The sixth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 24 March to 12 May 2012. The sixth series saw Simon Cowell resume a full commitment to the programme following the previous series, yet neither David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre returned to take part in the new series, leading to them being replaced by Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. Because of her pregnancy during filming of the auditions, Amanda Holden was required to miss a number of sessions, leading to producers asking Carmen Electra to step in as a guest judge in her place.
The sixth series of the programme saw a full commitment of incorporating a panel of four judges throughout every stage of the competition. The prize money offered by Britain's Got Talent was increased to £500,000 for this series only, the highest amount offered in the programme's history. In addition, the format of the programme saw a number of changes, including nine semi-finalists in each semi-final, the establishment of a Wildcard format similar to that used in America's Got Talent - in which the judges could appoint a single place in the final to any eliminated semi-finalist they favoured the most - and the incorporation of a mobile voting app, which functioned differently to the system used on The X Factor.Britain's Got Talent - Short Codes
The sixth series was won by dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey, with opera duo Jonathan and Charlotte finishing in second place and choir Only Boys Aloud third. Many of the semi-finalists that took part in the competition were considered some of the best in the programme's history by 2012. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 10.6 million viewers. The programme faced controversy concerning two auditions and a mishap with the new voting system, of which Ofcom had to investigate ITV's handling in regards to two of these incidents that viewers raised complaints against.
Series overview
Following open auditions held the previous year, the Judges' auditions were held during January and February 2012, within Manchester, Blackpool, Cardiff, London, Edinburgh and Birmingham. Like the previous series, a number of acts were invited to audition between 6 and 22 January, after being found via their videos on YouTube. Twenty-five participants from this were picked by the producers and revealed by Britain's Got More Talent host Stephen Mulhern via a live YouTube stream from backstage at the London auditions, in which the YouTube community voted on their favourites between 6 and 13 February, with the winning acts later performing before the judges after the results of the vote on 18 February. Between 25 and 31 January, the sponsors of the show for this series, Virgin Media, ran addition auditions for the show via videos made on YouTube and/or Vimeo, which, while adhering to the same rules, were restricted to only Virgin Media customer, with the five winning acts later performing for the judges during the Birmingham auditions.
Following the previous series, both David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre announced that they wouldn't be returning for another year of the competition. Their decision led to the producers seeking out their replacements, after deciding to maintain the use of four judges in the programme following Cowell's announcement in December 2011 that he would be returning to oversee auditions for the sixth series. Both Hasselhoff and McIntyre were eventually replaced by comedian David Walliams, and singer and TV presenter Alesha Dixon, the latter having previously been a judge on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. Owing to her pregnancy entering its late stages, Holden was forced to be absent from the London and Blackpool auditions. Therefore, the Blackpool auditions were a 3-judge panel with only Dixon, Cowell and Walliams. For the London auditions, the production team brought in American actress and model Carmen Electra as a guest judge to oversee London auditions in her place. Holden was cleared by doctors to return to overseeing the remainder of the auditions by the time the Edinburgh auditions rolled around. Apart from a change in the judging panel, the producers decided to increase the prize money offered to the winner of the series to £500,000, with Cowell pledging half of the prize money being offered to the winner.
Of the participants that took part, only forty five made it past this stage and into the five live semi-finals, with nine appearing in each one; this was a significant change after the last four series of the programme. In a change with the format, the live final featured ten acts that made it through the semi-finals, and one additional act dubbed "the Judges' wildcard" - if a semi-finalist was eliminated in their semi-final, they became eligible to be picked as a wildcard act for the final by the judges, with the choice made prior to the live final's broadcast. The wildcard for this series was boyband The Mend, after they 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:
| Judges' Wildcard Finalist
ParticipantAge(s) GenrePerformance TypeSemi-finalResult Analiza Ching 29 Music Violinist 1 Aquabatique 21–28 Variety Synchronised Swimmers 5 Area 51 23–44 Dance Pyrotechnic Dance Group 3 Ashleigh and Pudsey 17 & 6 Animals Dog Act 1 Ashley Elliot 16 Music Xylophonist 3 Be Minor 13–14 Singing Girl Band 4 Beatrix von Bourbon 27 Dance Burlesque Dancer 4 Billy George 20 Acrobatics Cyr Wheel Acrobat 5 Brynolf & Ljung 35 & 36 Magic Magic Duo 4 Callum Oakley 16 Comedy Stand Up Comedian 5 Cascade 22–35 Acrobatics Martial Arts Team 2 Chica Latina 44 Singing Singer 4 Dennis Egel 41 Singing Singer 3 Face Team 19–28 Acrobatics Basketball Stunt Team 5 Fish on Percussion 24 Music Percussionist 2 Four Corners 17–25 Dance Dance Group 2 Gatis Kandis 31 Comedy Stand Up Comedian 4 Graham Blackledge 42 Singing / Music Singer & Organist 2 Greig Stewart 27 Music Laser Harpist 5 Honey Shazad 21 Singing Singer 3 Hope Murphy 16 Singing Singer 5 Jonathan and Charlotte 17 & 16 Singing Opera Singing Duo 2 Kai & Natalia 15 & 16 Dance Ballroom Dance Duo 2 Karizma Krew 14–38 Dance Street Dance Group 2 Lauren Thalia 12 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist 1 Loveable Rogues 18–20 Singing / Music Acoustic Trio 3 Lucky 26 Acrobatics Contortionist 3 Malaki Paul 9 Singing Singer 4 Martyn Crofts 42 Singing Rapping Dalek Impersonator 5 Molly Rainford 11 Singing Singer 3 Nu Sxool 10–17 Dance Dance Group 4 Only Boys Aloud 14–19 Singing Choir 1 Third Place Paige Turley 14 Singing Singer 2 Rachel Knowland 25 Singing Singer 1 Ryan O'Shaughnessy 19 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist 5 Sam Kelly 19 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist 4 Strictly Wheels 39 & 41 Dance Dance Duo 5 The Jive Aces 34–49 Music Jazz Band 1 The Mend 21–22 Singing Boy Band 1 The Showbears 34–53 Singing Entertainers 2 The Sugar Dandies 40 & 40 Dance Ballroom Dance Duo 4 The Zimmers 66–88 Singing Rap Group 3 Twist and Pulse Dance Company 12–20 Dance Street Dance Group 3 United We Stand 17–25 Dance Street Dance Group 1 Zipparah Tafari 49 Singing Rapper 1
Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series. Due to the nature of Aquabatique's performance, their live round performances had to be performed outside of the studio, with the judges and studio audience watching via screens. The latter value pertains to the age of the dog, as disclosed by its owner.
Semi-finals summary Buzzed out | Judges' vote |
Semi-final 1 (6 May) Guest performance: Tulisa ("Young")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and Judges' VotePercentageResult Zipparah Tafari 1Rapper2.3% 4th - Eliminated The Jive Aces 2Jazz Band1.0% 7th - Eliminated Lauren Thalia 3 Singer & Guitarist1.8% 5th - Eliminated United We Stand 4Street Dance Group0.6% 9th - Eliminated Analiza Ching 5Violinist0.9% 8th - Eliminated The Mend 6Boy Band11.8% 3rd (Judges' vote tied - Lost on Public Vote) Rachel Knowland 7Singer1.2% 6th - Eliminated Ashleigh & Pudsey 8Dog Act50.0% 1st (Won Public vote) Only Boys Aloud 9Choir30.4% 2nd (Judges' vote tied - Won on Public vote)
The Mend were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.
Semi-final 2 (7 May) Guest performance: The Wanted ("Chasing The Sun")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and Judges' VotePercentageResult Cascade 1 Martial Arts Group1.6% 8th - Eliminated Paige Turley 2Singer5.2% 3rd (Lost Judges' vote) Karizma Krew 3Street Dance Group2.4% 5th - Eliminated The Showbears 4Entertainers1.8% 7th - Eliminated Fish on Percussion 5Percussionist0.9% 9th - Eliminated Graham Blackledge 6Singer & Organist1.9% 6th - Eliminated Kai and Natalia 7Ballroom Dance Duo6.2% 2nd (Won Judges' vote) Four Corners 8Dance Group4.7% 4th - Eliminated Jonathan and Charlotte 9Opera Singing Duo75.3% 1st (Won Public vote)
Semi-final 3 (8 May) Guest performance: LMFAO ("Party Rock Anthem"/"Sexy and I Know It")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and Judges' VotePercentageResult The Zimmers 1Rap Group3.3% 6th - Eliminated Area 51 2Pyrotechnic Dance Group2.2% 8th - Eliminated Ashley Elliot 3Xylophonist4.9% 5th - Eliminated Molly Rainford 4Singer22.2% 2nd (Judges' vote tied - Won on Public vote) Lucky 5Contortionist2.7% 7th - Eliminated Loveable Rogues 6Acoustic Trio40.4% 1st (Won Public vote) Honey Shazad 7Singer1.2% 9th - Eliminated Twist and Pulse Dance Company 8Street Dance Group 17.6% 3rd (Judges' vote tied - Lost on Public vote) Dennis Egel 9Singer5.5% 4th - Eliminated
Semi-final 4 (9 May) Guest performance: Labrinth ("Express Yourself")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and Judges' VotePercentageResult Chica Latina 1 Singer0.6% 9th - Eliminated Brynolf and Ljung 2Illusion Duo7.3% 5th - Eliminated Malaki Paul 3Singer25.2% 2nd (Lost Judges' vote) Gatis Kandis 4Stand Up Comedian6.5% 6th - Eliminated The Sugar Dandies 5Ballroom Dance Duo2.8% 7th - Eliminated Nu Sxool 6Dance Troupe 20.0% 3rd (Won Judges' vote) Beatrix von Bourbon 7Burlesque Dancer1.1% 8th - Eliminated Sam Kelly 8Singer & Guitarist26.8% 1st (Won Public vote) Be Minor 9Girl Band9.7% 4th - Eliminated
Semi-final 5 (10 May) Guest performance: Rebecca Ferguson ("Teach Me How to Be Loved")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and Judges' VotePercentageResult Face Team 1Basketball Stunt Team7.4% 6th - Eliminated Greig Stewart 2Laser Harpist1.6% 9th - Eliminated Billy George 3Cyr Wheel Acrobat11.0% 3rd (Lost Judges' vote) Martyn Crofts 4Dalek Voice Impersonator3.0% 8th - Eliminated Callum Oakley 5Stand Up Comedian9.0% 4th - Eliminated Hope Murphy 6Singer7.6% 5th - Eliminated Strictly Wheels 7Dance Duo3.5%7th - Eliminated Aquabatique 8Synchronised Swimmers14.6% 2nd (Won Judges' vote) Ryan O'Shaughnessy 9Singer & Guitarist42.3% 1st (Won Public vote)
Final (12 May) Guest Performers, Results Show: Susan Boyle, Diversity & Paul Gbegbaje, and The Show Bears (featuring David Walliams)
FinalistOrderPerformance TypePercentageFinished The Mend 1Boy Band2.6% 7th Sam Kelly 2Singer & Guitarist1.0% 9th Nu Sxool 3Dance Group1.2% 8th Molly Rainford 4Singer2.8% 6th Loveable Rogues 5Acoustic Trio5.7% 4th Kai and Natalia 6Ballroom Dance Duo0.4% 11th Aquabatique 7Synchronised Swimmers0.9% 10th Ryan O'Shaughnessy 8Singer & Guitarist4.8% 5th Only Boys Aloud 9Choir15.8% 3rd Ashleigh and Pudsey 10Dog Act39.0% 1st Jonathan and Charlotte 11Opera Singing Duo25.8% 2nd
Ratings