What happened on Britain's Got Talent 2024 tonight? Who got a golden buzzer and acts through to live show

Britain’s Got Talent returned to ITV tonight with an explosive episode filled with action-packed talent and some golden buzzer action from our judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli.

The BGT competition kicked off this weekend with episode one taking place tonight (April 20). The first set of brave contestants have taken to the stage in the hope of securing a £250,000 cash prize and a spot on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance. Contestants travelled from all over the world to audition, including 34-year-old Kimberley Winter who travelled from America and disgusted the judges with her burping rendition of an Abba classic.

What happened on Britain’s Got Talent tonight?

Tonight’s first episode saw a singer and a South Korean martial arts troupe both achieve the coveted golden buzzer. 28-year-old Sydnie Christmas, dazzled the judges with her voice, while Ssaulabi Performance Troupe wowed them with their taekwondo skills.

Christmas, from Kent, sang Tomorrow from the musical Annie leading to huge applause from the audience and all a standing ovation from all the judges. Holden praised her saying: “What struck me so much about you is just how naturally funny, how warm, how brilliant your presence was the minute you walked on the stage. How you were entertaining everyone but then you brought us the most heartfelt, beautiful version of that song.” She added that it was the “best version” of the song she had ever heard before awarding her a golden buzzer, causing Christmas to fall to her knees.

Cowell also confirmed she had won him over as he said: “That reaction we just had in the room is rare. Everyone’s aware it’s tough to get that break for something which you really love. You so deserve what you just got. Your control was amazing. I used to hate that song and now I absolutely love it.”

Later in the episode, Ssaulabi Performance Troupe revealed they had travelled all the way from South Korea to show off their martial arts skills. The lively taekwondo routine by the group, aged 19 to 23, saw them perform dramatic somersaults and flips as they broke planks of wood with their hands and feet.

At one stage a member of the troupe performed pirouettes while continuously breaking planks of wood, and at various other points, a member would be flung up into the air so they could kick another series of planks.

Hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly appeared amazed throughout the routine and at the end, they rushed to the judging panel to award the troupe their golden buzzer. Judge Tonioli said the “power, the beauty and the artistry” of their routine blew everything he had seen before “out of the water”, while Dixon praised their “discipline hard work and dedication”.

Elsewhere in the episode, a singing group named Rask AI had the judges in fits of laughter as they used artificial technology to superimpose the judge’s heads onto characters from the hit 2017 film The Greatest Showman. The act got four yeses as Dixon described it as “absolute madness” and Cowell said it was “genius”.

Viewers also got a dose of cheer from Lady Grenades, a cheerleading team made up of athletes from around the country aged from 13 to 19. Their high-energy routine to 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) by US superstar Lizzo – which featured flips, dips and dramatic lifts – secured them a full stack of yeses.

And 34-year-old Kimberley Winter, who travelled from America to audition for Britain’s Got Talent, left Dixon and Tonioli disgusted when she surprised them by burping a rendition of an Abba classic. Holden and Cowell were impressed by her unusual talent, helping to convince Tonioli to change his vote to a yes as he said he could not “possibly imagine how you’re going to outgross this grossness”.

Music teacher Mike Woodhams, 37, also surprised the judges when what they thought would be a typical singing act, was actually a series of impersonations of famous vocalists. Amongst the collection was a note-perfect rendition of James Blunt’s hit You’re Beautiful, a cover of Anastacia’s I’m Outta Love featuring similar coloured glasses to ones in her music video, and Macy Gray’s I Try, which saw him produce flowers from his back pocket as seen in song’s accompanying video.

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Meanwhile, 38-year-old Lucy Heath returned to the show after previously getting through to the live final in 2016 with her dog Trip Hazard. This time round she upped the ante by bringing on four dogs as part of her The Trickstars act, which got the judges’ tails wagging and secured her four yeses.

The first episode also featured more off-the-wall acts including trumpet player Dennis Frere-Smith, 64, who played a number of odd objects including a hosepipe during his audition. While stand-up comedian Bobby Goldfinn performed a fish-inspired routine which consisted of him instantly forgetting he had started, as well as “forgetting” that he had even done the audition as he returned to the stage several more times throughout the episode.

Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld who specialises in stories around TV, Film and Health. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also share your thoughts in the comment section below.