Britain’s Got Talent 2023 launched on Saturday night with a major change to the judging panel. But something that hasn’t changed is the Golden Buzzer aspect – with the first act revealed thanks to Bruno Tonioli, the new judge on the show.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly returned too, hosting the auditions and the live shows later on in the series.
Also back are judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, while judge David Walliams will not appear after he left the role last year.
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Strictly Come Dancing favourite Bruno Tonioli replaced him on the panel, and he made his debut on Saturday night.
But one other thing that returned for the latest series is the Golden Buzzer – and this series it comes with a twist it seems. But who gets to press the buzzer, and what does it mean for the acts who are awarded one?
What is a Golden Buzzer?
If an act is awarded the golden buzzer at the end of their audition, it grants them a place in one of the live semi-finals of the show.
This means they skip past the bootcamp stage of the competition, giving them a head start
The golden buzzer is pressed by a judge or host when they decide they want a particular audition to go straight through to the live shows.
There’s a bit of a twist this year it seems, as Simon Cowell revealed they had eight buzzers this series, while he didn’t go into detail about what happened.
He added that the audience got one for the first time ever as they changed the rules slightly.
Who gets a Golden Buzzer?
If an act is awarded the golden buzzer at the end of their audition, it grants them a place in one of the live semi-finals
All four judges Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden get to press the buzzer and secure an act.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly share a buzzer. As said above, Simon revealed that there could be more than five golden buzzers this series.
He mentioned that the audience had one as a one-off this time, but he didn’t explain the other two.
Who are the Golden Buzzer acts so far?
Bruno Tonioli was the first person to have pressed the buzzer, and he chose dance group Ghetto Kids after their incredible performance.
During the second show, Simon Cowell became the second judge to press his Golden Buzzer, opting to chose young Malakai Bayoh, who impressed with a stunning operatic performance of Pie Jesu.
