‘Britain’s Got Talent’ kicked off its live shows with its first semi-final on Monday evening, and immediately got bogged down in a technical hitch.
St Patricks’ Junior Choir from Drumgreenagh in County Down, Northern Ireland, were the first contestants to perform on the night. But as soon as the first bars of the intro to their chosen song, Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ began, Ant and Dec were spotted walking onto stage and stopping the school children in their tracks.
Ant quickly said: “Two secs, two secs, two secs, is everything ok?” while Dec explained: “Gonna just stop it there – we’ve just had a few technical issues.”
Simon Cowell quipped: “Already?” while Ant and Dec explained it was “a bit of a sound issue, they couldn’t hear the track...”
The choir restarted their song, and got praise from all the judges, both for their performance and for getting back on track so quickly after the technical hitch.
Fremantle Media, who makes the show, explained to HuffPostUK that there was no question of the choir miming, explaining that the incorrect song was played initially, and had to be swiftly changed.
A BGT spokesperson told us: “A technical glitch meant that the wrong song was played at the start of St Patrick’s Junior Choir performance as well as some vocals recorded during a rehearsal from them. The choir did not mime and we are very proud of their performance.”
This came after viewers were quick to respond on social media, accusing the choir of being caught out miming to a backing track, pointing out that, when Ant and Dec stopped the choir singing, their voices could still be heard.
However, many pointed out that the track could simply have been backing vocals for extra sound, rather than actual miming.
‘Britain’s Got Talent’ semi-finals continue this week on ITV at 7.30pm.