Britain's Got Talent (series 6)

Judges

On 20 September 2011, it was announced that Michael McIntyre would not return as a judge for series 6, and David Hasselhoff also confirmed his departure from the show on 29 November. Despite rumours of Amanda Holden being absent for the auditions stage, she confirmed via her Twitter account that she would be participating in the whole series. In December 2011, it was announced Simon Cowell would return as a full-time judge for the series, having been absent for the auditions in series 5. On 2 January 2012, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams were announced as the two replacement judges, with Dixon leaving her role on Strictly Come Dancing.

Holden missed the Blackpool auditions as she was admitted to hospital, where she later gave birth to her daughter Hollie Rose. Her condition also led to her absence in the subsequent auditions at Cardiff and London, with Carmen Electra appearing as a guest judge in the latter location. Holden returned to the judging panel for the final auditions in Edinburgh and Birmingham and also judged in the semi finals and final.

BGT Backstagers Online Show

For the first time in the show's history, a brand new online backstage show was introduced (sponsored by Virgin Media) where a small mix of different presenters would interview the acts, contestants, judges, presenters and production crew. The presenters were recruited following an online application process and auditions in London.

There was a two-hour live show every day airing between 2.30-4.30pm on the website and Facebook, which ran throughout the semi-finals and grand finale shows. The audience were encouraged to submit their questions for the chance to have them asked live during the show.

The semi-final presenters were:

By popular demand, Daniel Bickerton and Elaine Fitzpatrick returned to co-present the final show.

Auditions

Auditionees had three ways to audition for the show this year:

Video auditionees who were successful were invited to perform in front of the judges on the Britain's Got Talent stage at the Birmingham auditions.

Open audition

An "open" audition (where registration is not necessary) was held at London's The Oval on 22 January 2012, though the judges were not present at this audition. This was the first time in the show's history that an open audition took place.

Video audition

Between 6 and 22 January, there was also the opportunity to upload an audition via YouTube. 25 of the producers' favourite video auditions, from all submissions received, were shortlisted. On 6 February, the shortlisted acts were announced by Britain's Got More Talent host Mulhern via a live YouTube stream from backstage at the London auditions, and the 25 selected acts were then viewed by the YouTube community, who voted for their favourites, until 13 February. On 18 February, the results were announced from backstage at the Birmingham auditions via another live YouTube stream. The five chosen acts with the most viewer votes performed in front of the judges on the Britain's Got Talent stage. The act that received the largest number of votes were a doo-wap group called The TestostaTones. They performed live on YouTube. Their performance was ended after all four judges pressed their buzzers, but the judges' comments were not shown as Mulhern ended the broadcast.

From 25 January, Virgin Media, the sponsors of the show, also ran "extra chance" auditions via YouTube and Vimeo. The same rules applied but the closing date was 31 January, and was only open for Virgin Media customers. Five acts, from the submissions received, were chosen to perform for the judges on 17 February at the Birmingham auditions.

Judges' auditions

The judges' auditions took place in Manchester, Blackpool, Cardiff, London, Edinburgh and Birmingham from the end of January 2012 starting in Manchester and ending in Birmingham in February. This was the first time that the Scotland auditions took place in Edinburgh instead of Glasgow. Auditions returned to Blackpool for the first time since series 2 in 2008. The semi-finalists were chosen on 25 February.

The first episode aired on 24 March and featured auditions from Manchester, Birmingham and London. Episode two featured more auditions from Birmingham and London, as well as the Blackpool auditions. Episode three onwards showcased auditions from acts from all six audition cities. The final audition episode on 5 May also revealed who the judges chose to advance to the live semi-finals.

Semi-finals

The live shows began on 6 May 2012, the day after the final audition episode. The first semi-final was just two straight hours from 8:00pm. From 7–10 May, there were semi-finals every day from 7.30pm - 9:00pm, with the results show at 9.30pm. The final was held on 12 May. Unlike previous series, there were nine semi-finalists each night instead of the usual eight, as this year saw "the best talent for a number of years."

Each results show featured a guest performance. The X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos performed on the first show while The Wanted performed on the second. The third featured LMFAO and the fourth featured Labrinth. Rebecca Ferguson performed on the fifth show.

Semi-finalists

Semi-finals summary

The "Order" columns list the order of appearance each act made for every episode.

Semi-final 1 (6 May 2012)

Semi-final 2 (7 May 2012)

Semi-final 3 (8 May 2012)

During their performance, Walliams accidentally pressed Cowell's buzzer while he was dancing.

Semi-final 4 (9 May 2012)

Semi-final 5 (10 May 2012)

Final (12 May 2012)

Voting

Unlike previous series, there were two ways to vote for contestants during the live shows. The first was the conventional way, an 11-digit number for each contestant that could be called from a landline or mobile, cost varying, and the new second way was by using mobile short codes, a seven-digit code assigned to a contestant during the show which could be called from any phone. Mobile short code votes also had a fixed price on any phone, and cost 50p a vote. ITV announced that at least 15p from every vote would go to charity. Unlike The X Factor, however, there was no text voting due to the risk of potential delays within the mobile text networks at busy times.

It was also announced that this year one could vote from the Britain's Got Talent mobile app. Votes had to be purchased in groups of three (costing £1.49) which then could be used to vote for any act when they appear on your device. If all three votes were not used in one show, they could be carried forward to the next. Once all three votes have been used, the voter would need to buy three more if they wish to place further votes. However, due to technical difficulties during the first semi-final, voting using the Britain's Got Talent mobile app was halted and as a result was not used for the rest of the series.

"Ratings war"

The series was initially supposed to premiere on 14 April, as mid-April is when each series usually begins, but it was brought forward three weeks to premiere on 24 March – the same night as the launch of The Voice UK on BBC One. Many media outlets saw this move as a deliberate attempt by ITV to create a "TV ratings war" with the BBC.

Beatrix Von Bourbon

The second episode of the series on 31 March featured the audition of burlesque performer Beatrix Von Bourbon. During her raunchy performance, which was broadcast at around 8:25pm (35 minutes before the 9:00pm watershed), she stripped down to nipple tassels and a corset. Cowell compared her to the American burlesque star Dita Von Teese, saying: "She could be the British version." He also jokingly asked if Von Bourbon had another song so that he could see her perform again, while Walliams afterwards collected her bra and dress from the stage. Even though Von Bourbon's breasts were covered up with superimposed stars in an effort not to offend viewers, television regulator Ofcom received over 70 complaints about the audition. An ITV spokesman said: "Beatrix's stylised burlesque performance was carefully edited to ensure it was suitable.", but Ofcom later announced that they would be launching an investigation: "The viewers who complained to us said the burlesque performer went on before the 9pm watershed and that it was inappropriate scheduling as children would have been watching." On 23 July, over two months after the series ended, it was announced that ITV had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Ryan O'Shaughnessy

On 17 April, it was reported that Ryan O'Shaughnessy was facing being axed from the show after it was revealed that he already had a recording contract with Universal Music by auditioning for the first series of The Voice of Ireland in 2011. This was confirmed at the end of the final auditions episode on 5 May, during which the judges decided which acts were through to the live semi-finals. After 44 acts had been put through, O'Shaughnessy was left as the only act who had not yet been told his fate. Cowell told O'Shaughnessy, "We have a bit of a problem, and I think you know what that problem is, don't you? You're on another show which you're signed up to. You signed a contract with another company so why did you come and audition for this show?". O'Shaughnessy defended himself by saying that, "Songwriting is my thing and I wasn't allowed to express my own music on the other show [The Voice of Ireland], but I was on this show [Britain's Got Talent], it was a better opportunity for me.", but Cowell told him, "All you're doing is taking the place of somebody else, who isn't in your position on two shows. I'll be absolutely blunt with you, we were going to give you a yes, but I can't... you understand that?" O'Shaughnessy said that he fully understood Cowell's decision, but insisted that he would try to get off The Voice of Ireland and out of his contract with Universal in order to come back to Britain's Got Talent. It was announced later that day that O'Shaughnessy had been released from his contract and was back on Britain's Got Talent.

Loveable Rogues

On 10 May, it was announced that the Loveable Rogues were handpicked by the producers who saw their act on YouTube. In an interview, the Rogues responded with "we were head-hunted by the producers", but also added "however, we did not know Cowell, and we went through the same audition process as everyone else". Cowell denied the claims and quoted "I did not know them before and me, and all the other judges, have judged them as equal as every other act since the audition". The claims have since been admitted by producers, although they categorically state "they did not know Cowell... he was as surprised and happy to see them as the public".

Voting

During the first semi-final, Ant & Dec announced that votes could be cast using the Britain's Got Talent mobile app. Votes had to be purchased in groups of three (costing £1.49) which then could be used to vote for any act when they appear on your device. If all three votes were not used in one show, they could be carried forward to the next. Once all three votes have been used, the voter would need to buy three more if they wish to place further votes. However, due to technical difficulties during the first semi-final, voting using the app was halted and, as a result, was not used for the rest of the series. ITV were reprimanded by Ofcom after thousands of viewers were unable to vote using this method. Due to this technical fault, over half of votes did not go through. While Ofcom acknowledged voting via smartphones was a new concept, it said it believed ITV was responsible for ensuring everything went smoothly: "We were therefore concerned that the application was unable to handle demand when voting opened. "This meant that a significant proportion of viewers who had responded to the programme's invitation to purchase voting credits via the app were unable to use them and that therefore viewers were effectively misled - albeit unintentionally. We expect licensees to take all steps and efforts that are reasonably practicable to ensure the integrity and robustness of the systems they use. However, we accept that technical problems can arise - particularly during live transmissions.