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 (colloquial ...
'' was broadcast on
ITV, from 6 April to 2 June 2019. This series became the first to see the return of
Ant McPartlin
Anthony David McPartlin (born 8 January 1975) is a British television presenter, former singer, rapper and actor. He is best known for working alongside Declan Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec.
McPartlin came to prominence, al ...
to his television duties, hosting alongside
Dec Donnelly
Declan Joseph Oliver Donnelly (born 25 September 1975) is a British television presenter, television producer, former singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Ant McPartlin as part of the presenting duo Ant & ...
(colloquially forming the hosting duo known as
Ant & Dec
Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama ''Byker Grove'', they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, ...
), following his absence the previous year to attend
rehabilitation 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, 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. 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 who 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 '. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 ...
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 10 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 (born 4 April 1977) is an English television presenter, entertainer, magician and comedian.
He began his career at CITV presenting the children’s television shows '' Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and '' Tricky TV'' (2005� ...
, 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 ...
, 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.
* Libby & Charlie initially failed to reach the semi-finals, but were later brought back after magic trio Brotherhood were 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.
* The age listed here is
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
's age as of the live shows, listed as a joke in keeping with the gimmick of the act, and not the actual age of the performer, who was actually 62.
* 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 performance: Cast Of ''
On Your Feet!'' &
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...
("
Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
"Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" is a song written by Enrique "Kiki" Garcia and Gloria Estefan, and released by Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine in 1987 as the lead single from their tenth studio album, '' Let It Loose'' (1987) (reissued internat ...
"/"
Conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...
"/"
Get on Your Feet")
Semi-final 2 (28 May)
*Guest performance: Cast of ''
Six
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...
'' ("Ex-Wives")
Semi-final 3 (29 May)
*Guest performance:
James Arthur
James Andrew 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 aft ...
&
Freckled Sky ("
Falling Like the Stars")
* Due to the majority vote for Kojo Anim, Walliams' voting intention was not revealed.
Semi-final 4 (30 May)
*Guest performance:
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...
("
Boy with Luv")
Semi-final 5 (31 May)
*Guest performance:
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 millio ...
,
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress and singer. She came to prominence after playing a variety of characters in sitcoms, including '' The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Cri ...
& Cast Of ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...
'' ("Jacob and Sons/Joseph's Coat"/"
Any Dream Will Do"/"Song of the King"/"Go, Go, Go Joseph")
* Libby & Charlie were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.
Final (2 June)
*Guest performances:
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 who 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 '. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 ...
&
Michael Ball
Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of ''Les Misérables''. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles C ...
("
A Million Dreams")
: ,
Ratings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britain's Got Talent (series 13)
2019 British television seasons
Britain's Got Talent