Britain's Got Talent (series 13)


The thirteenth series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2019, from 6 April to 2 June on ITV. This series became the first to see the return of Anthony McPartlin to his television duties, hosting alongside Declan Donnelly, following his absence the previous year to attend rehab prior to the start of the previous series' live episodes. Alongside McPartlin's return, the competition for this year saw the oldest participant to win Britain's Got Talent, and the surprise return of a performer who participated in a previous year's contest, operating under an alias until their final appearance.
The thirteenth series was won by 89-year-old singer Colin Thackery, with mentalist Marc Spelmann finishing in second place and magician Ben Hart in third place. During its broadcast, the series averaged 8.32 million viewers.

Series overview

The judges auditions took place between January and February 2019, within London and Manchester. During filming of the London auditions, the event was kick-started by a special performance from Susan Boyle to mark her tenth year as a singer since she first made her appearance on Britain's Got Talents third series. One of the most notable auditionees for this year's contest was David Watson - a participant who had auditioned for ten years for a place on the programme without success. His latest attempt led to the host of Britain's Got More Talent, Stephen Mulhern, triggering a Golden Buzzer for him. This action led to speculation in the media over whether this had been officially allowed, but it was later revealed to have been disallowed on the grounds that it did not fall under the contest rules, as Mulhern had no official allowance to provide a Golden Buzzer act.
This series featured two notable events during its broadcast. The first to take place was the forced withdrawal of an act - extreme magicians Brotherhood - who had secured a spot in the semi-finals. Despite Brotherhood's success in the auditions landing them a place in the fifth and final semi-final, concerns over health and safety were raised about the dangerous nature of their performance, leading to the group of magicians withdrawing their involvement at the request of the production staff and broadcaster, and their place being offered to another act which had been eliminated during auditions. The second was the surprise revelation that a participant who had operated under anonymity, was in reality a former semi-finalist from a previous year's contest who had re-entered the contest for this year in order to emphasis the values of hope and perseverance.
Of the participants that took part, only 40 made it into the five live semi-finals - of these acts, dancer Akshat Singh, band Chapter 13, choir Flakefleet Primary School, singer Giorgia Borg, and stand-up comedian Kojo Anim, each received a golden buzzer during their auditions - with eight appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was dance duo Libby & Charlie, after they lost out in a tied judges' vote in the last semi-final round. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
ParticipantAge GenreActFromSemi-finalResult
4MG17-19MagicClose-up MagiciansSuffolk2'
Akshat Singh 13DanceDancerMumbai, India1
Angels Inc.23-28MagicIllusionistsThe Netherlands3
Barbara Nice68ComedyStand-up ComedianGreater Manchester5
Ben Hart28MagicMagicianLondon4'
Brian Gilligan32SingingSingerDublin, Republic of Ireland1
Chapter 13 14–15Singing / MusicBandLondon3
Colin Thackery89SingingWar Veteran SingerNorwich, Norfolk3'
Dave & Finn42, 9Magic / AnimalsDog Handler & MentalistBuntingford, Hertfordshire1'
Duo A&J28, 26AcrobaticsAerialist DuoUkraine & Coventry4
Fabulous Sisters 12-26DanceDance GroupJapan5
Faith Tucker18SingingOpera SingerNottingham2
Flakefleet Primary School 4-11SingingChoirLancashire1'
Giorgia Borg 10SingingSingerMalta2
Gomonov Knife Show25, 36DangerKnife-Throwing DuoBelarus3
Gonzo33MusicTambourinistJapan5
Graeme Mathews34Comedy / MagicComic MagicianEssex4
Jacob Jones27SingingSingerSurrey5
Jimmy Tamley64ComedyVentriloquistDevon4
John Archer58Comedy / MagicComic MagicianNorth Yorkshire3
Jonathan Goodwin39DangerEscape ArtistWales5'
Kerr James12SingingSingerGlasgow4
Khronos Girls15-18DanceDance GroupLondon1
KNE22-35DanceDance GroupLondon3
Kojo Anim 39ComedyStand-up ComedianLondon 3'
Leanne Mya31SingingSingerLondon5
Libby & Charlie 11, 11DanceDance DuoManchester, Liverpool5'
Lil' Icons 7-18DanceDance GroupPort Talbot, West Glamorgan4
Mark McMullan23SingingSingerNorthern Ireland4'
Matt Stirling46MagicStunt MagicianLondon2
Rob King28SingingMusical Theatre SingerManchester3
Rosie & Adam 21, 38Danger / DanceExtreme Rollerskating DuoBlackpool1
Siobhan Phillips42Comedy / Music / SingingComic Pianist & SingerWakefield, West Yorkshire2'
State of the Fart 26Comedy / Music / VarietyHand MusicianIsrael2
The Haunting N/A MagicHorror MagicianN/A 1
"The Queen"61 ComedyDrag ComedianAustralia2
Tony Rudd58ComedyImpressionistBournemouth, Dorset1
Ursula Burns48Comedy / Music / SingingComic Harpist & SingerBelfast4
Vardanyan Brothers 28, 30DangerHand Balancing DuoArmenia2
X 47MagicMentalistLondon5

Semi-final 1 (27 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast Of On Your Feet! & Gloria Estefan

Semi-final 2 (28 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Six

Semi-final 3 (29 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: James Arthur and Freckled Sky
Guest Performers, Results Show: BTS

Semi-final 5 (31 May)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Jason Donovan, Sheridan Smith & Cast Of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Guest Performers, Results Show: Diversity & DVJ, and Susan Boyle & Michael Ball
FinalistOrderActFinished
Dave & Finn1Dog Handler & Mentalist5th
Flakefleet Primary School2Choir6th
Ben Hart3Magician3rd
Libby & Charlie4Dance Duo10th
4MG5Close-up Magicians11th
Mark McMullan6Singer7th
Jonathan Goodwin7Escape Artist8th
Siobhan Phillips8Comic Pianist & Singer9th
X 9Mentalist2nd
Kojo Anim10Stand-up Comedian4th
Colin Thackery11War Veteran Singer1st

Ratings


EpisodeAir dateTotal viewers ITV weekly
rank
Auditions 110.661
Auditions 210.491
Auditions 39.481
Auditions 410.181
Auditions 59.941
Auditions 69.401
Auditions 78.791
Auditions 88.031
Semi-final 18.692
Semi-final 1 results6.6812
Semi-final 27.644
Semi-final 2 results
Semi-final 37.703
Semi-final 3 results
Semi-final 47.266
Semi-final 4 results
Semi-final 57.0310
Semi-final 5 results
Final9.731