Australia's Got Talent season 8

Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television show, based on the original UK series, to find new talent. Nine announced that the show would be returning in 2016 for an eighth season. It is the second season to air on Nine after it was axed in 2013.^[1][2] Auditions are open for September and October 2015.^[3] On 28 October 2015, it was announced that Kyle Sandilands, Geri Halliwell, Dawn French and Timomatic have been replaced with a new panel of judges, they are Ian "Dicko" Dickson, Sophie Monk, Kelly Osbourne and Eddie Perfect.^[4] Julia Morris did not return as host as she is committed to another show and was replaced by Dave Hughes as the host. For the first time, this season introduced the Golden Buzzer.^[5][6] The season premiered on 1 February 2016.^[7]

Australia's Got Talent
Season 8
From L to R, host Hughes & judges Monk, Dickson, Osbourne, Perfect.
Hosted by	Dave Hughes
Judges	Eddie Perfect Kelly Osbourne Sophie Monk Ian "Dicko" Dickson
Winner	Fletcher Pilon
Release
Original network	Nine Network
Original release	1 February (2016-02-01) – 14 March 2016 (2016-03-14)
Season chronology

Changes

Golden Buzzer

This series saw the introduction of the new golden buzzer. During the auditions, as well as the standard buzzers, there was a golden buzzer placed in the centre of the judges' desk. Each judge was allowed to press this buzzer only once, and it would send that auditionee straight through to the live semi-finals regardless of the opinions of the other three judges.

Wildcard

This season will see the introduction of a viewer-voted Wildcard entry to send one lucky performer directly to the Grand Finale. Contestants who are not taken through to the semi-final by the celebrity judges can be voted back into the finals by viewers as Wildcards.

Semi-finalists

Key	Winner	Runner up	Finalist	Golden Buzzer	Wildcard

Participant	Genre	Act	Semi-final	Finished
Alysha Jones	Singing	Opera Singer	1	Semi-Finalist
Bosko & Honey	Singing	Singing Duo	2	Semi-Finalist
Callum The Heavy Metal Kid	Singing	Singer	4	Finalist
Carter	Dance	Dancer	2	Semi-Finalist
Chris Tamoway	Singing	Singer	5	Runner-up
Erik The Dog	Variety	Novelty Act	3	Finalist
Equals	Dance	Dance Group	4	Finalist
Fletcher Pilon	Singing	Singer	5	Winner
Gentlemen of Deceit	Magic	Magicians	2	Finalist
Irma & Sisko	Animals	Dog Act	4	Semi-Finalist
Jan Van De Stool	Comedy	Comedian	4	Semi-Finalist
Jessie Daley	Magic	Magician	3	Semi-Finalist
King Social	Singing	Band	3	Runner-up
Matt McLaren	Singing	Singer	2	Runner-up
Mick & Emma	Acrobatics	Acrobat Duo	1	Semi-Finalist
Minnie Cooper & the Tiny Teeny Tappers	Singing	Drag Act	5	Semi-Finalist
NOA	Music	Rapper	5	Semi-Finalist
Pardeep Kumar	Dance	Dancer	1	Semi-Finalist
Phly Crew	Dance	Dance Group	1	Finalist
Raw & Rugged	Dance	Dance Group	N/A	Finalist
Rothomatic – Australia's LED Robot	Variety	Novelty Act	5	Semi-Finalist
Showko	Comedy	Ventriloquist	3	Semi-Finalist
Sister's Doll	Singing	Band	1	Runner-up
Subih Brothers	Singing	Band	4	Semi-Finalist
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa	Variety	Poet	2	Semi-Finalist
Suzie Jay & Joe Ace	Singing	Singing Duo	3	Semi-Finalist
The Elliot Sisters	Singing	Singing Trio	2	Semi-Finalist
The Henry Twins	Dance	Dance Duo	3	Semi-Finalist
The Shake Man	Dance	Dancer	4	Semi-Finalist
TJ	Music	Drummer	5	Semi-Finalist
Violeta Bozanic	Singing	Singer	1	Semi-Finalist

Semi-finals Summary

Buzzed Out |   Won Public Vote |   Won Judges' Vote

Semi-final 1 (22 February)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes				Result
		Dickson	Monk	Osbourne	Perfect
Phly Crew	1					Advanced (Won Judges' Choice)
Violeta Bozanic	2					Eliminated
Mick & Emma	3					Eliminated
Pardeep Kumar	4					Eliminated
Sisters Doll	5					Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Alysha Jones	6					Eliminated

Semi-final 2 (28 February)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes				Result
		Dickson	Monk	Osbourne	Perfect
The Elliot Sisters	1					Eliminated
Carter	2					Eliminated
Gentlemen of Deceit	3					Advanced (Won Judges' Choice)
Bosko & Honey	4					Eliminated
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa	5					Eliminated
Matt McLaren	6					Advanced (Won Public Vote)

Semi-final 3 (29 February)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes				Result
		Dickson	Monk	Osbourne	Perfect
The Henry Twins	1					Eliminated
Jessie Daley	2					Eliminated
Susie Jay & Joe Ace	3					Eliminated
King Social	4					Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Showko	5					Eliminated
Erik The Dog	6					Advanced (Won Judges' Choice)

Semi-final 4 (6 March)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes				Result
		Dickson	Monk	Osbourne	Perfect
Irma & Sisko	1					Eliminated
Subih Brothers	2					Eliminated
The Shake Man	3					Eliminated
Callum The Heavy Metal Kid	4					Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Jan Van De Stool	5					Eliminated
Equals	6					Advanced (Won Judges' Choice)

Semi-final 5 (7 March)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes				Result
		Dickson	Monk	Osbourne	Perfect
Minnie Cooper & the Tiny Teeny Tappers	1					Eliminated
TJ	2					Eliminated
NOA	3					Eliminated
Chris Tamwoy	4					Advanced (Won Public Vote)
Rothomatic – Australia's LED Robot	5					Eliminated
Fletcher Pilon	6					Advanced (Won Judges' Choice)

Finals Summary

Final – Top 11 (13 March)

The top 11, (including Raw & Rugged who received the Judges' wildcard), performed once more for a spot in the Grand Finale. An audience vote followed after the show and only five acts returned for the Grand Finale with new performances.

Finalist	Order	Result
Equals	1	Eliminated
Callum The Heavy Metal Kid	2	Eliminated
King Social	3	Advanced
Gentlemen of Deceit	4	Eliminated
Matt McLaren	5	Advanced
Raw & Rugged	6	Eliminated
Erik The Dog	7	Eliminated
Chris Tamwoy	8	Advanced
Phly Crew	9	Eliminated
Fletcher Pilon	10	Advanced
Sisters Doll	11	Advanced

Grand Finale (14 March)

Guest Judge: Jack Black

Guest performer: Cosentino

Finalist	Order	Result
Chris Tamwoy	1	Eliminated
King Social	2	Eliminated
Matt McLaren	3	Eliminated
Sisters Doll	4	Eliminated
Fletcher Pilon	5	Winner

Ratings

Episode		Original airdate	Timeslot	Viewers (millions)	Nightly rank	Source
1	"Auditions"	1 February 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.865	10	[8]
2		7 February 2016	Sunday 7:00 pm	0.914	6	[9]
3		8 February 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.896	9	[10]
4		14 February 2016	Sunday 7:00 pm	0.740	9	[11]
5		15 February 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.775	10	[12]
6		21 February 2016	Sunday 7:00 pm	0.633	9	[13]
7	"Semifinals"	22 February 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.703	14	[14]
8		28 February 2016	Sunday 8:00 pm	0.748	9	[15]
9		29 February 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.671	13	[16]
10		6 March 2016	Sunday 8:00 pm	0.630	13	[17]
11		7 March 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.594	19	[18]
12	"Final – Top 11"	13 March 2016	Sunday 8:00 pm	0.599	11	[19]
13	"Grand Finale – Top 5" "Winner Announced"	14 March 2016	Monday 7:30 pm	0.785 0.961	12 7	[20]

References

1. Knox, David. "Nine reviving Australia's Got Talent. Renewed: The Voice. – TV Tonight". Tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
2. "Nine to revive Australia's Got Talent in 2016". Mumbrella.com.au. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
3. "Nine bringing back Australia's Got Talent, The Voice". M.smh.com.au. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
4. Knox, David (28 October 2015). "Nine Upfronts 2016: Nine goes HD, new lifestyle channel -and Daryl Somers returns – TV Tonight". Tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
5. "Back from the Dead! Australia's Got Talent returns to Nine in 2016 – DeciderTV". Decidertv.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
6. "Hughes to host Australia's Got Talent". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 1 February 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. Knox, David (5 January 2016). "Airdate: Australia's Got Talent". TV Tonight. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
8. Knox, David (18 February 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 1 February 2016". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
9. Knox, David (18 February 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 7 February 2016". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
10. Knox, David (18 February 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 8 February 2016". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
11. Knox, David (24 February 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 14 February 2016". Retrieved 24 February 2016.
12. Knox, David (24 February 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 15 February 2016". Retrieved 24 February 2016.
13. Knox, David (1 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 21 February 2016". Retrieved 1 March 2016.
14. Knox, David (1 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 22 February 2016". Retrieved 1 March 2016.
15. Knox, David (7 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 28 February 2016". Retrieved 7 March 2016.
16. Knox, David (10 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 29 February 2016". Retrieved 10 March 2016.
17. Knox, David (17 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 6 March 2016". Retrieved 17 March 2016.
18. Knox, David (17 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 7 March 2016". Retrieved 17 March 2016.
19. Knox, David (22 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Sunday 13 March 2016". Retrieved 22 March 2016.
20. Knox, David (22 March 2016). "Timeshifted: Monday 14 March 2016". Retrieved 23 March 2016.