Bree De Rome

Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television show, based on the original UK series, claiming to find new talent. The fifth season premiered on the Seven Network on 3 May 2011 and ended on 2 August 2011, where singer Jack Vidgen was crowned the winner of Australia's Got Talent, while illusionist Cosentino became runner-up. Judges Dannii Minogue, Kyle Sandilands, and Brian McFadden returned for the series, as well as host Grant Denyer.The producer auditions took place in 16 cities across Australia, and ran from October to December 2010. The successful acts from these auditions were then invited back for a second audition in front of the judges and a live audience. These auditions were held in February and March 2011 in four major cities, including one day in Gold Coast and Perth, two days in Sydney, and three days in Melbourne. From over 200 successful auditionees, only 48 acts were selected for the semi-finals. The six semi-final shows began on 31 May 2011 and ended on 5 July. Introduced, was a new format to the show where three acts from each semi-final would advance through to the next round. In previous years only two acts have made it through each semi-final.One of the most notable performances was by Jack Vidgen, a 14-year-old singer who sang a rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" for his audition. His performance earned a standing ovation from both the judges and the audiences, and has received more than 1.5 million views on YouTube. Vidgen has since been dubbed Australia's answer to Justin Bieber, and has also attracted international and local interest. The show had also sparked controversy, with accusations of contestant Jordan Paris plagiarising other comedians' jokes in his audition, and reports of contestant Chooka Parker's incident backstage following his elimination from the show.