the judges' votes in the first final showdown, host
Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. He previ ...
tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...
that Chooka Parker reportedly took the news of his elimination very badly. Parker was reportedly banging windows and doors after losing the grand final spot to dance troupe Instant Bun. He was then warned by studio security before driving off with his parents before the show ended. A spokeswoman for the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
told ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', "Chooka's family have acquired a TV since he became part of the show and he has understood how the show and fame works since he started... He was upset when Brian said his routine had not developed enough and later went upstairs to the edit suite and blamed them for ruining his performance and he became a bit physical, slamming his hand into a window." Many of the above cited newspaper stories were grossly exaggerated with Chooka admitting later that although he had been upset it did not happen as the tabloids had argued. Instead Chooka was upset because "The producers took out a crucial part of my song. They pretty much destroyed my piece. I went backstage to ask them why they did it but they wouldn’t listen to me. I just hit the window, I definitely didn’t wrap my hand in a jumper and smash it. I’m not two-faced, what I said on stage I meant. All I want from my music is to make people happy", Chooka said. "You’ve got to hear my music from start to end. By changing it they made it sound as if I had made a mistake. Not winning the show wasn’t too disappointing, winning was never a dream. I just wish they hadn’t cut my song." explains Chooka. 17 year old Bree De Rome continued in her success from AGT 2011 and was managed by Adam Wilkinson (5 Seconds Of Summer)recording her first EP at Studio 31 and distributed By MGM, De Rome made an appearance on various programs including Love Child.


Contestants

Singer
Jack Vidgen Jack Vidgen (born 17 January 1997) is an Australian singer and television personality, best known for winning the Australia's Got Talent season 5, fifth season of ''Australia's Got Talent'' as a teenager. He subsequently signed a recording cont ...
, a 14-year-old, appeared on the first episode on 3 May 2011, and performed a rendition of
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
's "
I Have Nothing "I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993 as the third single from '' The Bodyguard'' (1992) by Arista Records. The song was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produce ...
" for his audition. The performance earned a standing ovation from both the judges and the audiences. Judge
Kyle Sandilands Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host, shock jock and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio s ...
said, "You're either gonna be amazing or dreadful – both I will enjoy", while judge
Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter. He rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...
was so moved from the performance he ran up on stage to kiss Vidgen's cheek once it was over. The performance has received more than 3.5 million views on YouTube. Vidgen has since been dubbed Australia's answer to
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
and has also been inundated with international and local interest. He has also attracted the attention of celebrity gossip blogger
Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting Tabloid jou ...
, who has posted several blogs of Vidgen's performances on his website. In late July 2011, it was reported that Vidgen had signed a record deal with
Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...
. Whilst the very popular Chooka Parker did not sign any contract with any record label he has gone on to become a very successful pianist, performing around Australia and has been overseas. Chooka Parker still retains his loveable character and popularity, winning a major music award in the People's Choice category, which enabled him to perform at the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...
. He has released two recordings to date, a CD titled "No Worries!" in October 2011, and an EP titled, "My Jewel" in 2012


Ratings

The first episode on 3 May 2011, achieved an audience of 1,563,000 and placed second overall for the night, being beaten by ''
Masterchef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British ''MasterChef (British TV series), MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and ch ...
''. The second episode saw a slight drop in ratings with 1,457,000 viewers, and placed second once again. The next five episodes each topped the nights overall ratings. The seventh episode reached an audience of 1,815,000, which made ''Australia's Got Talent'' the third highest rating program of 2011. The first live semi-final show on 31 May 2011, gained 1,949,000 viewers and topped the nights overall ratings. The ratings boost was credited to 14-year-old singer Jack Vidgen who performed a cover of "
And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also known in short as just "And I Am Telling You") is a torch song from the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'', with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am ...
" from the ''
Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...
'' soundtrack. The grand final show on 26 July 2011, achieved an audience of 2,192,000, becoming the season's highest ratings to date. The grand final decider show on 2 August 2011, gained 2,855,000 viewers and topped the nights overall ratings. The ratings were the highest achieved in 2011 so far by a television show broadcast in Australia.


References

{{Australia's Got Talent Australia's Got Talent 2011 Australian television seasons Got Talent