Norwegian comedian Viggo Venn was last night crowned the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2023.
Dancer Lilliana Clifton, 13, and 14-year-old magician Cillian O’Connor placed in second and third respectively – but missed out on the title.
Viggo scooped the £250,000 prize and a spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance.
This means Uganda’s Ghetto Kids failed to make it to the top three. However their performance was lit impressing not only the crowd, but judges as well.
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How it went down…
After technical issues and a series of switch-offs during Saturday evening’s Britain’s Got Talent semi-final, ITV could be forgiven for crossing fingers and toes as the grand final of their long-running flagship kicked off on Sunday evening.
Before the show aired, Simon explained how he hoped the programme would help the contestants build better lives for themselves.
He said: ‘I think you’ve got two things, you want to make a show which people hopefully will enjoy watching. And secondly, you want to give whoever it is that opportunity, hopefully, for things to get better in their lives after they’ve auditioned. I think where things have changed a lot from where we first started is it always used to be about the end prize.’
While many took to social media to praise Viggo for his win, some criticised him online, with one penning: ‘Nothing irritates me more than when complete JOKE ACT wins a competition’
Another wrote: ‘This man wore a hi-vis on a talent show and came away with £250k. Fair play’
A third added: ‘Audience are rightfully booing. Viggo Venn has zero talent. I hate the British public’
Awkward: Audience members appeared to boo Viggo, while social media erupted as viewers claimed the talent show was fixed
While many took to social media to praise Viggo for his win, some criticised him online, with one penning: ‘Nothing irritates me more than when complete JOKE ACT wins a competition’
Earlier in the show, Ghetto kids blew the crowd away as they kicked off the talent shows grand final at the Hammersmith Apollo with an energetic dance routine.
The six kids, aged five to 13, are orphans who live together in Uganda after being rescued from the streets by their ‘dad’ Daouda Kavuma.
Priscila, 12, Asharif, 12, Akram, 13, Shakib, 12, Madwanah, 13 and Josephine, five, showed off their moves to a medley of upbeat songs.
They impressed despite one of the members being unable to dance after contracting malaria but he joined in by holding up the Uganda flag while they were showered by golden glitter.
Bruno said: ‘Seeing you makes me feel happy to be alive… you really are the pride of Africa.’
Alesha said: ‘I can’t put it into words how much joy you have brought us this year – You’ve done Uganda proud.’
Head judge Simon Cowell asked the ‘joyous’ group to come back every single year, adding: ‘This isn’t easy, you’ve got a few days to prepare something, in terms of personality, talent, everything worked… for me by a mile this was your best performance.’
The Ghetto Kids strutted their stuff among the crème de la crème of talent, making it to the esteemed group of ten finalists. Ultimately, the victory crown was snatched by Viggo Venn, a side-splitting 33-year-old comedian all the way from Norway.
13-year-old dancer, Lilliana Clifton secured the runner-up position while magic maestro, 14-year-old wizard Cillian O’Connor, secured third place.
Throwback
These small prodigies made history when they blew the judges away and snagged themselves a dazzling “golden buzzer” mid-performance during the semi-finals. Talk about a shortcut to stardom!
And that’s not all, folks! The Ghetto Kids captured the hearts of the masses, receiving the highest number of public votes, and securing their rightful place among the final ten contestants.
They were already rising stars, boasting millions of views on their electrifying YouTube channel even before gracing the illustrious UK talent show stage. In fact, they even had the incredible opportunity to feature in a mind-blowing music video alongside the renowned US-Moroccan rap sensation, French Montana, back in 2017.
So, while the Ghetto Kids may have missed the ultimate triumph, their journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. They’ve wowed us with their infectious moves and proven that true talent knows no boundaries.