BGT slammed by viewers AND Simon Cowell for having more commercials than performance acts during show
Nearly a quarter of the semi-final was made up of ad time enraging fans of the programme who called it 'shameful'
BRITAIN’S Got Talent’s first semi final was blasted by viewers after producers showed more adverts than actual talent.
Nearly a quarter of the 90 minute show on Sunday evening was made up of advert breaks, totalling a giant 21 minutes and 28 seconds in total.
In comparison, performances of the hopefuls, including successful acts 100 Voices of Gospel and Mel and Jamie, lasted just 17 minutes and 39 seconds.
It meant they averaged less than two minutes of air time each in which to try and convince voters to put them through to Saturday’s final.
The frequency of the breaks - five in total in the main part of the show - even appeared to rile show creator Simon Cowell, 56, who was seen mouthing “more ads?” to fellow judge Amanda Holden, 45, before the second interval.
The longest performance of the night was from American crossbow shooter Ben Blaque, 33, whose act lasted three minutes and 32 seconds, largely due to the fact his risky stunt went wrong at the hands of judge Alesha Dixon, 37.
The Misteeq singer came close to hurting contestant Ben after agreeing to be his assistant. After pulling one of five levers at random she accidentally triggered a second arrow sending two towards the performer.
The shortest performance lasted just one minute 45 seconds — courtesy of Welsh dance troupe Ystrad Fawr Dancers.
In order to find out which of the acts had made this weekend’s final, viewers also had wait while Coronation Street was on, watch a performance from the cast of West End musical Motown and endure a sixth lengthy ad break before a decision was unveiled.
Viewers of the show fumed online at the number of commercials with the first coming after just one act had performed.
One user, Darren Cunningham, joked: “It’s a shame all these adverts get interrupted by snippets of Britain’s Got Talent.”
Another, Paul Jones, said: “BGT should be renamed Britain’s Got Adverts.”
Viewer Marilyn Nightingale said: “I recorded the show tonight so I didn’t have to put up with ridiculous amount of adverts.
“I managed to knock 30 mins off length.”