Britain's Got Talent (series 8)

Judges and presenters

Simon Cowell confirmed on 1 June 2013 that the eighth series of the show would air in 2014. He also confirmed that he would return to the judging panel alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. On 15 November 2013, it was announced that Britain's Got Talent would remain on the air until 2016. Cowell did not attend the first day of the Manchester auditions after contracting the flu and was replaced by Ant & Dec. He was again absent during the final day of the London auditions, but was not replaced.

Ant & Dec returned to present the main show on ITV, whilst Stephen Mulhern also returned to present spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.

Golden buzzer

This series saw the introduction of the new golden buzzer. During the auditions, as well as the standard buzzers, there was a golden buzzer placed in the centre of the judges' desk. Each judge was allowed to press this buzzer only once, and it would send that auditionee straight through to the live semi-finals regardless of the opinions of the other three judges. Ant & Dec were given the opportunity to press the golden buzzer as well. The golden buzzer has previously been used on Germany's Got Talent.

Holden was the first judge to use the golden buzzer, pressing it during the second day of the Birmingham auditions on 2 February, for Salsa dancing duo Paddy & Nico. Cowell used it on the second day of auditions in Manchester with hip hop duo Bars & Melody. Walliams used the golden buzzer on the first day of the London auditions on 11 February for performance singer Christian Spridon, leaving Dixon as the only judge yet to use it. The following day, Dixon pressed the golden buzzer on the second day of the London auditions for girl group REAformed. On the final day of London auditions, which Cowell was absent from, Ant & Dec pressed the buzzer for stand-up comedian/impressionist Toju.

Of the five golden buzzer acts, two acts – Bars & Melody and Paddy & Nico – made it to the live final, where they finished 3rd and 9th place respectively.

Auditions

The first episode aired from 8.00pm until 9.15pm. It was originally meant to air from 7.15pm until 8.30pm but was pushed back due to the match going into extra time and penalties. The next two aired from 7.00pm until 8.15pm. The fourth and fifth episode aired from 7.15pm until 8.30pm and 7.00pm until 8.00pm respectively. The sixth episode aired from 8.20pm until 9.35pm. Like the first episode, the episode was meant to air from 7.30pm until 8.45pm and was pushed back due to extra time, penalties and post-match interviews. The final episode aired from 7.00pm until 8.15pm.

Open auditions

Producers' auditions were held from 19 October to 1 December 2013 in Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, London, Belfast and Edinburgh.

Additionally, to couple with the show's sponsorship with Morrisons, a series of "Talent Spot tents" were set up at various local Morrisons supermarkets around the country. These auditions took place from 2–15 November 2013 in Dundee, Gamston, Killingworth, Norwich, Leeds, Bristol, Wrexham, Plymstock, Liverpool and Swansea. Also, two other sets auditions were held at The Savoy Hotel in Blackpool and The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton on 16 and 17 November, respectively.

Judges auditions

This series saw the first ever judges auditions in Northern Ireland; however for the first time since series 1, auditions were not held in Scotland. A spokesman said: "We have found some great talent in Scotland in the past but we are only able to visit a limited number of cities across the UK and this year we decided to visit Belfast for the first time." The auditions began on 18 January in Belfast (Waterfront Hall), before taking place on 22 and 23 January in Cardiff (Wales Millennium Centre). Auditions continued on 1–3 February in Birmingham (International Convention Centre), 7 and 8 February in Manchester (The Lowry) and 11–14 February in London (Hammersmith Apollo).

Cowell was forced to pull out of the first day of the Manchester auditions after contracting the flu. Ant & Dec each took a turn replacing him on the judging panel, but both failed to buzz at acts and left the panel. Cowell also missed the final day of the London auditions on 14 February due to his girlfriend Lauren Silverman going into labour and was not replaced.

Semi-finals

The semi-finalists were chosen on 9 March 2014.

The live shows started on 26 May 2014, the day after the final auditions episode, and aired each evening until 31 May, with the exception of the Friday (30 May) due to ITV's coverage of England's friendly with Peru. The first four semi-final episodes aired from 7:30–9:00pm, with the results half-an-hour later at 9.30pm after a 30-minute episode of Coronation Street. The fifth show on Saturday 31 May aired at the earlier time of 7:00–8:30pm, although the results show still aired at 9:30pm.

Each results show featured a guest performance. Ella Henderson performed on the first results show, followed by Ed Sheeran on the second. The third results show featured a performance from The Vamps, followed by will.i.am featuring Cody Wise on the fourth and Attraction & Richard & Adam on the fifth.

Semi-finalists

Semi-final 1 (26 May)

Semi-final 2 (27 May)

Semi-final 3 (28 May)

Semi-final 4 (29 May)

Semi-final 5 (31 May)

Final (7 June)

The final took place on 7 June from 7.00pm until 9.30pm.

HomeTown

On 15 March 2014, there were "fix" claims when it was revealed that Irish boy band HomeTown, who auditioned successfully, were in fact managed by The X Factor judge Louis Walsh. However the producers denied any wrongdoing. Their audition was not shown on television.

Paddy & Nico

Controversy was also caused when it was announced that dance act Paddy & Nico, who advanced to the semi-finals after gaining Holden's golden buzzer in the auditions, had previously won the Spanish talent show Tú sí que vales, which has a similar format to Britain's Got Talent. Cowell defended the pair, stating; "Don't knock Paddy for performing on a Spanish talent show. She is British and wants the chance to perform in front of our royal family. She is 80 years old. Let her have that chance. You the viewers will decide."

Holden faced backlash, primarily on Twitter, after comparing Paddy's performance spirit to the soldiers on D-Day in 1944. After Paddy & Nico's final performance, Holden commented, "I'm so proud of you. You have come back from injury with fighting spirit...I hope that today is Pad-D Day". Many tweets expressed the distaste in comparing Paddy Jones to soldiers that had fought in the war.

Ed Drewett

Cowell was not present at the audition of singer Ed Drewett; however many believed that this was set up as Cowell would have recognised him as Drewett has previously penned songs for The Wanted and One Direction. It was also reported that Drewett had been asked to audition by producers so that Cowell could sign him to Syco Music later on. In response to these claims, Drewett insisted that he had never met Cowell before his audition. He said, "I can completely see why people think, 'Oh, hang on, One Direction are with Syco, Syco do Britain's Got Talent, they must be paying him!' Not at all. It's just if someone wants a song, I'm going to give it to them, especially if they're One Direction."

Cartel

Cowell was accused of ageism during Northamptonshire-based dance troupe Cartel's audition. He stated that 27-year-old Jamie Mitchell was too old to be in the group (the other members were teenagers), and claimed that he "stuck out like a sore thumb". Despite Cowell's reservations, the group made it to the semi-finals, where Cowell apologised to Mitchell.