Britain's Got Talent (series 5)


The fifth series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2011, from 16 April to 4 June on ITV; 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 had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of Simon Cowell made him unable to attend auditions, the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel; neither would remain on the programme after the series had concluded. Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions, Louis Walsh stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.
This series saw the programme have a panel of four judges for the first time in the programme's history - albeit for the live rounds - as Cowell chose not to have either replacement drop out when he returned to attend live recording. 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 split vote amongst the panel between the 2nd and 3rd place semi-finalists of a semi-final. Apart from these changes, 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 finishing in second place, and boyband New Bounce placing 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.

Series overview

Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions took place across January and February 2011, within London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Birmingham; an additional round of auditions were held in Birmingham on 3 April, consisting of those found through their online videos on YouTube. In December 2010, Simon Cowell revealed that, because of his commitments in launching the American version of The X Factor, he would only be present for the live episodes of this series. Both this announcement, and the departure of Piers Morgan the previous year, led to a change in the judging panel, in which Amanda Holden was joined by two new judges recruited by the producers - comedian Michael McIntyre; and actor David Hasselhoff, who had previously worked as a judge on America's Got Talent. Owing to his work schedule in 2011, Hasselhoff was forced to miss the London auditions, leading to Louis Walsh 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, 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 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:
ParticipantAge GenreActFromSemi-finalResult
Abyss17–28DanceStreet Dance GroupLondon3
Angela & Teddy64, 12 AnimalsDog Trick ActSwindon, Wiltshire3
Antonio Popeye47Variety / DanceEye-popper & DancerLondon5
Bruce Sistaz19, 27AcrobaticsMartial ArtistsEssex1
Dance Angels Elite8–24DanceDance TroupeCardiff4
David & Karen39, 27MagicIllusionistsLeicester, Leicestershire2
Donelda Guy66 AnimalsCanine Freestyle TroupePortsmouth1
Edward Reid35Singing / ComedyComic SingerLeeds4
Enchantment17–51AcrobaticsAcrobatic Circus TroupeVarious 2
Follow the Right Path14, 13SingingRap DuoBristol5
Gay & Alan56, 59MusicHandbell PlayersOxford3
Girls Roc22–25Dance / DangerFire Dance GroupLondon & Kent1
Herbie Armstrong66Singing / MusicSinger & GuitaristHampshire2
Jai McDowall24SingingSingerAyrshire4'
James Hobley11DanceContemporary DancerRedcar, North Yorkshire3'
Jay Worley17SingingSingerBeddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf3
Jean Martyn59MusicOrganistStaffordshire2'
Jessica Hobson19Singing / MusicSinger & KeyboardistSheffield4
Joe Oakley19Acrobatics / DangerTrial BikerNottingham1
Les Gibson41ComedyImpressionistLiverpool3'
Lorna Bliss32Dance / VarietyBritney Spears ImpersonatorLondon2
Marawa28AcrobaticsHula-hoop ArtistLondon 5
Mexican Mayhem59, 4 & 3 AnimalsChihuahuas Dog Trick ActLondon4
Michael Collings19Singing / MusicSinger & GuitaristPlymouth5'
Michael Moral 21DanceBreakdancerFrance5
Mr. & Mrs.44, 55Singing / MusicPianist and SingersCoventry, West Midlands5
Nathan Wyburn21VarietyVisual ArtistEbbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent4
New Bounce12–16SingingBoybandLondon2'
Out of the Blue18–22SingingA-Cappella SingersOxford4
Paul Gbegbaje19MusicPianistLondon1'
Pip & Puppy20, 6 months Singing / Animals / VarietyOpera Singer & Singing DogBromsgrove, Worcestershire5
Razy Gogonea28DanceBreakdancerManchester 5'
Ronan Parke12SingingSingerProingland, Norfolk1'
Steven Hall53DanceComic DancerKendall, Cumbria4'
Stuart Arnold48Comedy / SingingTerminator Impersonator & RapperRhyl, Denbighshire1
Ted & Grace92, 21SingingGrandfather & Granddaughter DuetScunthorpe, Lincolnshire1
The Celtic Colleens8–30DanceBlacklight Irish DancersCrawley, West Sussex5
The Circus of Horrors18–54Variety / DangerExtreme Stunt PerformersVarious 3
Two and a Half Men26–28DanceDance TrioLondon2
Up & Over It31DanceTable-based Hand DancersLondon2
Wachiraporn Tirpak27VarietyEntertainerKing's Lynn, Norfolk 3

Semi-final 1 (30 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Spelbound

Semi-final 2 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Shrek the Musical

Semi-final 3 (1 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Avril Lavigne

Semi-final 4 (2 June)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Jessie J

Semi-final 5 (3 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity, and JLS
Guest Performers, Results Show: Jackie Evancho, and Nicole Scherzinger
FinalistOrderActFinished
Steven Hall1Comic Dancer7th
Michael Collings2Singer & Guitarist5th
Les Gibson3Impressionist9th
James Hobley4Contemporary Dancer8th
Paul Gbegbaje5Pianist6th
Ronan Parke6Singer2nd
Jean Martyn7Organist10th
Jai McDowall8Singer1st
Razy Gogonea9Breakdancer4th
New Bounce10Boyband3rd

Ratings


EpisodeDateTotal viewers Weekly rankShare
Auditions 116 April11.42340.5
Auditions 223 April10.62341.5
Auditions 330 April10.65139.9
Auditions 47 May11.69142.2
Auditions 514 May9.72332.0
Auditions 621 May11.16142.2
Auditions 729 May11.53140.4
Semi-final 130 May12.27441.9
Semi-final 1 results30 May11.16638.2
Semi-final 231 May10.651040.5
Semi-final 2 results31 May10.041535.8
Semi-final 31 June10.311641.8
Semi-final 3 results1 June8.671728.9
Semi-final 42 June10.531243.2
Semi-final 4 results2 June10.481139.1
Semi-final 53 June10.361443.3
Semi-final 5 results3 June10.61942.3
Live final4 June12.70247.0
Live final results4 June12.95149.3

Criticism & incidents

"Poor treatment" claim

Britain's Got Talent faced criticism in the fifth series of unfair treatment, after viewers complained on social media that Jessica Hobson had been set up during her semi-final performance by producers, with a routine that would cause her to lose. In response to the complaints, Britain's Got More Talent presenter Stephen Mulhern emphasised the production staff's commitment to the well-being of participants, including aiding them in their performances, and thus refuted allegations that Hobson's performance had been fixed.

Malicious blog

Production staff found themselves investigating a blog published on the internet during the broadcast of the fifth series, regarding a "confirmed" source that the competition for that year had been fixed so that Ronan Parke would win. The blog's creator purported to be an executive at Simon Cowell's company Syco, and that Parke had not only been groomed for two years prior to his appearance, but was already signed up to a record label. However, Syco became aware of the blog due to the attention it received and firmly refuted the blogger's identity, stating that the blog itself had been created with false, unsubstantiated information - the claims within were refuted by both the company, Parke's family, Cowell and the producers. The nature of the blog was effectively deemed as malicious and aimed at conducting online bullying against Parke, requiring the involvement of police to determine the motive of the blogger's actions. The resultant investigation led to the blogger, whose identity was not disclosed, to be cautioned by police, and forced to apologise for any form of distress caused to those involved in the matter.