The fifth 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 16 April to 4 June 2011; 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
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
made him unable to attend auditions,
the producers arranged for
Amanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...
to be joined by
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...
and
Michael McIntyre
Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is a British comedian, writer, and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents the variety and stand-up comedy show '' Mic ...
on the judging panel.
[McIntyre, Hasselhoff for 'Britain's Got Talent'](_blank)
Digital Spy, 14 December 2010 Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions,
Louis Walsh
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...
stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.
This series saw the judging panel expanded to four judges for the first time in the programme's history, albeit for the live episodes – Cowell chose not to have either replacement drop out when he returned to attend the remainder of the contest. 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 tied vote amongst the panel between the 2nd and 3rd placed semi-finalists of a semi-final. Apart from the change in format for the live rounds, the programme's studio used for live episodes was given a considerable revamp for the new series.
The fifth series was won by singer
Jai McDowall, with singer
Ronan Parke
Ronan Parke (born 8 August 1998) is an English people, English singer from Poringland, Norfolk, who came runner-up in the Britain's Got Talent (series 5), fifth series of ITV show ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2011 at the age of 12, despite bein ...
finishing in second place and boyband New Bounce 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. 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 during production.
Series overview
Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2011, within London,
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 ...
, Glasgow,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
; an additional round of auditions were held in Birmingham on 3 April, consisting of those found through their online videos on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. In December 2010,
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
revealed that, because of his commitments in launching the American version of ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'', he would only be present for the live episodes of this series.
Both this announcement, and the departure of
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
the previous year, led to a change in the judging panel, in which
Amanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...
was joined by two new judges recruited by the producers – comedian
Michael McIntyre
Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is a British comedian, writer, and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents the variety and stand-up comedy show '' Mic ...
; and actor
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...
, who had previously worked as a judge on ''
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
''.
Owing to his work schedule in 2011, Hasselhoff was forced to miss the London auditions, leading to
Louis Walsh
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...
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
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'', in which auditions would be attended by a guest judge for each one; such a format addition was later made for ''
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
'' 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.
Of the participants that took part, only forty-one made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals, 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:
: , , ,
* Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
* The latter values pertain to the age of the dogs, as disclosed by their respective owners.
* The age of the animals used by Donelda Guy were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
* Locations for members of each respective group, or the group as a whole, were not disclosed during their time on the programme.
* 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 ,
: , ,
Semi-final 1 (30 May)
*Guest performance:
Spelbound
Spelbound are a Gymnastics, gymnastic troupe from the United Kingdom who rose to fame in 2010, winning Britain's Got Talent (series 4), the fourth series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. The prize was £100,000 and the opportunity to appear at the 20 ...
Semi-final 2 (31 May)
*Guest performance: Cast of ''
Shrek the Musical'' ("
I'm a Believer
"I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the American band the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart ...
")
Semi-final 3 (1 June)
*Guest performance:
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
("
What the Hell"/"
Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses d ...
")
Semi-final 4 (2 June)
*Guest performance:
Jessie J
Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...
("
Mamma Knows Best")
Semi-final 5 (3 June)
*Guest performance:
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
* ...
&
JLS ("
Eyes Wide Shut
''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Dream Story'' () by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from earl ...
"/"
Everybody in Love
"Everybody in Love" is a song by English boyband JLS from their self-titled debut album (2009). The song was released as a digital download on 1 November 2009, followed by a physical release the following day. The song became the band's seco ...
")
*
Jedward
John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward, are Irish media personalities and singers. They are Monozygotic, identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in The X Factor (British TV series) series 6, th ...
made a special appearance for this performance as backing dancers & singers.
Final (4 June)
*Guest performances:
Jackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie Evancho ( ; born April 9, 2000) is an American singer who gained wide recognition at an early age, singing primarily crossover music#Classical crossover, classical crossover covers. Since 2009, she has issued nine albums, a pla ...
("
Nessun dorma") and
Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...
("
Right There")
: ,
Ratings
Criticism & incidents
The fifth series saw ''Britain's Got Talent'' face criticism from viewers, via social media, over unfair treatment on a participant. Their concern was over the performance of Jessica Hobson during her semi-final, and the belief her choice of song had been fixed by producers to ensure she would lose. ''
Britain's Got More Talent'' presenter
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� ...
refuted the allegations made by the complaints, making clear that production staff maintain high commitment to the well-being of participants (such as had been done for Susan Boyle in the third series) and that Hobson's performance had not been rigged against her.
One of the more serious matters that occurred off-camera was the publication of a malicious blog against the participant
Ronan Parke
Ronan Parke (born 8 August 1998) is an English people, English singer from Poringland, Norfolk, who came runner-up in the Britain's Got Talent (series 5), fifth series of ITV show ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2011 at the age of 12, despite bein ...
, which claimed that the competition had been fixed so that the singer would win and that he had been groomed by Simon Cowell's company
Syco for two years in preparation to fulfil a record contract. However, Parke's family, Cowell, the producers and Syco, refuted the claims in the blog, even one that the blogger was an executive in the company, highlighting that the information was false and unsubstantiated. Producers determined that the nature of the blog was effectively malicious and aimed at bullying Parke online.
Police were brought in to investigate the motivation of the blogger's action, and resulted in the culprit being cautioned and ordered to apologise for the distress caused to those involved.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britain's Got Talent (series 5)
2011 British television seasons
Britain's Got Talent