Get ready for singers, trained dogs, AI and the weirdest acts ever

Britain’s Got Talent returns for its seventeenth season on Saturday 20th April, featuring weird and wonderful performances from not just the UK, but from around the world. Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli are all back to look at a range of talent, give their verdict and decide if they deserve a place in the next round.

Last year, Viggo Venn won – his comedy sketch involving high-visibility vests saw him easily through every round and appear at the Royal Variety Performance.

The first episode will see some great and some not so great acts take to the stage, hoping to impress not only the judges but also the live audience – let’s see who we get to see on Saturday night.

In an exclusive chat with OK! Bruno admitted that during filming he accidentally broke the golden buzzer that automatically allows contestants to advance to the semi-finals.

“Typical!” he laughs. “I didn’t know I was so strong! There was someone on stage who was so moving and very inspiring. The kind of person who really wants to be good, who puts so much effort into it and has so much passion. I just rocked it.”

“This had never happened before, so they didn’t have a replacement buzzer. They had to fix it with Scotch tape – it looked awful. I thought, ‘Let’s start with a bang,’ and we definitely got a bang!”

The judges also revealed that a record has been set for the number of Golden Buzzer performances. Before Bruno joined the show, each judges panel had only one Golden Buzzer.

This year there are nine in total, but he stresses that there is no secret to the show’s success.

He said: “I really don’t remember,” he sighs. “If you had told me after his first audition that (Norwegian comedian Viggo Venn) would win last year, I would have said, ‘Yeah, right.’ But then it happened.”

“The great thing about this show is that it doesn’t matter. Whoever the audience chooses, the audience chooses. It’s going to be interesting.”

Alesha presses the golden buzzer only once, but Amanda performs two actions with the special button.

The first is a singer she describes as “down to earth” and the second is a comedy number. Amanda told the Mirror: “I was giggling because I kept thinking about what my husband and kids would think when they see this. They won’t see it coming. He deserves the golden buzzer just for coming up with that number.”

The winner of the 2024 series will depend not only on the judges, but also on the viewers, who will vote and have the final say. However, Amanda is hoping that a certain act will scoop the cash prize this year.

“I would love to see a decent choir,” she says. “This year we’ve seen some really good ones and they’ve improved on their song selection.”

“I would be so happy if as many people won Britain’s Got Talent because I want a lot of people to share the money and have a life-changing experience together.”