Britain's Got Talent fans were left annoyed and frustrated with the ITV competition after head judge Simon Cowell stopped a contestant mid-way through his performance and asked if he could sing something different.
After weeks of auditions and watching plenty of acts fail to impress, the ones who did will perform once again in the live semi-finals for a chance to be crowned 2024 champion and perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
Last night, Charity fundraiser Ace Clurk nervously took to the stage and sung his rendition of Harry Styles' As It Was, but whilst Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden were impressed with his vocals, Cowell wasn't.
Mid-note, Cowell unconvincingly stopped a contestant and asked if he had another song, noting: "Can I suggest something? I don't think the key was right and I think you were nervous.
"But I think you're interesting. Did you bring a second song?"
Clurk replied: "Yeah, I do, I do," before revealing his second song choice to be Lovely by Billie Eilish.
Ace Clurk stepped on stage and sang Harry Styles
ITV
Cowell agreed and said: "All right, let's give that one a go," but after the song had ended, the music mogul was still unconvinced with his talent.
Giving his comments, Cowell noted: "I think it's one of those auditions where not everyone's expected to like the same things. There were times were I thought: 'This is really good'.
"And there were other times where I thought: 'Actually, this is getting a little bit boring, actually'."
The audience booed Cowell, but after being used to the criticism of his opinions, he added: "But, that's what I'm saying, if we all bought the same record then you know, life would be a bit weird wouldn't it?
Simon interrupted Ace during his performance and asked for another song
ITV
"I do think you're very talented and you come over as a very sincere person who really wants this break. I think you're interesting and I think that's a really, really good thing. So, you deserve a shot. It's a yes, well done."
Holden, who was the last judge to vote, exclaimed to an ecstatic Clurk: "You've got four yesses. You're through!"
Whilst the audience was thrilled with the outcome, fans of the show on X were not happy with the stunt that Cowell pulled and left one to comment: "Oh FFS 2nd song here we f*****g go. Utter fix #BGT #BritainsGotTalent."
"Sorry, but Ace was average. And that whole thing about the second song is so tired #BGT #BritainsGotTalent," another added before a third said: "Agreed, the 'Have you got a second song?' ruse has often been played before and shows #BritainsGotTalent #BGT up as being more than a bit staged."
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Simon Cowell stopped the singer during his audition
ITV
A fourth viewer exclaimed: "Ace with his 2nd song so not staged #BGT. Had enough."
"Louis [Walsh] already told us this request for another song is staged - so quit it with the fake nervousness everyone #BGT," someone else quipped. (sic)
