The choirmaster of Britain's Got Talent contestants, St. Patrick's Junior Choir, has been forced to deny that the kids were cheating. There's a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Patricia McCaughey spoke on Radio Ulster this morning and seriously played down the 'miming' controversy.
She said: "I know we had a little hitch at the beginning, but it's live TV. It happens to the greatest artists in the world. Adele, I think, at the Grammys - there was a technical hitch there too and she had to stop and start again.
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"We managed to regroup. I don't think [the children] even realised anything in particular was wrong. They just knew their little introduction hadn't been played so they stood there and waited.
"Then they realised the section that was playing wasn't what they were waiting for."
The show was hit by 'cheat' claims in the first live show of the series last night.
As you can see from the video below, the backing track contains the kids' singing.
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Cheating kids?! Miming?! Whatever next?!
Credit: ITV / Britain's Got Talent
St Patrick's Junior Choir, from Drumgreenagh, were the first on stage in the semi-final, broadcast live last night. The show insisted that it was a 'technical problem' that meant that the kids were out of time with the backing track.
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OR WERE THEY?
Well, yeah. They were. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you could hear their singing.
McCaughey didn't explain the backing track issues, instead insisting that the choir, aged 8 to 12, had rehearsed 'hours, days and months', and that they went into 'performance mode' when they started singing a second time.
She added that the kids had a great time on the show, saying: "They're a little bit tired but they had an amazing day.
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"They were absolutely spoiled doing little interviews, and they met so many different people."
She continued: "They had a fabulous time. The ultimate was on the stage performing for a very, very appreciative audience from the judges and Alfie Boe, who commented backstage how impressed he was with them."
The 36-strong group had previously sung 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Keane in the audition, but here Ant and Dec looked worried and called a stop to the performance after the technical glitch.
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Twitter users were not impressed...
Responding to the situation on the night, Dec said: "Just a couple of technical issues."
Topics: Britain's Got Talent, BGT, Cheating
