The eighth series of Britain's Got Talent began airing on ITV on 12 April 2014.
Ant & Dec returned to present the main show on ITV, while Stephen Mulhern returned to
present the spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.
Judges Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden returned for their respective eighth series on the
judging panel, whilst Alesha Dixon and David Walliams both returned for their third series.
The series is part of a new contract that will keep Britain's Got Talent on the air
until 2016.
Auditions for the series took place between January and February 2014 in Belfast, London,
Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
This was the first series where auditions were held in Northern Ireland, but they did
not take place in Scotland.
The live semi-finals began on 26 May, and concluded on 31 May.
The live final took place on 7 June, and was won by boy band Collabro.
The final also marked the 100th episode of Britain's Got Talent.
Judges and presenters Simon Cowell confirmed on 1 June 2013 that
the eighth series of the show would air in 2014.
He also confirmed that he would return to the judging panel alongside Amanda Holden,
Alesha Dixon and David Walliams.
On 15 November 2013, it was announced that Britain's Got Talent would remain on the air
until 2016.
Cowell did not attend the first day of the Manchester auditions after contracting the
flu and was replaced by Ant & Dec.
He was again absent during the final day of the London auditions, but was not replaced.
Ant & Dec returned to present the main show on ITV, whilst Stephen Mulhern also returned
to present spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.
Golden buzzer This series saw the introduction of the new
golden buzzer.
During the auditions, as well as the standard buzzers, there was a golden buzzer placed
in the centre of the judges' desk.
Each judge was allowed to press this buzzer only once, and it would send that auditionee
straight through to the live semi-finals regardless of the opinions of the other three judges.
Ant & Dec were given the opportunity to press the golden buzzer as well.
The golden buzzer has previously been used on Germany's Got Talent.
Holden was the first judge to use the golden buzzer, pressing it during the second day
of the Birmingham auditions on 2 February, for Salsa dancing duo Paddy & Nico.
Cowell used it on the second day of auditions in Manchester with hip hop duo Bars & Melody.
Walliams used the golden buzzer on the first day of the London auditions on 11 February
for performance singer Christian Spridon, leaving Dixon as the only judge yet to use
it.
The following day, Dixon pressed the golden buzzer on the second day of the London auditions
for girl group REAformed.
On the final day of London auditions, which Cowell was absent from, Ant & Dec pressed
the buzzer for stand-up comedian/impressionist Toju.
The first press of the golden buzzer aired on the first auditions episode, showing Holden
pressing it for Paddy & Nico, followed by Walliams' controversial buzz for Spridon on
the second episode.
Dixon's pressing of the buzzer for REAformed aired on the fourth episode and Cowell's press
for Bars & Melody followed on the fifth episode.
Ant & Dec pressing the buzzer for Toju aired on the seventh and final auditions episode.
Auditions Open auditions
Producers' auditions were held from 19 October to 1 December 2013 in Cardiff, Birmingham,
Manchester, London, Belfast and Edinburgh.
Additionally, to couple with the show's sponsorship with Morrisons, a series of "Talent Spot tents"
were set up at various local Morrisons supermarkets around the country.
These auditions took place from 2–15 November 2013 in Dundee, Gamston, Killingworth, Norwich,
Leeds, Bristol, Wrexham, Plymstock, Liverpool and Swansea.
Also, two other sets auditions were held at The Savoy Hotel in Blackpool and The Old Ship
Hotel in Brighton on 16 and 17 November, respectively.
Judges auditions This series saw the first ever judges auditions
in Northern Ireland; however for the first time since series 1, auditions were not held
in Scotland.
A spokesman said: "We have found some great talent in Scotland in the past but we are
only able to visit a limited number of cities across the UK and this year we decided to
visit Belfast for the first time."
The auditions began on 18 January in Belfast, before taking place on 22 and 23 January in
Cardiff.
Auditions continued on 1–3 February in Birmingham, 7 and 8 February in Manchester and 11–14
February in London.
Cowell was forced to pull out of the first day of the Manchester auditions after contracting
the flu.
Ant & Dec each took a turn replacing him on the judging panel, but both failed to buzz
at acts and left the panel.
Cowell also missed the final day of the London auditions on 14 February due to his girlfriend
Lauren Silverman going into labour, but was not replaced.
Semi-finals The semi-finalists were chosen on 9 March
2014.
The live shows started on 26 May 2014, the day after the final auditions episode, and
aired each evening until 31 May, with the exception of the Friday due to ITV's coverage
of England's friendly with Peru.
The first four semi-final episodes aired from 7:30–9:00pm, with the results half-an-hour
later at 9.30pm after a 30-minute episode of Coronation Street.
The fifth show on Saturday 31 May aired at the earlier time of 7:00–8:30pm, although
the results show still aired at 9:30pm.
Each results show featured a guest performance which were Ella Henderson, Ed Sheeran, The
Vamps, will.i.am, Attraction and Richard & Adam.
Henderson performed on the first results show, Sheeran on the second, The Vamps on the third,
will.i.am featuring Wise on the fourth and Attraction and Richard & Adam on the fifth.
Semi-finalists Winner Runner-up Third
place Finalist Semi-finalist Wildcard Golden buzzer
Semi-finals summary
Semi-final 1 Guest performer: Ella Henderson – "Ghost"
^1 The judges' vote was a split decision.
Darcy Oake was announced to have received more public votes and was sent through to
the final.
Semi-final 2 Guest performer: Ed Sheeran – "Sing"
^2 Bolddog FMX Team's performance was recorded outside, in one take, in advance to the live
show.
^3 This was the first time since series 5 that an act in the semi-final had been buzzed
off.
Semi-final 3 Guest performers: The Vamps – "Last Night"
^4 The judges' vote was a split decision.
Yanis Marshall, Arnaud & Mehdi were announced to have received more public votes and were
sent through to the final.
Semi-final 4 Guest performers: will.i.am featuring Cody
Wise – "It's My Birthday" ^5 The judges' vote was a split decision.
Lettice Rowbotham was announced to have received more public votes and was sent through to
the final.
Semi-final 5 Guest performers: Attraction and Richard & Adam
– "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" ^6 This was the first semi-final since series
4 in which no buzzers were pressed by any of the judges.
^7 On 29 May, it was reported that Paddy & Nico had withdrawn due to injury, but the following
day a further announcement was made that Paddy had received the all-clear from doctors and
would be able to compete, although the act would be slightly modified.
Final
The final took place on 7 June from 7.00pm until 9.30pm.
The final marked the hundredth episode of Britain's Got Talent.
Guest performers: Diversity & Little Mix – "Salute"; Cheryl Cole featuring Tinie Tempah – "Crazy
Stupid Love" ^8 Cowell pressed his buzzer during Yanis
Marshall, Arnaud and Mehdi's performance.
This was the first time in Britain's Got Talent history that an act was buzzed during a final.
Ratings Controversy
Hometown On 15 March 2014, there were "fix" claims
when it was revealed that Irish boy band Hometown, who auditioned successfully, were in fact
managed by The X Factor judge Louis Walsh.
However the producers denied any wrongdoing.
Their audition was not shown on television.
Paddy & Nico Controversy was also caused when it was announced
that dance act Paddy & Nico, who advanced to the semi-finals after gaining Holden's
golden buzzer in the auditions, had previously won the Spanish talent show Tú sí que vales,
which has a similar format to Britain's Got Talent.
Cowell defended the pair, stating; "Don't knock Paddy for performing on a Spanish talent
show.
She is British and wants the chance to perform in front of our royal family.
She is 80 years old.
Let her have that chance.
You the viewers will decide."
Holden faced backlash, primary on Twitter, after comparing Paddy's performance spirit
to the soldiers on D-Day in 1944.
After Paddy & Nico's final performance, Holden commented, "I'm so proud of you.
You have come back from injury with fighting spirit...I hope that today is Pad-D Day".
Many tweets expressed the distaste in comparing Paddy Jones to soldiers that had fought in
the war.
Ed Drewett Cowell was not present at the audition of
singer Ed Drewett; however many believed that this was set up as Cowell would have recognised
him as Drewett has previously penned songs for The Wanted and One Direction.
It was also reported that Drewett had been asked to audition by producers so that Cowell
could sign him to Syco Music later on.
In response to these claims, Drewett insisted that he had never met Cowell before his audition.
He said, "I can completely see why people think, 'Oh, hang on, One Direction are with
Syco, Syco do Britain's Got Talent, they must be paying him!'
Not at all.
It's just if someone wants a song, I'm going to give it to them, especially if they're
One Direction."