Australia's Got Talent

Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television talent show which premiered on 18 February 2007 on the Seven Network. The show is based on the Got Talent series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell. The original judges were Tom Burlinson, Red Symons and Dannii Minogue. Burlinson and Symons did not return for season four and were replaced by Brian McFadden and Kyle Sandilands. Dawn French, Timomatic and Geri Halliwell joined the panel in season seven as replacements for McFadden and Minogue. All four judges from season seven will be replaced by Kelly Osbourne, Ian "Dicko" Dickson, Sophie Monk and Eddie Perfect in season eight.

The first season aired at 6:30pm on Sunday nights. After a successful run, the series was given a vote of confidence as Seven moved the show to a more competitive Tuesday night timeslot. The second season aired from 29 April 2008.^[1] A third season, which aired on Wednesday nights, began on 4 February 2009. Its sixth season was the final season to be broadcast on Seven. The seventh season moved to the Nine Network and began airing on 11 August 2013. On 4 April 2014, it was announced that Nine had axed Australia's Got Talent due to low ratings.^[2] On 8 July 2015, Nine announced that the show would be returning in 2016 for an eighth season.^[3][4] On 1 February 2016, Australia's Got Talent aired for an eighth season on the Nine Network.

Overview

Australia's Got Talent is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other performers of all ages competing for a top prize of A$250,000

In the first season there were four heats which saw about 20 to 25 acts competing in each heat. Approximately 60 acts in total got the approval from the judges, but only 40 were selected to compete in the semi-finals. In addition, only a fraction of the acts that progress are actually featured in full on the televised episodes. Also in the first series, during the semi-finals stage, each judge buzzed either a cross, or a tick.

The fourth season in 2010 featured a major revamp in the format, now being in tune with the nationwide audition tour conducted in the UK and US versions of the show, where nearly 500 people auditioned in total. In addition, the two existing judges Red Symons and Tom Burlinson were replaced by Brian McFadden and Kyle Sandilands. The production and filming was moved from Regent Theatre, Melbourne to Docklands Studios Melbourne, with a larger sound stage and set.

The logo used for the first and seventh seasons of Australia's Got Talent is similar to the logo used by America's Got Talent. The logo during the second to sixth seasons and season eight is similar to that used by Britain's Got Talent.

Timeline of judges

Seven Network (seasons 1–6)

Notes

1. ^ Todd McKenney served as a temporary replacement for Kyle Sandilands at the Melbourne auditions and filled in for Brian McFadden during the Finals showdown 2 in season 6.

Nine Network (seasons 7–present)

Series summary

Seasons

Season 1 (2007)

The following table lists the grand finalists who were selected to advance from the semi-finals by either the judges' or the viewers' vote:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Eliminated

The two finalists were Herb Patten and Bonnie Anderson, and the finale aired on 28 April 2007, with Anderson becoming the winner of the first season.

Season 2 (2008)

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Eliminated

The season two grand final featured a slightly different format. The show started with a combined performance by all 8 contestants. After the introduction by the contestants, the acts were progressively eliminated - first Halls Taekwondo and Mietta White, with the pairing of Deb "Spoons" Perry and Grace Bawden and Aaron Smyth and Shift-1 eliminated during the course of the show. The final also saw the judges bringing back their personal favourite acts to perform for one more time. The two final choices were "Smokin'" Joe Robinson and Jourdain. The winner was declared on 1 July 2008. "Smokin'" Joe Robinson ended up winning Australia's Got Talent and Jourdain become the runner-up.

In numerous episodes, judge Dannii Minogue was absent due to the filming for the fifth series of UK reality show The X Factor in which Minogue was a judge.

Ratings

Season 3 (2009)

Auditions for the third season started in late 2008 and successful contestants were notified in December 2008. Filming began on 15 January 2009.

The winner was declared on 22 April 2009. This grand finale followed the same format as the 2008 one: acts were eliminated in pairs, as well as each judge picking their favorite act to reappear on the show once more. Mark Vincent won the season, while Jal Joshua became the runner-up. On the grand finale, international opera singer and winner of Britain's Got Talent series one, Paul Potts performed live in the studio.

Season 4 (2010)

The fourth season of Australia's Got Talent returned on 13 April 2010.^[15] Grant Denyer continued as host, while radio DJ Kyle Sandilands and Irish singer Brian McFadden joined Dannii Minogue on the judging panel as replacements for Red Symons and Tom Burlinson.^[15] Auditions for the season took place throughout February 2010 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.^[16]

The show was revamped to look more like Britain's Got Talent, in terms of the stage and the shape of the X's used. The opening was also changed to look similar to Britain's Got Talent's opening, with Australian landmarks instead of British landmarks. Previously, the Australia's Got Talent opening was simply a display of the title. The live shows began on 11 May 2010 and ended on 15 June 2010, where dance troupe Justice Crew were crowned the winners.^[17] They were awarded a prize of $250,000,^[17] while runner-up Cameron Henderson was awarded a runner-up prize of performing at the 2010 AFL Grand Final.^[17]

Season 5 (2011)

The fifth season of Australia's Got Talent returned on 3 May 2011.^[18] All judges (Dannii Minogue, Kyle Sandilands and Brian McFadden) returned for the season, including host Grant Denyer.^[18] The producer auditions took place in 16 cities, throughout New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.^[19] The successful acts from the auditions were then invited to a second audition in front of the judges and a live audience. These auditions began in Gold Coast on 19 February 2011, followed by three days in Melbourne from 25 February 2011.^[20] They also took place in Sydney on 12–13 March 2011, and ended in Perth on 20 March 2011.^[20]

The season was won by 14-year-old singer Jack Vidgen.^[21]

Season 6 (2012)

Auditions began in October 2011 and concluded in December 2011.^[22] The sixth season aired on the Seven Network from 16 April 2012 to 25 July 2012. Once again, Dannii Minogue, Kyle Sandilands and Brian McFadden returned as judges and Grant Denyer returned as host.^[23] Sandilands was sick during the Melbourne auditions, so Todd McKenney replaced him.^[24] McKenney took the place of McFadden during the finals showdown 2. The winner was singer Andrew de Silva with country rock band, The Wolfe Brothers becoming the runner-up.

Season 7 (2013)

Auditions began in March 2013 and concluded in June 2013.^[25] The seventh season aired on the Nine Network in 2013.^[26] Kyle Sandilands returned to the judging panel, while Dannii Minogue and Brian McFadden were replaced by three new judges Dawn French, Timomatic and Geri Halliwell.^[27] Julia Morris replaced Grant Denyer as the host.^[27] Mel B was originally due to join the judging panel, however an injunction sought by the Seven Network in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in March 2013 blocked her from appearing.^[28] The winner was "Funk/Soul/Jazz/Reggae" band Uncle Jed,^[29] with band Greg Gould and The Chase becoming the runner-up.

Season 8 (2016)

On 8 July 2015, Nine announced that the show would be returning in 2016 for an eighth season. On Monday 4 January, it was announced that Season eight will be on Monday 1 February.^[3][4] It is the second season to air on Nine after it was axed in 2013.^[30][31] Auditions are open for September and October 2015.^[32] On 28 October 2015, it was announced that Halliwell, French, Timomatic and Sandilands have been replaced with a new panel of judges, they are Kelly Osbourne, Ian "Dicko" Dickson, Sophie Monk and Eddie Perfect.^[33] Morris will not return as host as she is committed to another show and will be replaced by Dave Hughes as the host. For the first time, it will now include the Golden Buzzer.^[34][35] It will premiere on 1 February 2016.^[36] The winner was Fletcher Pilon. There is confirmation from Nine the show will be returning in 2017 for an ninth season.

Ratings

• ^a The Grand Final & Winner Announced are separated into 2 episodes
• ^b The Grand Final & Winner Announced are in one episode

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official Auditions site
• Australia's Got Talent at the Internet Movie Database
• Australia's Got Talent at TV.com

Got Talent franchises
National franchises	Current Australia's Got Talent Balgariya tarsi talant China's Got Talent Supertalent La France a un incroyable talent Das Supertalent Talent Suomi Georgia's Got Talent! Holland's Got Talent India's Got Talent Indonesia's Got Talent Italia's Got Talent Moldova are talent Nigeria's Got Talent Norske Talenter Mam talent! Pilipinas Got Talent Românii au talent Got Talent España SA's Got Talent Thailand's Got Talent Ukrayina maye talant Britain's Got Talent America's Got Talent Vietnam's Got Talent Yetenek Sizsiniz Türkiye Previous Albanians Got Talent Talento Argentino Canada's Got Talent Eesti talent Ellada Eheis Talento Hungary's Got Talent HaDavar HaGadol HaBa New Zealand's Got Talent Aqui há talento Portugal Tem Talento Minuta slavy Korea's Got Talent Ja imam talenat! Talang Sverige Future Ireland's Got Talent
Regional franchises	Arabs' Got Talent Asia's Got Talent World's Got Talent (cancelled)