Britain’s Got Talent: Everything you need to know about the return of ITV’s blockbuster as Sussex teacher takes show by storm

Tom Ball had a standing ovation from both the audience and the judges as he sang Writing’s On The Wall by Sam Smith.

All four judges gave the 23-year-old a resounding ‘yes’ to go through to the next stage of the show.

The secondary school teacher, from Burgess Hill, is one off countless contestants to take part in the show, since it first aired in 2007.

The show’s format was devised by X Factor creator and Sony Music executive, Simon Cowell.

He was inspired by British talent shows Opportunity Knocks, which ran from 1949 to 1990, and New Faces, which aired from 1973 to 1988.

Each year’s competition starts with two rounds of auditions.

The first round of auditions are held across several different cities around the UK during the autumn, within small venues attended by the producers.

The second round, referred to as the Judges’ Auditions, take place the following year during January and February.

Each participant who wants to enter that year’s competition must first submit an application, containing information about who is performing, as well as personal details regarding age, hometown, and background, what experience they have for their talent, and the nature of the act they intend to perform.

A performance ends when either the time is up, or all the judges use their buzzers.

Once a performance is over, each judge gives an overview of what they thought about the act before casting a vote.

If the contestant receives a majority vote of Yes, they then go to the next stage in the contest, otherwise they are eliminated at that point from the competition.

Contestants who make it into the semi-finals by passing both stages of auditions are divided into groups for each round, where they must perform before the audience and judges, as well as on TV.

For the first four series, the judging panel consisted of Simon Cowell, actress Amanda Holden, and newspaper editor and journalist Piers Morgan.

The present judging panel is made up of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and comedian, actor, writer and author David Walliams.

Alesha, who first became famous in R&B band Mis-Teeq, and David joined the panel in 2012 when they replaced David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre from series six.

The first series of Britain’s Got Talent was won by opera singer Paul Potts.

In 2009 the series was won by dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle coming in second.

In the last series in 2020, it was won by pianist Jon Courtenay, with sign-language choir Sign Along With Us finishing in second place, and comedian Steve Royle in third place.