‘So staged!’ rage Britain’s Got Talent fans as they slam opera act’s shock twist
BRITAIN’S Got Talent viewers were left furious by an opera act which turned out to have a surprising twist.
Singer Natalie Choquette, from Montreal in Canada, was one of the acts who performed for Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli in Saturday’s show.
Rather than merely singing opera, Natalie’s act proved to have an unconventional twist.
A dinner table with spaghetti and meatballs was laid out on stage for her performance, with the judges invited to join Natalie around it.
Performing a rendition of Nessun Dorma, Natalie took the judges by surprise by gargling her drink and shoving spaghetti into her mouth.
Taking things further, the singer then tossed spaghetti over Simon, while her ‘waiters’ also poured noodles over an unsuspecting Bruno.
Amanda and Alesha were fortunately able to get away in time.
The pair avoided the act’s big finale which saw Parmesan cheese being dropped onto the stage from above.
However, viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their scathing thoughts on the act, with one writing: “Just put #Britainsgottalent on, and the judges were covered in food. That’s not entertaining, it’s disgusting and food waste. #BGT has gone downhill!”
Another raged: “Another spontaneous/not at all staged, audition.”
A third commented: “that is crackers please tell me it was purely staged because there is absolutely no f***ing way that just happened.”
A fourth shared: “#BGT really is a fix these days – I couldn’t rock up to an audition and ask the organisers to stash a load of ‘parmesan cheese’ in the fly tower and release it at a certain point of my act….”
A fifth raged: “Seriously, what was the point of that opera singer? Waste of spaghetti and she wasn’t even that good. Are you sure she wasn’t a plant?”
Someone else chimed in: “I’m going to sound a bit of a downer for saying this, but that last act involving a massive waste of food in today’s world really wasn’t a great move in all honesty.”
Britain's Got Talent's biggest 'fix' rows
Britain's Got Talent has been plagued with 'fix' rows over the years. How many of these do you remember?
Jasmine Elcock – 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher’s Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London’s West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: “I’ve performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous.”
IrShad Shaikh – 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his act…and put him through to the next round.
Colin Thackery – 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We’ll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn’t even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan – who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit – should have won.
Axel Blake – 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series.
Loren Allred – 2022: The 2022 series of BGT was hit with another controversy when singer Loren Allred also received a Golden Buzzer. She performed Never Enough from the smash hit musical movie The Greatest Showman and got a standing ovation. It later transpired Loren was actually the original voice behind the track.
Taryn Charles – 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year’s hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1’s Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight.
Britain’s Got Talent airs on ITV on Saturdays from 7.30pm