I'm a little confused.

So basically you apply, they ask you to come down to an audition venue, you audition in front of the producers, then they call you back after a few weeks to tell you if you have gotten through to performing in front of the judges?

For musicians, do you have to bring a backing track with you for the first audition also or only to the judges audition? Because i'm thinking you only just sing in front of the producers?

Can someone tell me in detail how this works?

Is anyone able to help?

I'm not sure if I want to apply yet but if I do, I don't want to be confused on the day.

The info that someone provides me could be helpful to other people as well.

hi you've got most of it correct here's how it works (NB: all stats etc. are derived from previous years and may not be true for bgt 2012).

1. THE PRODUCERS AUDITIONS - statistically speaking this is the most differcult round to pass through sucessfully this is where you will audition in front of some of the junior /senior producers, if you are a singer you can bring a backing track if you wish to the producers audition.Of the many thousands that audition for the producers about 500 will be chosen for the celebrity round

2.if you are sucessful in the producers round then you will receive a phone call asking that you attend THE CELEBRITYJUDGES AUDITIONS (the buzzer round) .You have a more than 50% chance of getting through this round.

3.if you are sucessful then you go through to the PRODUCERS PRE-SELECTION ROUND-this is where the producers will cut certains acts out of the competition for artistic reasons or so that the judges do not have too many to choose from .They will cut the acts down to 200.

4.If your act is part of that 200 then you go through to THE REVEAL. This is where the judges choose about 40 acts to go through to the live finals.Therefore if your act is part of the 200 then you have a 20% (1 in 5 chance of making it to the live shows). After that my friend your fate lies mainly in the hands of the public! I wish you the best of luck if you apply. You're gonna need it!

Would you have to be really really good to get that far?

I didn't know that there was a pre-selection round, they do that if the judges put through too many acts. In the first series, they had to narrow 120 down to 24, in the second series, 177 to 40, in the third series, just over 200 to 40, in the fourth series, 186 to 40, and the fifth series, 220 to 40.

I wonder how some of the rubbish acts make it through to the judges, of course the producers are looking for variety.

But for the backing track, I read somewhere that it has to be a verse and a chorus only, how are you supposed to cut it down?

And from what I see on TV, it looks like a lot more than 500 for the judges auditions in front of the audience.

I keep wondering if I should apply or not for that sort of thing but change my mind when I read some of the stuff on here, and watch the show about how manipulated it is. I don't think I'm good enough anyway to get to see the judges.

Either that or you're too good - I think you'd either have to be dreadful, of questionable sanity, a child, or an oustanding adult to get in front of the judges. Or have a good sob story.

If you're merely good or very good, chance are you wouldn't get past the producers.
Last edited by spannerandpony : 14-06-2011 at 12:58

Producer may decide to stop you anytime, when s/he thinks it is good enough to judge. Occassionally they may ask you to sing another song to hear the full potential.

You can take your own instrument to accompany.

They are various clips stitched together, not only the people who attend auditions but also the audience who lined up for the show. Also it not necessarliy the clips of this year.

I wonder why producers put through bad singers, they probably just want to make entertaining TV.

And I'm thinking about applying for next years show, but I think I need to get singing lessons.

So there are dates where you can go to a venue and you wait to perform in front of the producers, then when they call you you just perform in front of them on a stage or in a room?

For musicians, they have to bring a backing track, of one verse and a chorus? I still question how you are supposed to cut the whole song down to that.

And then they call you to tell you if you've made it through, then you go the audition venue then take something with you, audition letter and ID? Then they give you a number and you wait until they call you to audition for the judges.

What about the televised parts? Whose decision is it to decide which acts Ant and Dec & the camera crew should interview before their performance?

And the decision making before the semi-finals, the judges decide the number of acts they put through. I don't think the producers will randomly axe acts unless they are too good, or there are too many acts for the judges to choose from.

I remember his happened in series 3, acts being axed because there are too many for the judges to choose from, and they did this year as well.

So over 100000 apply, 500 get through to the judges auditions, from that the judges may put through about 200 or more, then they cut them down to 40, then the public are in control.

I'm a little worried exactly about how the producers auditions and the judges auditions actually work. Can someone explain in as much detail?

XF / BGT is an entertainment show, not a singing competition.


If you register via fermantile media website, they will send you and unique id and audition time, date and location. Audition in front of producer will be just inside a room (a maximum of 2 minutes you spend there, but you will spend a lot of time outside filming the crowd)


They don't classify singers as musicians. According to BGT musicians are those who can play an instrument or sing & play both. You don't have to cut the track, as they may allow you to sing the whole track or even another track.


They will call and let you know that you are shortlisted to appear in front of Judges and the dates to note down in your diary. Also if you are under 18 (16?) they will send you the necessary papers for performing license that has to issued from local Council. You need GP certificate and letter from school. Again you may get a call towards the end of live audition date confirming your audition in front of judges. If you don't hear at that point, you can simply assume producers have decided not to put you in front of Judges.


by this time they will have fair idea, who are the featured acts, so that they will have extra filming, glowing comments from judges etc. This could be the acts scouted by agents, in most cases.


the chosen acts will get into final 40 along with filler acts+joke acts+variety acts.


100,000 applied - they all will shout and wave the flag - Britain got Talent
There will be 100% better acts in the rejected 99,500 acts than the selected 500
Rest of the show will work exactly as scripted and planned.


Small print:
Ocassionally GBP decide to take the control. so we have Diversity & Jai

If you get interviewed by Stephen Mulhern then most likely the producers think you're rubbish and are going to make you look bad!

I auditioned for BGT myself two years ago. I didn't get past the producer round though. I also auditioned for X Factor, which was a huge mistake, although it opened my eyes to the reality of the process.

BGT has a much more organised process than X Factor, which was atrocious

So I'm guessing that Ant & Dec chat with all of the acts, and the acts talk about what they want to be and how they want to spend the prize money etc to the camera before they go on stage, and they pick out the best ones depending on the quality of their performance?

In the judges round they would only allow 2 minutes and if the song is longer, they'll probably ask you to stop. But when Ronan sang Feeling Good he left out a verse but it didn't sound like they cut it out because of the audience. I wonder if they do it themselves or the producers do it for them? They could sing the whole song in front of the producers but not the judges due to time contraints.

I just don't understand that out of 5 venues, they can only see 500 auditionees. So 100 a day, 10 minutes per act (performance, judges verdict, they go off for the next act, could be 16 and a half hours of acts.

What does the quality of your performance have to be in front of the producers? Bad acts do make it through, but why? Even though the producers are not particularly judges but why?

But surely there are some acts that they'll find too good to let go of, and maybe they can squeeze in more than 500?

And for the semi-finals, they'll call you down to London and you wait there for hours? I don't know how this process of waiting works.

The info that many of you have provided has helped a lot. I have watched the past three series (2009, 10 and 11) and I know exactly how the process works from watching it on TV but not from an auditionee's point of view.

I was eager to enter the third series as a comedian, but I was 11 at the time and I had no experience so my parents wouldn't let me. I forgot about auditioning for series 4 and 5, and then became hung up on auditioning for series 5 after I heard about the YouTube auditions but I was too nervous for that as well.

Not true, And & Dec and Stephen Mulhern chat to all the acts.

Correct


I would imagine it would have been cut on tv, I can't confirm that though.


They do nothing like 100 a day, it's more like 40. Remember some acts have quite elaborate equipment which needs to be set up, acts have to be interviewed, judges need there make-up done, things like that.


You have to be either really bad and funny, or good/amazing and have something about you that will appeal to the audience. Many great people don't go through because the producers feel they won't appeal to the audience on a personality level.

The bad acts are let through because they need them so the judges have something to buzz and just simply for entertainment purposes.


They will tell you to come down on a certain day and then you will just wait around in the waiting room until it's your turn to perform.

But I thought the producers' auditions don't get filmed. And the X Factor has loads of people auditioning in front of the judges and with BGT, it could be the same.

So you'll get a phone call saying what? That you are through to the judges auditions?

And what about waiting for the semi-finals? You have to wait for hours and then they call a few to learn your fate?

It is not true to say that if you are a child you will be put through to the judges round. 75% of all of the initial auditionees who go to in front of the producers are children (I was told this by BGT staff). When you consider how many children (or how few I really mean) were shown at the audition phase and got into the semi's, I would say that it is far harder for a child to get through than an adult.

Thanks - didn't know what. That is a shocking statistic.

Let's look at how many kids we had in the semi's this year:

-Follow the Right Path (13, 14)
- Ronan (12)
- James Hobley (11)
- New Bounce (12-16)
- Celtic Colleens (8-30)
- Dance Angels Elite (8-24)

In terms of kids who lost out:

- Olivia Binfield (7)
- Robbie Firmin (7)
- Arisxandra Lebanto (9)
- Taylor Fowlis (12)
- Georgia Odette (13)
- Reece Daly (15)

Either they were too young, they weren't ready or there was too much competition.

The producers auditions do not get filmed, am I right? Is there anything that does get filmed during this process?

And what's the chance of getting through if you are a singer that connects with the audience very well, and sings with power, like Ronan, Shaheen?

A few things I'm worried about that i need someone to answer in detail:

- What time do you have to be at the venue for the judges audition?
- How long can you expect to be there for the producers and the judges audition?
- When the people call your number, do you immediately go on stage or wait for a bit?
- Would they warm to you if you are young?

IMO .01% chance, but are you serious ? I'm sure others agree that you should approach BGT in lighter way.

I wasn't talking about myself on this occasion.

But still, thanks for all the advice and info, it'll help a lot.

There is another round called the Reveal to find out if you are through to the semis (not everybody who gets 3 yeses will be called back for this). This was shown on the Sunday before the semi's (remember Razy and Michael Moran had to do a dance off at it). This is a 2 day event, the first day is spent filming various things and the second day you go in to find out your fate.

You're welcome. I felt I needed to share that statistic because so many people seem to assume that if you're a cute kid that is an automatic passport to the judges and it is simply not true.

I agree. But trust me, not all kids think that. There are some kids that are mature enough to realise that it's not guaranteed that they'll get through.

So let me get this straight.

There are producers auditions, where you go to a venue and perform for producers inside a room. A few weeks later you'll get a call if you've made it through to the judges round.

After the judges round, there is a Reveal round where you find out if you have made it to the semi finals. At this stage what are contestants required to bring with them?

But let's focus on the producers auditions. They call you as the next person in the queue, and they just ask you to perform in front of them. Then when they call you they'll probably say 'Hello, we have decided to put you through to the judges round, come to this venue at this date'. I'm not surprised that so many people actually miss out on this.

Hassaan, I didn't mean that the kids themselves think it, I have read it on here many times by many contributors who are adults that they think cute kids get special preference over adults. Like I said before 75% of the initial auditionees are kids but only 25% of the semi-finalists were kids. I think that the statistics speak for themselves.....