Britain's Got Talent (series 7)


The seventh series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2013, from 13 April to 8 June on ITV; because of England's international friendly with the Republic of Ireland that year, the show took a break on 29 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. Because of the work schedule of Stephen Mulhern, host of Britain's Got More Talent, filmed auditions had to be pushed back to mid-January that year, though no guest judge was brought in due to the absence of Simon Cowell for an audition session. Following the previous series, the programme's format was given a minor amendment - the cash prize offered to winners was reduced to £250,000 for this series.
The seventh series was won by shadow theatre troupe Attraction, the first foreign national participant to win the competition, with comedian Jack Carroll finishing in second place, and opera duo Richard & Adam placing third. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 10.4 million viewers. The programme faced severe criticism from viewers over a number of auditions that were broadcast as part of the sixth series, while production staff had to investigate a breach of security after a protester managed to pelt Cowell with eggs during a live broadcast of a finalist's performance.

Series overview

Following open auditions, the Judges' auditions were held in January and February 2013, within Cardiff, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham; although filming was planned to begin by 7 January, it was pushed back to 16 January, in order to avoid clashing with Stephen Mulhern's schedule for Catchphrase that month. Most of the auditions that took place were uneventful; although Cowell was forced to miss most of the auditions on the second day in Manchester due to illness, production proceeded with these without bringing in a guest judge to stand in for him.
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, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was ventriloquist Steve Hewlett, after he lost out in the Judges' vote in the fifth semi-final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
ParticipantAge GenreActSemi-finalResult
Aaron Crow44DangerDanger Act1
AJ & Chloe17, 18DanceLatin Dance Duo4
Alex Keirl20SingingSinger4
Alice Fredenham28SingingSinger2
Aliki29SingingSinger5
Arisxandra Libantino11SingingSinger1'
Asanda11SingingSinger4'
Attraction19–40DanceShadow Theatre Group5'
Band of Voices27–47SingingVocal Harmony Group1
Bosom Buddies29, 48Singing / VarietyOperatic Drag Duo1
CEO Dancers22–24DanceDance Trio5
Chasing the Dream19-50SingingMusical Theatre Group4
Club Town Freaks25–38SingingVocal Harmony Group4
Francine Lewis37ComedyImpressionist4'
Freelusion25–39DanceInteractive 3D Dance Group3
Gabz14SingingSinger & Pianist2'
Gospel Singers Incognito17–43MusicGospel Choir5
J Unity19SingingSinging Duet1
Jack and Cormac13, 14SingingSinging Duet2
Jack Carroll14ComedyComedian2'
James More24MagicMagician4
Jordan O'Keefe18SingingSinger & Guitarist5'
Joseph Hall36DanceDancer3
Luminites18–21SingingSinging Group3'
Maarty Broekman23Singing / MusicKeytar Player5
Martin & Marielle32, 36Acrobatics / DanceGymnastic Dance Duo2
Martin Healey57DanceDancer1
MC Boy22SingingRapper3
MckNasty27MusicDrummer & DJ2
MD Dancers14–22DanceDance Troupe2
Meat Diva31, 27SingingCabaret Duet2
Modupé Obasola19SingingSinger2
Philip Green21ComedyImpressionist1
Poppin' Ron21DanceBreakdancer4
Pre Skool5–8DanceDance Troupe3'
Richard & Adam19, 22SingingOpera Duo1'
Robbie Kennedy22SingingSinger & Guitarist3
Rob's Duelling Pianos 55MusicPianist5
Rosie O'Sullivan19SingingSinger3
Shockarellas12–17DanceDance Group4
Steve Hewlett 37ComedyVentriloquist5
Stevie Pink45MagicIllusionist3
The Glambassadors21–36DanceDance Troupe5
Thomas Bounce16VarietyJuggler3
Youth Creation7–14DanceDance Troupe1

Semi-final 1 (27 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Ellie Goulding

Semi-final 2 (28 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Jennifer Lopez

Semi-final 3 (30 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Demi Lovato

Semi-final 4 (31 May)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Olly Murs

Semi-final 5 (1 June)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Ashleigh and Pudsey
Guest Performers, Results Show: Psy, and Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran
FinalistOrderActFinished
Pre Skool1Dance Troupe9th
Asanda2Singer11th
Gabz3Singer & Pianist7th
Steve Hewlett4Ventriloquist4th
Jordan O'Keefe5Singer & Guitarist6th
Arisxandra6Singer8th
Francine Lewis7Impressionist10th
Richard & Adam8Opera Duo3rd
Jack Carroll9Comedian2nd
Luminites10Vocal group5th
Attraction11Shadow Theatre Act1st

Ratings


EpisodeDateTotal ITV viewers Weekly rankShare
Auditions 113 April12.13136.9
Auditions 220 April11.86143.9
Auditions 327 April11.08143.9
Auditions 44 May11.59145.0
Auditions 511 May12.36145.2
Auditions 618 May10.88138.1
Auditions 726 May9.74338.0
Semi-final 127 May11.48141.5
Semi-final 1 results27 May9.271031.4
Semi-final 228 May10.20636.5
Semi-final 2 results28 May8.391428.5
Semi-final 330 May9.76837.5
Semi-final 3 results30 May8.511332.3
Semi-final 431 May9.98737.5
Semi-final 4 results31 May8.711232.7
Semi-final 51 June9.74941.9
Semi-final 5 results1 June9.041132.8
Live final8 June12.85148.9

Criticism & incidents

Unsuitable, and "sexualised" auditions

The seventh series faced criticism from viewers, covering two sets of complaints regarding auditions that were conducted in the 2013 contest. The first set concerned the nature of auditions made by Scarlet Cuffs, Keri Graham and Kelly Fox, that were deemed unsuitable for a family-orientated programme and for broadcast before the 9pm watershed - both Cuffs and Graham conducted a provocative striptease as part of their auditions, while Fox used lyrics that were considered vulgar. Ofcom investigated the editing of the auditions by the striptease acts, and ruled that while Graham's had been carefully censored to an acceptable level, they found in contrast that censoring of Cuffs' audition was insufficient and that the footage breached broadcasting codes in regards to protecting children from unsuitable content, with it made clear that the act should not have been shown. Fox refuted criticism on her performance, yet a member of the National Association of Head Teachers raised questions over the "morality" of allowing the audition footage to be shown.
The second set focused on the audition of two young children, Arisxandra Libantino, and Asanda, who used sungs in their performances that were deemed inappropriate for their age - Libantino's performance involved singing Jennifer Hudson's "One Night Only", while Asanda's involved the singing of Rihanna's "Diamonds" alongside a provocative dance routine. The release of the footage by ITV raised questions from Vivienne Pattison, director of Mediawatch UK, over the programme's portrayal of children, deeming the auditions as effectively "sexualising children" on television.

Cowell's "egg attack" in final

Security arrangements for the programme came under questioning by production staff, after a protester, Natalie Holt, managed to conduct a protest against miming on live television shows and Simon Cowell's influence in the music industry during the performance of finalists Richard & Adam, in which she threw eggs at Cowell before she was removed; the programme had to make clear the incident was not a publicity stunt. The investigation into the breach by Holt showed that she managed to circumvent security processes by posing as a backing musician for the finalists, and had smuggled in the eggs due to a failure over proper checks of her possessions. Holt was later revealed to have been a rejected audition from the previous year, when she attempted to secure a place in the 2012 competition with her classical band RaVen Quartet, and that her protest was motivated in part by this failure.