Britain's Got Talent (series 14)

The fourteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, but in two parts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom during that year which affected production on the programme. The first half consisted of audition episodes that had already been filmed, which were aired between 11 April to 30 May 2020. The second half consisted of the remaining episodes when production could resume, and were aired between 30 August to 10 October 2020.^[1]

Semi-finals and the live final incorporated a number of safety measures, including the use of a virtual audience and social distancing amongst hosts, judges, participants, and staff, with all episodes being aired weekly - a first in the programme's history. In addition, semi-finals were pre-recorded, changing the voting format as a result, including the results of public votes being announced in the final. Prior to filming of the first semi-final, Simon Cowell sustained an injury following an accident in August, forcing him to be absent for the rest of the series and leading to Ashley Banjo being brought in as a guest judge in his place.^[2] Following the previous series, the programme's sister show, Britain's Got More Talent, was effectively cancelled and was replaced by a new online spin-off, titled Britain's Got Talent: Unseen, featuring auditions not aired in the main programme.

The fourteenth series was won by comedic pianist Jon Courtenay, with sign-language choir Sign Along With Us finishing in second place, and comedian Steve Royle in third place. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 8.17 million viewers, despite the split in the broadcast schedule.

Series overview[]

After Cowell's accident in August 2020, Ashley Banjo was appointed as a guest judge in his place for the remainder of this series

The judges auditions took place between January and February 2020, within London and Manchester. Prior to the start of production, staff had begun contemplating the future of its sister show, Britain's Got More Talent, in regards to its viewing figures and changes in viewing habits by its audience following the conclusion of the previous series. In October 2019, the decision was made to cancel the programme, and by 2020 its was decided that notable, yet unaired auditions for the fourteenth series would be made available via a new online spin-off titled Britain's Got Talent: Unseen.^[3]

Production on the series was dramatically impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, which was already affecting media productions across the world. While audition episodes had been pre-recorded and thus were aired as planned, British government measures implemented to prevent the spread of the infection effectively halted work on all live television productions. ITV was forced to split the series into two parts, and went into discussion with the production company over how to produce and air the second half of the competition within a safe working environment and ongoing monitoring of the pandemic.^[4] In May 2020, Amanda Holden indicated that production on the remainder of the series would resume in Autumn,^[5] with producers confirming in August that the remaining episodes would be produced and aired across September and October that year.^[6]

The broadcast schedule for the remaining episodes was revised, switching from being aired over the course of a single week, to a weekly arrangement, with only the final being aired live - the rest would be pre-recorded before their broadcast date. The format for these episodes was also drastically changed to provide a safe environment for staff, judges, hosts and participants: each round would be confined to a closed set; the judges would each have a separate judging desk; and a virtual audience would be present for each performance, in a similar arrangement used for the fifteenth season of America's Got Talent. Staff also arranged for large-scale performances to be altered in order to avoid mass gatherings; some had their routines pre-recorded in advance. The advancement of semi-finalists to the final stage of the contest was also changed. Instead of the original format used in previous series, judges would have first vote, choosing their top three acts in each semi-final and voting on which one of these would be sent to the finals, with the remainder from that semi-final, including those not voted for by the judges, facing a public vote to secure an additional place in the live final over the weekend of the episode's broadcast. The results of all five public votes would then be unveiled at the beginning of the live final.

One complication arose in August, when Simon Cowell became involved in an accident that left him suffering a back injury, and which required him to undergo surgery.^[7][8][9] Because doctors had advised him to not be involved in further television work until he recovered - his accident had already impacted his involvement in the live rounds for America's Got Talent that year - producers decided on bringing in street dancer and former BGT winner Ashley Banjo to act as a guest judge in place of Cowell during his absence.^[10] In addition, Holden was promoted to head judge for the semi-finals, effectively allowing her to make the casting decision in the event of a tied vote between the judges' top three semi-finalists.^[11]

Of the participants that took part, only forty made it into the five semi-finals - of these acts, singer Fayth Ifil, singing duet Honey & Sammy, comic singer & pianist Jon Courtenay, stand-up comedian Nabil Abdulrashid, and sign language choir Sign Along with Us,^[12] each received a golden buzzer during their auditions - with eight appearing in each one, and ten of these acts making it into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third place |   Finalist

  Semi-finalist | Golden Buzzer Audition

Participant [12]	Age(s) 1	Genre	Act	From	Semi-final	Result
Aaron & Jasmine	28 & 32	Dance	Dance Duo	London	2	Finalist
Aidan McCann	11	Magic	Magician	Republic of Ireland	5	Finalist
Allan Finnegan	52	Comedy	Stand-up Comedian	Liverpool	2	Eliminated
Amanda & Miracle	49 & 7	Magic / Animals	Magic Dog Act	Scotland	2	Eliminated
Belinda Davids	43	Singing	Singer	Cape Town, South Africa	4	Eliminated
Beth Porch	25	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	London	5	Eliminated
Bhim Niroula	54	Singing	Singer & Entertainer	Reading, Berkshire	3	Eliminated
Billy & Chantelle	14 & 12	Dance	Dance Duo	Birmingham	4	Eliminated
Chineke! Junior Orchestra	11-22	Music	Orchestra	London	4	Eliminated
Class Dynamix	9-11	Singing	Choir	Leeds, West Yorkshire	2	Eliminated
Crissy Lee	77	Music	Drummer	Colchester, Essex	5	Eliminated
Damien O'Brien	34	Magic	Magician	London	2	Finalist
Dario the Dinosaur	N/A 2	Singing / Variety / Music	Music Performance Group	N/A 2	3	Eliminated
Ember Trio	26, 28 & 31	Music	String Trio	Manchester & London	3	Eliminated
Fayth Ifil	13	Singing	Singer	Swindon, Wiltshire	1	Eliminated
Håkan Berg	43	Magic / Animals	Bird Magician	Stockholm, Sweden	5	Eliminated
Honey & Sammy	15 & 43	Singing	Singing Duet	Essex	2	Eliminated
Imen Siar	21	Singing	Singer	London	1	Eliminated
James & Dylan Piper	38 & 12	Magic	Magician Duo	Aberdare, Mid Glamorgan	1	Finalist
James Stott	35	Magic / Danger	Stunt Magician	North Yorkshire	1	Eliminated
Jasper Cherry	14	Magic	Magician	Lancashire	4	Finalist
Jon Courtenay	46	Singing / Comedy / Music	Comic Singer & Pianist	Manchester	4	Winner
Katherine & Joe O’Malley	36 & 59	Singing / Dance	Singer & Tap Dancer	Manchester	4	Eliminated
Kevin Quantum	39	Magic / Danger	Stunt Magician	Edinburgh	4	Eliminated
Magical Bones	37	Magic	Magician	London	3	Finalist
Myra Dubois	32	Comedy	Stand-up Comedian	London	3	Eliminated
Nabil Abdulrashid	34	Comedy	Stand-up Comedian	London	5	Finalist
Papi Flex	26	Variety	Contortionist	Brussels, Belgium	4	Eliminated
Shalom Chorale	17-40	Singing	Gospel Choir	Various 3	5	Eliminated
Sign Along with Us	4-58	Singing	Sign Language Choir	Manchester	3	Runner-up
Sirine Jahangir	15	Singing / Music	Singer & Pianist	London	3	Eliminated
SOS from the Kids	4-16	Singing	Choir	Hampshire	1	Eliminated
Souparnika Nair	10	Singing	Musical Theatre Singer	Suffolk	2	Eliminated
Steve Royle	51	Comedy / Variety	Comic Juggler	Lancashire	1	Third place
The Coven	10-19	Dance	Dance Troupe	Various	2	Eliminated
The Soldiers of Swing	31 & 41	Singing	Jazz Singing Duet	Sheffield	5	Eliminated
Urban Turtles	26-28	Dance	Dance Troupe	London	1	Eliminated
Wesley Williams	22	Variety	Unicyclist	Fort Lauderdale, United States	5	Eliminated
X1X Crew	13-28	Dance / Acrobatics	Acrobatic Dance Troupe	Mumbai, India	3	Eliminated
Yakub	11	Dance	Dancer	Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire	1	Eliminated

• ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series.
• ^2 Actual information the performer behind this act was not disclosed during their time on the programme.
• ^3 Locations for members of this group were not disclosed during their time on the programme.

Semi-finals summary[]

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Won the Judges' Vote |   Won the Public's Vote

  Lost Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (5 September)[]

Guest Performers: Diversity^[13]

Semi-Finalist [13]	Order	Buzzes and judges' votes				Finished [14]
		Banjo	Holden	Dixon	Walliams
Urban Turtles	1					7th - Eliminated
James & Dylan Piper	2					1st - Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Imen Siar	3					6th - Eliminated
Yakub	4					2nd - Eliminated
James Stott	5					4th - Eliminated
SOS from the Kids	6					5th - Eliminated
Fayth Ifil	7					3rd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Steve Royle	8		4			Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)

• ^4 Holden did not cast her vote due to the majority support for Steve Royle from the other judges, but admitted her voting intention would have been for this semi-finalist.

Semi-final 2 (12 September)[]

Guest Performers: McFly^[15]

Semi-Finalist [15]	Order	Buzzes and judges' votes				Finished [14]
		Banjo	Holden	Dixon	Walliams
Souparnika Nair	1					3rd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Damien O'Brien	2					1st - Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Class Dynamix	3					6th - Eliminated
Allan Finnegan	4					7th - Eliminated
Amanda & Miracle	5					4th - Eliminated
Aaron & Jasmine	6					Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) 5
Honey & Sammy	7					5th - Eliminated
The Coven	8					2nd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) 5

• ^5 Due to a tied Judges' Vote, Holden cast the deciding vote for Aaron & Jasmine.

Semi-final 3 (19 September)[]

Guest Performers: James Arthur & Sigala^[16]

Semi-Finalist [16]	Order	Buzzes and judges' votes				Finished [14]
		Banjo	Holden	Dixon	Walliams
Myra Dubois	1					5th - Eliminated
Magical Bones	2		6			Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Ember Trio	3					4th - Eliminated
Sign Along with Us	4					1st - Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Dario the Dinosaur	5					6th - Eliminated
Sirine Jahangir	6		6			2nd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
X1X Crew	7					3rd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Bhim Niroula	8					7th - Eliminated

• ^6 Holden did not cast her vote due to the majority support for Magical Bones from the other judges, but admitted her voting intention would have been for Sirine Jahangir.

Semi-final 4 (26 September)[]

Guest Performers: Michael Ball & the London cast of Hairspray^[17]

Semi-Finalist [17]	Order	Buzzes and judges' votes				Finished [14]
		Banjo	Holden	Dixon	Walliams
Billy & Chantelle	1					4th - Eliminated
Chineke! Junior Orchestra	2					3rd - Eliminated
Katherine & Joe O’Malley	3					7th - Eliminated
Kevin Quantum	4					5th - Eliminated
Jon Courtenay	5					Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Jasper Cherry	6					1st - Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Papi Flex	7					6th - Eliminated
Belinda Davids	8					2nd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)

Semi-final 5 (3 October)[]

Guest Performers: Colin Thackery & The Kingdom Choir, and Amanda Holden^[18]

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and judges' votes				Finished [14]
		Banjo	Holden	Dixon	Walliams
The Soldiers of Swing	1					5th - Eliminated
Håkan Berg	2					4th - Eliminated
Shalom Chorale	3					6th - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Wesley Williams	4		7			3rd - Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Crissy Lee	5					7th - Eliminated
Nabil Abdulrashid	6		7			Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Aidan McCann	7					1st - Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Beth Porch	8					2nd - Eliminated

• ^7 Holden did not cast her vote due to the majority support for Nabil Abdulrashid from the other judges, but admitted her voting intention would have been for Wesley Williams.

Final (10 October)[]

Guest Performers: The cast of Les Misérables, Mary Poppins & The Phantom of the Opera

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place

Ratings[]

Criticism[]

During the fourteenth series of Britain's Got Talent, racial issues were made key elements in complaints made by viewers regarding performances that were broadcast during the final rounds of the competition. In the first semi-final, aired on 5 September 2020, guest performer Diversity performed a dance routine inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, which, despite being praised, received criticism from some viewers.^[20] The regulator Ofcom initially received over a thousand complaints to begin with, before this increased to around 24,500 based on news stories covering the original number of complaints. However, the regulator rejected all complaints on 17 September, ruling that the criticism was unfounded and that the performance had been aiming to promote "social cohesion and unity", adding that "freedom of expression is particularly important in the context of artistic works".^[21]

In contrast, comedian Nabil Abdulrashid received considerable criticism over his performances in the semi-final and final. Although he was overwhelmed by the support he received for his comedic talent, Abdulrashid admitted in an interview that some of his work had led him to receive racial abuse and death threats because of his open support for Black Lives Matter. His routines themselves later saw Ofcom receives around 3,000 complaints over the nature of his jokes being aired on a family programme, yet the regulator rejected these on grounds that the comedian had performed within acceptable boundaries.^[22]

References[]