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Series Eight of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2014, from 12 April to 7 June on ITV; because of England's international friendly with Peru, the show took a break on 30 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. The series is most notable for holding auditions in Northern Ireland for the first time, instead of Scotland as had been done since the second series, as well as for the hosts Ant & Dec having to stand in for Simon Cowell, after illness forced him to be absent during a day of auditions.[1] It was also the first series in the show's history to have a buzzer used during the live final, and was the first to include the "Golden Buzzer" - a format introduced to the programme, which had begun to appear within the Got Talent franchise since it was first introduced on Germany's Got Talent in 2012.[2][3]
The eighth series was won by boy band Collabro, with opera singer Lucy Kay finishing in second place and singing/rapping duo Bars and Melody in third place.[4] During its broadcast, the series averaged around 9.8 million viewers.
Series overview
Because Cowell was absent for the first day of auditions in Manchester, hosts Ant & Dec each took a turn standing in for him
Following open auditions held the previous year between 19 October to 1 December 2013 in various cities,[5] which included auditions held at a series of "Talent Spot tents" provided by the show's sponsor that year,[6] and at The Savoy Hotel in Blackpool and The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton, the Judges' auditions took place between January and February 2014, within Belfast,[7]London,[8][9][10]Manchester, Birmingham,[11][12][13] and Cardiff.[14][15] For the first time since the second series, auditions didn't take place in Scotland, as the show's producers wished to try new locations for talent, which led to them opting to hold auditions within Northern Ireland for the first time as a result.[16][17] Due to illness, Simon Cowell was forced to be absent from a day of auditions in Manchester to recover, leading to hosts Ant & Dec each standing in for him,[1] while on the final day of auditions in London, Cowell was forced to be absent for them to attend to his girlfriend Lauren Silverman, who had gone into labour that day; the show's production team chose not to bring in a stand-in because of this.[18]
The eighth series is most notable in the show's history for the introduction of a new format that was slowly becoming a part of auditions within other shows of the Got Talent franchise, since it was first used on Germany's Got Talent - the "Golden Buzzer". During Judges' auditions, the judges' desk now featured a golden buzzer along with their respective standard buzzers, which both the judges and the show's host could each use only once if a participant's audition was outstanding to them, regardless of the opinions of the others - the participant would automatically move into the semi-finals, as a direct result of being given the golden buzzer.[2][3]
Of the participants that took part, forty-five made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals-[19] of these acts, salsa dancing duo Paddy & Nico,[20] hip hop duo Bars & Melody,[21] singer Christian Spridon,[22] girl group REAformed,[23] and stand-up comedian/impressionist Toju,[24] each received a golden buzzer during their auditions - with nine appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was impressionist Jon Clegg, after he lost out in the tied Judges' vote in the first semi-final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
After the final semi-final had been aired, several viewers took to social media to criticise Amanda Holden for a comment she had made in regards to he performance of salsa dance duo Paddy & Nico. Prior to their appearance in the live episode, Paddy had received an injury during practice and had to be checked over by the show's doctors before she could be allowed to perform. Making her opinion of their act in the semi-final, Holden had complimented the dancer for doing well despite the circumstances, adding remarks that she had "come back from injury with fighting spirit" and "today is Pad-D Day". Posts written about the comment complained that it had been distasteful to compare the performance of the dance duo with the efforts of the soldiers during the D-Day landings, with one viewer commenting that her words had been "disrespectful".[49]
Buzzed out
Judges' vote
