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.
BGT first aired in 2007 and has since produced a number of stars, including dance troupe Diversity, tenor singer Paul Potts, and arguably the most successful contestant from the show, Susan Boyle.
Everything from dancers and singers to comedians and magicians will hit the stage in the hopes of impressing the judges and earning a spot at this year’s Royal Variety Performance as well as a cash prize.
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?
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 from our dear Uganda, Ghetto Kids after their incredible performance.
Ghetto Kids are a dance troupe with members ranging from just five years old to 13.
The troupe was founded in 2014 and previously named Triplets Ghetto Kids.
Daouda Kavuma created the group composed of children from the Katwe slum in Kampala, Uganda.
‘The mission is making lives better through dance. That’s our goal. We are helping disadvantaged children, orphans, and street kids. We use dance to make their lives better,’ Kavuma told Euro News.
‘When you dance, you forget that you didn’t eat. When you dance, you forget that you have lost someone. You forget everything. You focus on dance.’
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.
Simon couldn’t help but give Malakai a place in the final after the incredible rendition, which had the judges – and the viewers at home – very emotional. His family watched on from the audience, also thrilled to see him rewarded with the Golden Buzzer.
Across the next month or so, viewers will find out who the judges want for their golden buzzer. Ant and Dec will also choose, while perhaps the pair get one each this series. There’s also the act to look out for that was chosen by the audience.
