Britain's Got Talent (series 9)

Britain's Got Talent
Series 9
Broadcast from 11 April – 31 May 2015
Judges Simon Cowell
Amanda Holden
Alesha Dixon
David Walliams
Presenter(s) Anthony McPartlin (ITV)
Declan Donnelly (ITV)
Co-presenter(s) Stephen Mulhern (ITV2)
Broadcaster ITV
ITV2 (BGMT)
Winner
Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse
Origin Blackpool, England
Genre(s) Musical canine freestyle
Runner-up
Jamie Raven

Series Nine of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2015, from 11 April to 31 May on ITV. The series saw the "Wildcard" format introduced in the sixth series being modified in this series to include a "Public Wildcard" – like the "Judges' Wildcard" any act eliminated in the semi-finals, primarily those that lost out in the Judges' vote, could be reinstated by the public, based on the one that received the most votes from them before the final. Although speculations and rumours began to emerge after the previous series ended, claiming that some of the judges would be leaving before the ninth series,[1][2] these were later dismissed as being unfounded by ITV, on 16 January 2015.[3]

The ninth series was won by dog tricks duo Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse, with magician Jamie Raven finishing in second place and Welsh choir Côr Glanaethwy in third place. Following the series' broadcast, viewers complained about being misled by winner O'Dwyer's performance, after it was found that their act involved a second dog that had not been disclosed to the public or the judges.[4] During its broadcast, the series averaged around 9.9 million viewers.

Series overview

Following open auditions held the previous year between October to December,[5] the Judges' auditions took place between January and February 2015, within Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and London.[6] Unlike previous years, where a guest judge had to stand-in for another, no issues occurred that caused a member of the judging panel to be absent, while the auditions were held in a more standard manner for this year, though with the "Golden Buzzer" format remaining a part of them since its introduction to the show in the previous series.

Of the participants that took part, forty-five made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals – of these acts, dance troupe Boyband, singer Calum Scott, choir Revelation Avenue, dance act Entity Allstars, and comedy singer Lorraine Bowen, each received a golden buzzer during their auditions – with nine appearing in each one. In a minor change to the show's "Wildcard act" format, the series saw the introduction of the "Public Wildcard". Like the "Judges' wildcard", if a semi-finalist was eliminated in their semi-final at the Judges' vote, they became eligible to be picked as a wildcard act by the public, who would vote on which one they would like to reinstate into the final once all the semi-finals had been aired, with their choice being the one to have received the most votes by the time the final was due to be aired. While the Public Wildcard was extreme martial artist Jesse-Jane McParland, who lost out in the tied Judges' vote in the final semi-final, the Judges' Wildcard for this series was dance troupe Boyband, who lost the Judges' vote in the fourth semi-final. As a result, it led to a total of twelve acts taking part in the series' final.

The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third place
  Finalist |   Semi-finalist (lost judges' vote) |   Semi-finalist (eliminated)
Judges' wildcard (previously eliminated act reinstated into the final by the judges)
Public wildcard (previously eliminated act reinstated into the final by the public)
Golden buzzer
Participant Age(s) Genre Act Semi-final Result
Alison Jiear 50 Singing Singer 2 Eliminated
Andrew Fleming 51 Comedy Impressionist 1 Eliminated
Beat Brothers 19-23 Dance Tap Dance Group 5 Eliminated
Becky O'Brien 34 Singing Singer 1 Eliminated
Billy and Emily England 28 & 25 Variety Extreme Roller Skating Duo 1 Eliminated
Bonetics 17 Variety / Dancing Contortionist Dancer 2 Eliminated
Boyband 17-19 Dance Dance Troupe 4 Finalist (Won Judges' Wildcard)
Calum Scott 26 Singing Singer 5 Finalist (Won Public vote)
Chloe Louise Crawford 27 Magic Illusionist 5 Eliminated
Côr Glanaethwy 7-65 Singing Choir 1 Third place
Danny Posthill 28 Comedy Impressionist 5 Finalist (Won Judges' vote)
Dylan Byrd 17 Dance Dancer 3 Eliminated
Ella Shaw 18 Singing / Music Singer And Pianist 3 Eliminated
Emma Jones 23 Singing Opera Singer 5 Eliminated
Entity Allstars 10-15 Dance Dance Troupe 1 Finalist (Won Judges' vote)
Gracie Wickens-Sweet 11 Singing Singer 3 Eliminated
Groove Thing 7-11 Dance Dance Troupe 2 Eliminated
Henry Gallagher 12 Singing Singer And Guitarist 1 Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
IMD Legion 9-17 Dance Dance Troupe 3 Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
Isaac Waddington 15 Singing Singer And Pianist 4 Finalist (Won Public vote)
Jamie Raven 31 Magic Close-up Magician 3 Runner-up
Jeffrey Drayton 73 Magic Entertainer 4 Eliminated
Jesse-Jane McParland 9 Variety Extreme Martial Artist 5 Finalist (Won Public Wildcard)
Jonathan Lutwyche 15 Dance Contemporary Dancer 5 Eliminated
Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse 49 & 7 Animals Dog Tricks Act 2 Winner
Lisa Sampson 35 Variety Hula-Hoop Artist 4 Eliminated
Lorraine Bowen 53 Singing / Music Singer And Keyboardist 1 Eliminated
Luca Calo 23 Dance Dancer 2 Eliminated
Maia Gough 13 Singing Singer 4 Eliminated
Marc Metral 61 Comedy / Animals Ventriloquist Dog Act 4 Eliminated
Michael Late 44 Magic Comic Illusionist 2 Eliminated
Misstasia 22-24 Singing Girl Group 5 Eliminated
Mitch & Cally the Wonderdog 42 & 10 Animals World Record Attempters 1 Eliminated
Narinder Dhani 43 Variety / Music Comb Musician 3 Eliminated
OK Worldwide 19-28 Acrobatics Acrobatic Troupe 4 Eliminated
Old Men Grooving 40-60 Dance Dance Troupe 2 Finalist (Won Judges' vote)
Peter Lambert 32 Variety Circus Performer 5 Eliminated
Revelation Avenue 20-30 Singing Gospel Choir 2 Eliminated (Lost Judges' vote)
Ruby Red Performers 25-64 Dance Burlesque Dance Troupe 1 Eliminated
The Honeybuns 22-33 Singing Girl Group 2 Eliminated
The Kanneh-Masons 9-18 Variety / Music Classical Band 4 Eliminated
The Kingdom Tenors 21-31 Singing Vocal Harmony Group 3 Eliminated
The Neales 24-59 Singing Vocal Group 4 Finalist (Won Judges' vote)
The Sakyi Five 10-20 Singing Boy Band 3 Eliminated
UDI 19-32 Dance Electronic Light Dance Troupe 3 Finalist (Won Judges' vote)

Semi-finals summary

Buzzed out
Judges' vote
  Won the public vote |   Won the judges' vote; won by public vote in the event of a tie
  Lost the judges' vote; lost by public vote in the event of a tie |   Eliminated

Semi-final 1 (25 May)

Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Finished[7]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Entity Allstars 1 Street Dance Troupe 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Billy and Emily England 2 Extreme Roller Skating Duo 7th – Eliminated
Mitch & Cally the Wonderdog 3 World Record Attempters 5th – Eliminated
Henry Gallagher 4 Singer And Guitarist 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
Côr Glanaethwy 5 Choir 1st (Won Public vote)
Ruby Red Performers 6 Burlesque Dance Troupe 9th – Eliminated
Andrew Fleming 7 Impressionist 8th – Eliminated
Becky O'Brien 8 Singer 6th – Eliminated
Lorraine Bowen 9 Singer And Keyboardist 4th – Eliminated

Semi-final 2 (26 May)

Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Finished[7]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Groove Thing 1 Dance Troupe 4th – Eliminated
Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse 2 Dog Act 1st (Won Public vote)
Bonetics 3 Contortionist Dancer 5th – Eliminated
Revelation Avenue 4 Gospel Choir 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
The HoneyBuns 5 Vocal Harmony Group 6th – Eliminated
Michael Late 6 Comic Illusionist 7th – Eliminated
Luca Calò 7 Dancer 9th – Eliminated
Alison Jiear 8 Singer 8th – Eliminated
Old Men Grooving 9 Dance Group 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)

Semi-final 3 (27 May)

Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Finished[7]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
The Sakyi Five 1 Boy Band 6th – Eliminated
UDI 2 Electronic Light Dance Troupe 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)
Dylan Byrd 3 Dancer 8th – Eliminated
Ella Shaw 4 Singer 7th – Eliminated
Gracie Wickens-Sweet 5 Singer 5th – Eliminated
IMD Legion 6 Street Dance Troupe 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
Narinder Dhani 7 Comb Musician 9th – Eliminated
The Kingdom Tenors 8 Vocal Harmony Group 4th – Eliminated
Jamie Raven 9 Close-up Magician 1st (Won Public vote)

Semi-final 4 (28 May)

Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Finished[7]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Ok Worldwide 1 Acrobatic Troupe 9th – Eliminated
Lisa Sampson 2 Hula-Hoop Artist 7th – Eliminated
The Kanneh-Masons 3 Classical Band 5th – Eliminated
The Neales 4 Vocal Harmony Group 2nd (Won Judges' vote)
Maia Gough 5 Singer 6th – Eliminated
Jeffrey Drayton 6 Entertainer 8th – Eliminated
Marc Métral 7 Ventriloquist Dog Act 4th – Eliminated
Isaac Waddington 8 Singer And Pianist 1st (Won Public vote)
'Boyband 1 9 Dance Group 3rd (Lost Judges' vote)
  • ^1 Boyband were later sent through to the final as the judges wildcard.

Semi-final 5 (29 May)

Semi-Finalist Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Finished[7]
Cowell Holden Dixon Walliams
Beat Brothers 1 Tap Dance Group 6th – Eliminated
Chloe Louise Crawford 2 Illusionist 8th – Eliminated
Peter Lambert 3 Circus Performer 9th – Eliminated
Misstasia 4 Girl Group 7th – Eliminated
Jonathan Lutwyche 5 Contemporary Dancer 4th – Eliminated
Emma Jones 6 Opera Singer 5th – Eliminated
Danny Posthill 7 Impressionist 2nd (Judges' vote tied – Won on Public vote)
Jesse-Jane McParland 2 8 Extreme Martial Artist 3rd (Judges' vote tied – Lost on Public vote)
Calum Scott 9 Singer 1st (Won Public vote)
  • ^2 Jesse-Jane McParland was later sent through to the final as the public's wildcard.

Final (31 May)

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place

Final results

Finalist Order Act Finished[7]
Entity Allstars 1 Street Dance Troupe 11th
UDI 2 Electronic Light Dancers 10th
The Neales 3 Vocal Harmony Group 9th
Boyband 4 Dance Group 12th
Jesse-Jane McParland 5 Extreme Martial Artist 8th
Danny Posthill 6 Impressionist 7th
Calum Scott 7 Singer 6th
Côr Glanaethwy 8 Choir 3rd
Old Men Grooving 9 Dance Group 4th
Jamie Raven 10 Close-up Magician 2nd
Isaac Waddington 11 Singer And Pianist 5th
Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse 12 Dancing Dog Act 1st

Ratings

Episode Date Total viewers (millions)[8] Weekly rank[8] Share (%)
Auditions 1 11 April11.25143.2[9]
Auditions 2 18 April11.47144.1[10]
Auditions 3 25 April11.87146.3[11]
Auditions 4 2 May11.73145.0[12]
Auditions 5 9 May11.64145.1[13]
Auditions 6 16 May11.55147.0[14]
Auditions 7 23 May9.35135.2[15]
Semi-final 1 25 May10.18337.8[16]
Semi-final 1 results 7.741528.7[16]
Semi-final 2 26 May9.341036.8[17]
Semi-final 2 results 7.601631.1[17]
Semi-final 3 27 May9.48638.8[18]
Semi-final 3 results 8.091331.7[18]
Semi-final 4 28 May9.261137.2[19]
Semi-final 4 results 7.871234.5[19]
Semi-final 5 29 May9.51839.2[20]
Semi-final 5 results 7.911432.1[20]
Live final 31 May12.75146.6[21]

Criticism & controversies

Dresses of Holden & Dixon

While the live episodes of the ninth series were being broadcast, Ofcom found itself receiving around 200 complaints from viewers following one episode, in regards to the clothing that Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon had worn when judging the episode's participants. Criticism was primarily aimed towards the pair wearing low-cut dresses that were claimed not to conform to guidelines on suitable clothing before the 9pm watershed.[22][23][24] After a month-long investigation into the matter, the regulator ruled that it had found no evidence to show that Holden and Dixon had dressed inappropriately or that either had been portrayed in an unsuitable manner on the episode, and dismissed the complaints.[25]

Animal cruelty claims

Amongst the participants that took part in the ninth series was ventriloquist Marc Métral, who auditioned for the show by performing comedic ventriloquism through his dog "Miss Wendy". Métral's act involves the use of a specially designed "ventriloquist mask" – a special device used by ventriloquists on human volunteers – which is attached to over the jaw of his dog and then operated by a remote control to move when the dog "speaks". The act was not the first time that such a form of ventriloquism was used; such a performance had been previously used by a participant for the seventh series of America's Got Talent in 2012. However, after Métral's audition was aired, several animal rights groups made complaints to ITV and Ofcom over the belief that the dog was being mistreated, while adding that they had concerns over the dog's welfare after they had felt it seemed to "tremble" on stage. The RSPCA, which had similar concerns, launched an investigation into the act to determine if the dog suffered any cruelty from its owner in the performance, particularly because of the mask it wore, but later felt satisfied that the dog's well-being and treatment on the show was very adequate after being invited by Simon Cowell to oversee her in rehearsals with her owner. Cowell later went onto Twitter to alleviate any further concerns over Métral's act:[26][27]

"I thought a lot about the dog act on our show tonight. It's no secret I love animals. I believe if you can show that animals have personalities, more people will hopefully respect them and show compassion. We asked the RSPCA to see Wendy in rehearsals and I was told she was happy and looked after well. As animal lovers I will always listen to your views. I would never allow any animal to be treated in a cruel way. But care that you care. My last thought is cruelty to animals beyond belief has been brought to my attention. If you care, your concern can do much more good."

In a similar response to the concerns, Métral defended his performance:[26]

"She [Miss Wendy] loves performing and I would never put her in a situation that would cause her distress. She gets excited when we go to work and is always comfortable on stage."

Misleading dog act

Throughout the course of the series, viewers had been made aware that dog trainer Jules O'Dwyer was involved in training multiple dogs, as well as using several in her semi-final performance, including two dogs that were of the same breed and had similar appearances – Matisse and Chase. But her performance in the final was dogged by complaints from viewers against the programme for being misleading, as viewers had believed that O'Dwyer had used only Matisse for each routine of the act, with the exception of the climax, which involved an additional dog. Only the production team had been aware of the full details of her performance – while Matisse was used for most of the routines, the dog couldn't perform a tightrope section that was part of the final act, thus when it had gone backstage behind the set piece on the stage, it was switched for Chase who performed the trick before going backstage again to be switched back to Matisse for the rest of the performance. When this came to light during an interview with O'Dwyer the morning after the live final, viewers sent numerous complaints that they had been completely misled and tricked by what they had seen on the programme.[28][29] Simon Cowell, who had been completely unaware of the switch, launched an investigation into the matter,[30][31] but could find no evidence that put O'Dwyer at fault for the controversial situation, and thus no formal action was taken against the trainer.[32] However, the show's producers were later forced to apologise for the confusion caused, stating that this detail in her final performance should have been "made clearer".[33][34]

Viewers continued to complain about the performance, which prompted Ofcom to launch an official investigation after it received over 1,000 complaints. Its findings, released on 17 August 2015, found that while ITV had not intended to deceive viewers over what they had seen, it had been responsible for allowing Britain's Got Talent to mislead them, and thus ruled that the broadcaster had breached its guidelines in regards to ensuring that viewers are not misled, and that facts are accurately presented on a television/radio programme.[35][36][37][38]

References

  1. ↑ Adams, Sam (8 June 2014). "Simon Cowell 'to quit as judge' on Britain's Got Talent". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "David Walliams leaves fans confused over the future of Britain's Got Talent". Hello. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Britain's Got Talent – the Judges are back". ITV. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Dog-swapping BGT winner accused of duping viewers refuses to apologise, vows to keep her prize money and says she and Matisse will still perform for the Royals". Daily Mail. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Alexander, Susannah (1 October 2014). "Britain's Got Talent announces open auditions for 2015 series". Digital Spy. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Where are the Judges Auditions for BGT 2015?". ITV. 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "BGT 2015: the votes revealed". ITV. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Lee, Ben (12 April 2015). "Britain's Got Talent returns to ITV with 9.5 million viewers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Lee, Ben (19 April 2015). "Britain's Got Talent continues with 9.5 million viewers on ITV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Lee, Ben (26 April 2015). "Britain's Got Talent rises to nearly 10 million viewers on ITV". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Lee, Ben (3 May 2015). "Britain's Got Talent dominates Saturday night with 9.6 million on ITV". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Lee, Ben (10 May 2015). "Britain's Got Talent continues with 9.6 million viewers on ITV". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Lee, Ben (17 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Atlantis finale averages 2.5 million viewers on BBC One". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Lee, Ben (24 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Eurovision 2015 averages 6.6 million on BBC One". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  16. 1 2 Rigby, Sam (26 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Britain's Got Talent semi-finals kick off with 8.6m on Monday". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  17. 1 2 Rigby, Sam (27 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Britain's Got Talent continues to dominate with 7.8m for ITV". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  18. 1 2 Rigby, Sam (28 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Britain's Got Talent rises to 8.2m with third semi-final". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  19. 1 2 Rigby, Sam (29 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Britain's Got Talent wows 7.8m on Thursday for ITV". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  20. 1 2 Rigby, Sam (30 May 2015). "UK TV ratings: Big Brother: Timebomb eviction twist peaks with 1.36 million". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  21. ↑ Rigby, Sam (1 June 2015). "UK TV ratings: Britain's Got Talent final dominates with 11.4m on Sunday". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Katy Forrester (1 June 2015). "Ofcom received 200 complaints after Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon wore VERY low cut dresses for BGT final". mirror.
  23. ↑ "Britain's Got Talent's Amanda Holden flashes the flesh as Alesha Dixon covers up in blazer – Daily Mail Online". Mail Online.
  24. ↑ Mark Sweney. "BGT final: Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon's dresses prompt 190 complaints". the Guardian.
  25. ↑ Mark Sweney. "BGT cleared over Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon's revealing dresses". the Guardian.
  26. 1 2 Buchanan, Sarah (29 May 2015). "Simon Cowell calls RSPCA to investigate mistreatment of Britain's Got Talent talking dog". Daily Express. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  27. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (13 April 2015). "Britain's Got Talent: RSPCA investigating Marc Metral's 'talking dog' act". BT.com. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  28. ↑ Forrester, Katy; Leyfield, James (1 June 2015). "BGT viewers TRICKED as Jules O'Dwyer reveals a STUNT dog was used instead of Matisse for tight-rope walk". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  29. ↑ Lee, Ben (1 June 2015). "Britain's Got Talent winner Matisse the dog didn't actually do that tightrope walk". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  30. ↑ "Simon Cowell orders investigation into Matisse stunt double". The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  31. ↑ "Simon Cowell 'could FIRE producers' over BGT's Jules and Matisse stunt dog con: 'Heads could roll'". Daily Mirror. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  32. ↑ Glanfield, Emma (3 June 2015). "'I felt like an idiot': Simon Cowell's fury at being duped by fake Matisse on Britain's Got Talent". Mail Online. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  33. ↑ "Anger after BGT winner Matisse revealed to have used 'stunt dog'". ITV. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "BGT winner 'shocked and surprised' by reaction to dog double". The Guardian. Press Association. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  35. ↑ "Cowell 'Felt Like An Idiot' Over BGT Dog Act". Sky News. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  36. ↑ Plunkett, John (3 June 2015). "Simon Cowell: Britain's Got Talent double dog controversy a 'cock-up'". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  37. ↑ "BGT misled viewers over winning dog act, Ofcom rules". 17 August 2015 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  38. ↑ The Ofcom Broadcasting Code - Section Five: Due impartiality and due accuracy
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